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‘Ag facility fraud’ is now illegal in Iowa

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has signed into law the Agricultural Production Facility Fraud bill.

The new law creates penalties for individuals who get a job on a farm under false pretenses.

Animal rights activists are up in arms over Iowa’s actions, saying it will discourage their undercover “whistleblowing” activities—but Branstad says the way they’ve been doing it is fraudulent and inappropriate.

“If somebody comes on somebody else’s property through fraud or deception or lying, that is a serious violation of people’s rights—and people should be held accountable for that,” Branstad says. “That’s very different from a whistleblower that sees something that’s wrong, that is there in an appropriate and legal manner.”

Branstad says he’s not concerned about a backlash to Iowa-grown and raised products.

“Agriculture is an important part of our economy and farmers should not be subjected to people doing illegal, inappropriate things and being involved in fraud and deception in order to try to disrupt agricultural operations,” Branstad says. “So I think if people look at this objectively, this is a reasonable public policy for the State of Iowa—and I think a number of other states will probably follow.”

The new law makes agricultural production facility fraud a serious misdemeanor.  It would apply to individuals who make false statements to gain access to a farm or misrepresent themselves on an employment application. 

It would also penalize organizations who aid or abet those individuals in their undercover efforts.

Radio Iowa contributed to this story.

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  Thanks to Governor Branstad now there will be some protection afforded to farmers and cattlemen. We have seen instances where anti-animal organizations have gained access to farm facilities and made videos which misrepresent what is occurring so that it appears abuse is taking place. This law should make a big difference for those fraudsters and their attempts to negatively propagandize the work of animal production facilities.

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  THANKS TO GOVERNOR BRANDSTAD AND OTHER POLITICIANS WE CAN DEPEND ON MORE ABUSE. HIDING YOUR HEADS IN THE SAND DOES NOT MEAN IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. IF THE FARMERS & CATTLEMAN PAID ATTENTION TO THE ABUSE AND MADE IT INTOLERABLE & FIRED THE PERPS THAT DO THIS SORT OF THING, THEN MAYBE IT WOULD SEND A LOUD MESSAGE TO WORKERS THAT IT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.I FOR 1 AM DONE WITH EATING MEAT…BECAUSE YOU DONT CARE. YOU LIVE THE LIFE YOUR ANIMALS LIVE FOR 1 WEEK AND THEN TALK TO ME! ;(

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