Farmers UnionJamestown  (CSi)  The  North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU) has thanked voters for soundly rejecting Measure 1. that would have allowed corporate farming in North Dakota.

NDFU President, Mark Watne says, “We always believed that the people of North Dakota would agree that the family farm structure is best for our state’s economy and our communities. The results tonight are a strong message that the people don’t want corporate farming in North Dakota.”

Last year, the North Dakota State Legislature passed SB 2351, which would have allowed corporate ownership of swine and dairy operations. NDFU collected more than 20,000 signatures to put the law to a vote of the people. Measure 1 was the result of that effort.

Watne adds “From the minute this law passed, we saw tremendous grassroots support to overturn the law.  People were fired up, and they did not want this dangerous law to go into effect. The volunteer support and enthusiasm was remarkable.”

NDFU and North Dakotans for Family Farms ran the campaign to overturn the law. More than 90,000 calls were made and 5,000 doors were knocked on.

Watne says, “We left no stone unturned to defeat Measure 1, because it was that important to us and to our state. There is a reason that our volunteers made tens of thousands of calls in January alone. North Dakotans want to keep family farming strong in our state. And defeating Measure 1 was critical to that.”