The Campaign to Defeat the Referral of the Exemptions to the North Dakota Corporate Farming Law: Examination of Themes of Opponents and Proponents

During the 2015 legislative session, the North Dakota Legislature approved exemptions to the North Dakota Corporate Farming law (SB 2351) advocated by the North Dakota Farm Bureau and its supporters in the legislature which... [ view full abstract ]

During the 2015 legislative session, the North Dakota Legislature approved exemptions to the North Dakota Corporate Farming law (SB 2351) advocated by the North Dakota Farm Bureau and its supporters in the legislature which would have allowed corporate-owned dairy and hog production facilities. The North Dakota Farmers Union, along with is allies, referred the law, and the referral (Measure 1) was overwhelmingly defeated on June 14, 2016.   Given the overwhelming opposition to Measure 1, I was interested in the themes that opponents and proponents used in their referral campaigns.  The methodology included review of newspaper articles, newsletters, social media, websites, and videos regarding Measure 1 to determine arguments for and against Measure 1, develop coding categories inductively from the data and from the research question that contained primary and secondary arguments for and against Measure 1, and conclude which arguments were more effective in opposing or supporting Measure 1.