Lawmakers have chance to get it right

Opponents of Nebraska's corporate farming ban have been saying it is unrealistic and restrictive to the point of preventing agricultural growth in the state.

Now that they have their way, let's hope we don't find out too late that Initiative 300, as it was named when passed in 1982, performed an important service.

Article 12, Section 8 of the Nebraska Constitution generally prohibited corporations and certain other business entities from owning farmland or engaging in agricultural activity in the state. It was passed largely in response to farming operations by the Prudential Insurance Co., and its attempt to influence the voters through a $270,000 political donation against I-300.

Framed in that context -- mom-and-pop farmers vs. anonymous corporate enterprises, voters naturally voted in I-300, by 290,377 to 224,555.

While the insurance company may no longer be an issue, the ban has helped stave off non-competitive practices such as vertical integration and contract production in the meatpacker industry, according to John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union.

And, with Nebraska's burgeoning ethanol industry, what would widespread vertical integration in the grain industry mean to the state's economy?

But Jim Jones, a rancher and former state senator who was one of the plaintiffs in the case which brought down I-300, said he would never have been able to get into agriculture had the ban been in place in 1977, when he formed a partnership with an acquaintance.

Many young farmers and ranchers are surely in that situation today, when finding enough capital to go into business certainly makes pooling of resources from non-family members attractive if not vital.

Initiative 300 may have been too broad and restrictive, but as John Hansen said, it never really had its merits argued in court -- thrown out on relatively vague arguments that it restricted interstate commerce or violated the disability act.

Now, it's up to the Legislature to study if and how Initiative 300 should be replaced.

Lawmakers have a golden opportunity to concentrate on fixing areas that truly are broken, while not hamstringing young entrepreneurs who are our state's brightest hope.