URBANA, Ill. – Public records show that “Big Ag” and “Big Food” are historically major donors to political campaigns. With the Nov. 5 elections in the rearview mirror, here is a glimpse at where the majority of campaign funds from farm and food organizations and businesses were directed, courtesy University of Illinois Farm Policy News and AgricultureDive.com, during significant 2024 campaigns:

Political action committees (PACs) sponsored by farm organizations, agribusiness firms and electrical cooperatives had donated around $27 million to 2024 congressional campaigns as of Oct. 23, according to an Agri-Pulse report. “Some 66 percent of the $26.7 million in contributions from 262 ag and food-related PAC contributions has gone to Republicans, according to the latest data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics and analyzed by Agri-Pulse. The total includes nearly $1.8 million in contributions from the PAC operated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).”

Topping the list in contributions received by House members was House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.), with about $158,000 in donations. Other top House recipients included House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Republican Whip Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, and two GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee, Adrian Smith, of Nebraska, and Michelle Fischbach, of Minnesota.

On the Senate side, Agriculture Committee leader Amy Klobucher (D-Minn.) led all congressional candidates with around $101,000 received. “(Other) top recipients among House Democrats, all of whom are members of the House Agriculture Committee, include Rep. Jim Costa, of California, Rep. Sanford Bishop, of Georgia, Rep. Angie Craig, of Minnesota, and Georgia’s David Scott, the committee’s ranking member,” Agri-Pulse reported.

Democratic senate race candidates Jon Tester, of Montana, and Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin, were also major recipients from ag and rural PACs. Tester, running for re-election in an increasingly Republican state, received around $50,500, while Baldwin, seeking her third term in the senate, received about $42,500.

Top-contributing PACs were also identified. “Among agribusiness and food-related PACs and the NRECA, the leading contributor by far is American Crystal Sugar, a sugar beet cooperative in Moorhead, Minn., traditionally a top donor to congressional campaigns. So far this cycle, the co-op’s PAC has contributed $2.4 million,” reported Agri-Pulse’s Jake Zajkowski.

“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is a distant third behind American Crystal Sugar and NRECA with $856,000 in contributions,” he continued. “…The sugar industry plays a dominant role among the top 20 agricultural PACs, featuring five PACs from sugar beet farmers in the Upper Midwest, and southern sugar cane growers.”

Though it is rare for an agribusiness PAC to contribute directly to presidential campaigns, monies often flow to other leadership funds that in turn trickle contributions into presidential campaign. Other agribusiness PACs, such as those tied to entities like Tyson Foods and John Deere, give hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to political campaigns or partisan groups through PACs. Again, the majority of dollars donated historically go to Republican candidates.

Among top agribusiness contributors, Tyson Foods had donated $886,000 during the election cycle as of June 30, according to OpenSecrets and AgricultureDive.com, which is around 80 percent of what the food giant spent during the 2020 election. Though data on total spending on election campaigns by agribusinesses during the 2023-2024 election cycle is not yet available, such spending had reached $124 million by June 30.

“Chicken producer Montaire Farms was the largest contributor this campaign cycle, with affiliates spending more than $12 million on candidates and partisan groups,” discovered Sarah Zimmerman, editor of AgricultureDive.com. “Other top spenders include Wonderful Co., one of the largest agricultural companies in the world, and Tyson Foods.”

Perhaps giving a boost to agribusiness spending for PACs and lobbying efforts is the ongoing struggle in Congress to develop a new farm bill. According to Dr. Omanjana Goswami, author of a recent report on lobbying spending, contributions to candidates by Big Ag and Big Food can influence the content of the farm bill, which is supposed to be renewed every five years but is currently stalled in Congress due to partisan politics. 

“People and organizations working to make our food and farm system fairer and more sustainable don’t have the resources or influence to compete with Big Agribusiness and industry groups, and they shouldn’t have to,” Goswami said.

In total, agribusinesses spent a record $178 million on lobbying efforts (separate from PAC donations) during 2023 alone, according to OpenSecrets.