Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) "is one of the world's largest processors of oilseeds, corn, and wheat. Its main offerings include soybean, peanut, and other oilseed products. From corn, it produces syrups, sweeteners, citric and lactic acids, and ethanol, among other items. ADM also produces wheat and durum flour for bakeries and pasta makers. It processes cocoa beans and has a variety of other business interests, ranging from fish farming to banking and insurance. Archer Daniels Midland has interests in food processors in Asia, Canada, Europe, South America, and the US." [1]
Contents
Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
Archer Daniel Midland has been a corporate funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)[2]. See ALEC Corporations for more.
| About ALEC |
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ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.
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Case study in corporate welfare
In 1995, James Bovard of the Cato Institute described ADM's corporate welfare:
- "The Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (ADM) has been the most prominent recipient of corporate welfare in recent U.S. history. ADM and its chairman Dwayne Andreas have lavishly fertilized both political parties with millions of dollars in handouts and in return have reaped billion-dollar windfalls from taxpayers and consumers. Thanks to federal protection of the domestic sugar industry, ethanol subsidies, subsidized grain exports, and various other programs, ADM has cost the American economy billions of dollars since 1980 and has indirectly cost Americans tens of billions of dollars in higher prices and higher taxes over that same period."[3]
Thanks to multi-million dollar hustling, a company that lives and dies on the generosity of American taxpayers managed to get itself revered as a great public servant. Although ADM is not the only corporation with its hand out in Washington, it is easily one of the most successful beggars on the block. According to Andreas in an issue of Mother Jones:
- "There isn't one grain of anything in the world that is sold in a free market. Not one! The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians."[4]
Corporate controlled food supply
In early 2009, corporations like ADM, Monsanto, Sodexo and Tyson Foods wrote and sponsored "food safety" bills which, according to critics; hand control and policing of food to factory farms and corporations. They point out that bills impose industrial, anti-farming "standards" to independent farms. Also, that they subject those who do not use chemicals and fertilizers to severe penalties, which apply even to producers growing food for their own consumption. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009: HR 875 [5] was introduced by Rosa DeLauro, whose husband (Stanley Greenburg) works for Monsanto. According to critics, the bill includes criminalization of seed banking, prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers; 24 hour GPS tracking of their animals and warrentless government entry.[6], [7]
ADM coal issues
Carbon capture & storage project (Illinois)
Archer Daniels Midland's Decatur Plant is a coal-fired power station at an agricultural processing facility near Decatur, Illinois. The plant is currently the site of a carbon capture and storage demonstration project. The project aims to drill down to a 600-million-year-old layer of sandstone, where ADM hopes to bury about 1 million metric tons of CO2. The project is estimated to cost $84 million, with $66.7 million contributed by the Department of Energy. The project has made the most progress of any other federally-sponsored coal sequestration project in the U.S. The drillers have already dug through 5,300 feet and have 2,700 feet remaining before they reach the sandstone layer.[8]
Existing Coal Plants
| Plant Name | State | Year(s) Built | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archer Daniels Midland Clinton Power Plant | IA | 1940, 1954, 1965, 1974, 1991 | 31 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Des Moines Power Plant | IA | 1988 | 7.9 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Cedar Rapids Power Plant | IA | 1988, 1995, 2000 | 256 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Decatur Power Plant | IL | 1987, 1994, 1997, 2005 | 335 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Peoria Power Plant | IL | 1934, 1954, 1985, 2005 | 15 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Mankato Power Plant | MN | 1987 | 6.1 MW |
| Archer Daniels Midland Lincoln Power Plant | NE | 1988 | 67.9 MW |
| Violation Tracker |
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Political contributions
Archer Daniels Midland gave $120,000 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its political action committee - 44% to Democrats and 56% to Republicans. [9]
Lobbying
The company spent $300,000 for lobbying in 2006. All lobbying was done using in-house lobbyists. [10]
Lobbyists for Archer Daniels Midland have included:[11]
- Anthony Reed (2008-2011)
- David Woodruff (2004-2011)
- Beth Holzman (2007-2011)
Personnel
Board
Accessed September 2012: [12]
- Patricia A. Woertz
- Alan L. Boeckmann
- George W. Buckley
- Mollie Hale Carter
- Terrell K. Crews
- Pierre Dufour
- Donald E. Felsinger
- Antonio Maciel Neto
- Patrick J. Moore
- Thomas F. O'Neill
- Kelvin R. Westbrook
Key executives & 2007 pay
- Patricia A. Woertz, Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President, $7,637,295[13]
- Douglas J. Schmalz, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, $759,000 (also exercised $2,210,000 in options)
- Lewis W. Batchelder, Senior Vice President of Agricultural Services, $3,913,201[14]
- John D. Rice, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Risk Management, $3,297,597[15]
- David J. Smith, Executive Vice President, $897,000[16]
Board members
- Patricia A. Woertz - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
- Alan L. Boeckmann - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Fluor Corporation (an engineering and construction firm)
- Mollie Hale Carter - Chief Executive Officer, Sunflower Bank and Vice President, Star A, Inc. (a farming and ranching operation)
- Roger S. Joslin - Former Vice Chairman of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
- Antonio Maciel Neto - Chief Executive Officer, Suzano Papel e Celulose (a producer of paper and pulp products)
- Patrick J. Moore - Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (a producer of paperboard and paper-based packaging products)
- M. Brian Mulroney - Senior Partner, Ogilvy Renault (a law firm)
- Thomas F. O'Neill - Principal of Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P. (an investment banking firm)
- O. Glenn Webb - Farmer; Former Chairman of the Board and President, GROWMARK, Inc. (a farmer-owned cooperative)
- Kelvin R. Westbrook - President and Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Digital Media, LLC (a broadband services company)
- Director Emeritus - Dwayne O. Andreas - Chairman Emeritus[17]
Former personnel
- William Henry Camp, Executive Vice President of Global Processing, $841,000 (2006)
Contact
4666 Faries Parkway
Decatur, IL 62525
Phone: 217-424-5200
Fax: 217-424-6196
Web address: http://www.admworld.com
Articles & sources
SourceWatch articles
References
- ↑ Archer Daniels Midland Profile, Hoovers, accessed July 2007.
- ↑ Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, "Corporations and Trades Associations that Fund ALEC," Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States: The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council, online report, 2003
- ↑ James Bovard Archer Daniels Midland: A Case Study In Corporate Welfare, Cato Institute, September 26, 1995
- ↑ James Bovard Archer Daniels Midland: A Case Study In Corporate Welfare, Cato Institute, September 26, 1995
- ↑ Text of H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, govtrack.us, accessed March 2009
- ↑ Linn Cohen-Cole Goodbye farmers markets, CSAs, and roadside stands, Oped News, March 2009
- ↑ Lydia Scott HR 875 The food police, criminalizing organic farming and the backyard gardener, and violation of the 10th amendment, Campaign for Liberty, March 2009
- ↑ "Archer Daniels Midland project aims to bury carbon dioxide,", Los Angeles Times April 7, 2009.
- ↑ 2006 PAC Summary Data, Open Secrets, accessed July 2007.
- ↑ Archer Daniels Midland lobbying expenses, Open Secrets.
- ↑ Lobbying Disclosure Act Database search, Accessed September 11, 2011.
- ↑ ADM Board, organizational web page, accessed September 17, 2012.
- ↑ Patricia A Woertz, Forbes, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ Lewis W Batchelder, Forbes, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ J D Rice, Forbes, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ ADM Key Executives, Yahoo Finance, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ Board of Directors, Archer Daniels Midland, accessed July 2007.
External resources
- Profile: Archer Daniels Midland, Co-op America, accessed February 2008
External articles
- Sasha Lilley, "Green Fuel's Dirty Secret", Corporate Watch, June 1, 2006
- Doug Cameron, "ADM Makes Ethanol Push Into Brazil With Venture, Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2008
