BROWNSBURG, Ind. – An Indiana based not-for-profit organization that informed and stood behind farmers even if it meant tackling lawsuits from activist groups is folding.

Protest The Harvest ceased operations Oct. 31, citing funding challenges. 

The mission of the group, founded in 2011, included protecting farmers and ranchers nationwide against various threats to their way of life.

Protect The Harvest spokesman Mike Martin said inflation has reduced the amount of money supporters – after paying daily business or household expenses – have left to contribute to the cause of the organization.

“Over the past two-and-a-half years, we’ve been diligently working to secure funding that would allow Protect The Harvest to continue operations going forward but the current economy has made it challenging for many individuals and organizations that have supported us in the past,” said Protect The Harvest Executive Director Dr. Mike Siemens.

The organization, based in Brownsburg near Indianapolis, functioned strictly on donations.

Protect The Harvest published stories from writers about threats to farmers and ranchers ranging from proposed government regulations, restrictions on exports from other countries and legal challenges by activist groups opposed to agriculture.

“We try to enlighten people,” he said.

A recent story published by Protect The Harvest was about a Nov. 5 ballot initiative to ban animal slaughter houses in Denver, Colo., and the surrounding area.

Martin said the proposal from an “extremist group” is aimed at shutting down the only slaughterhouse there, which happens to be one of the largest in the nation.

“It’s been there for almost 70 years and there’s hundreds of good paying jobs there,” he said.

The group has also worked to improve food security, protect property rights, ensure animal welfare and support outdoor sports like hunting and fishing.

Martin said the organization was also visible at events across the country such as annual conventions hosted by the National FFA Organization and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

One of the purposes of attending was to inform people about potential issues developing from off in the horizon.

Occasionally, Martin said Protect The Harvest directed resources to legal matters like one in California where meat from livestock raised in other states cannot be sold there if the living conditions of those animals was not to up California’s standards prior to slaughter.

Ultimately, California won the case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Martin said another legal case Protect The Harvest became directly involved in was in New York, where a plaintiff requested human rights be granted to an elephant so it could be relocated from a zoo to an animal sanctuary.

He said the case was decided in 2022 in favor of the zoo where the elephant had been for close to 30 years.

Martin said the group stepped into the courtroom on that matter because of the potential ramifications on livestock had the decision gone the other way.

The group was founded by Forrest Lucas and his wife, Charlotte, in response to a seemingly harmless ballot initiative he deemed a threat to his cattle ranch in Missouri after reading the language entirely.

Ultimately, Lucas was successful in protecting his farm through a campaign he waged to better inform decision makers about the measure’s implications.

Forrest Lucas said a lot was accomplished by Protect The Harvest in terms of preserving the “freedoms and liberties America was founded on.”

But, he added, “the time has come to pass the torch to others who will promote and defend a free and fed America.”

Siemens said the gap created by the departure of the advocacy group is an important one to fill at a time of growing threats to the way of life of farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders.

“It’s been frustrating and disappointing to see the number of issues we confront multiply while our resources to address them have diminished. It’s also heartbreaking because we hear from so many stakeholders about how much they value Protect The Harvest and the work we do. Now, other organizations will need to step up to fill the void,” he said.

The website, https://protecttheharvest.com, will remain available for use until deactivated on Dec. 31.