Protect the Harvest

Protect the Harvest is an American 501(c)(4) non-profit advocacy organization founded by Forrest Lucas which opposes "the radical animal rights movement" and particularly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which it calls "a wealthy and successful attack group".[1] The organization has an allied political action committee, the Protect the Harvest PAC, which funds campaigns to assist or defeat candidates for political office.[1]

Protect the Harvest
Formation2011
FounderForrest Lucas
HeadquartersBrownsburg, Indiana
Key people
  • Forrest Lucas(Founder & Board Chairman)
  • Dale Ludwig(Board President)
  • Theresa Lucas McMahan(Board Secretary & Executive Director)
  • Jim Haworth(Board Treasurer)
  • Mike Siemens, Ph.D.(Director)
Websitehttps://protecttheharvest.com/

Overview

The organization's founder and executive director is Lucas Oil owner, Forrest Lucas. Lucas has invested over $600,000 in the organization.[2] Brian Klippenstein was the executive director of the organization and treasurer of the associated PAC[1] before joining the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an advisor to Secretary Sonny Perdue (who was in the position from 2017 to 2021).[3][4][5]

Protect the Harvest is a supporter of right-to-farm laws as proposed by the American Legislative Exchange Council.[1]

Lucas put money into the campaign to defeat Proposition B, designed to prevent cruelty to dogs in puppy mills,[6][4] in Missouri in 2010 which was evidently lost.[7][5] However, reports indicated that Lucas supported efforts from the Missouri legislature which would weaken and repeal voter-approved measures, even though those measures did not have enough time to take into effect.[4]

Lucas also invested in the winning campaign to pass Measure 1 in Missouri, which amended the state Constitution to protect "the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices"[8] in 2014.[7] Lucas contributed almost $200,000 to oppose Question 3, a Massachusetts ballot initiative banning the sale of products from animals raised in "extreme" confinement, which passed with strong support in 2016; Protect the Harvest also underwrote a failed legal challenge to the measure.[9][10]

On February 5, 2017, Lucas and the Trump Administration purged thousands of pages from the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act from the USDA-APHIS website.[11] This act does impact the USDA-APHIS website and how people can monitor the progress in which the law is enforced and how the federal animal protection laws are also being enforced.[11][12]

In September of 2023, named Dr. Mike Siemens was named the executive director and Theresa Lucas McMahan was named the chief administrative officer for Protect the Harvest.[13][14]

Funding

Between October 2011 and December 2012, Protect the Harvest raised approximately $927,000. In 2012, according to FEC records, Lucas Oil contributed $200,000 to Protect the Harvest to fund advertisements against Christie Vilsack, who challenged and lost to incumbent Iowa congressman Steve King. Protect the Harvest also received funds from American Action Network, a group led by former senator Norm Coleman, and a group called Missouri Farmers Care.[1] The Protect the Harvest PAC spent $256,018 in the 2014 election cycle, and $116,300 in the 2016 cycle.[15]

Films

Films that were produced in collaboration with Protect the Harvest are as follows;

The Dog Lover

Protect the Harvest collaborated with ESX Entertainment to produce the 2016 movie The Dog Lover.[16] The film depicts an idealistic college student sent undercover by an animal welfare organization to investigate a puppy mill, and eventually becoming disillusioned with the welfare organization, which is presented as unethical.[17] The film presents itself as "based on a true story", although there are major differences between its portrayal and the South Dakota court case which inspired it.[18]

The film received an overall rating of "rotten" from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with seven out of nine negative reviews.[19] Michael Rechtshaffen, writing for the Los Angeles Times, called the film's execution "spottier than a kennel full of caged Dalmatians,"[20] and Glenn Kenny of Rogerebert.com labeled it "shamelessly manipulative",[21] while Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that "it’s a prosaic piece of muckraking, but it grazes a nerve", calling its pro–breeding industry strategy "cunning".[17][22] The film's premiere in Springfield, Missouri, which included a live auction of an Australian shepherd, inspired a small protest.[23]

Pray for Rain

In 2017, Protect the Harvest and ESX entertainment produced Pray for Rain, directed by Alex Ranarivelo, which follows a young reporter (Annabelle Stephenson) as she investigates the murder of her farming father amid the 2011–17 California drought.[24] The film advances a form of the California drought manipulation conspiracy theory, incorrectly blaming environmentalists and bureaucrats for creating a "man-made" water shortage.[25] The film received negative reviews,[26] with Roger Moore of Movie Nation calling it a "ludicrous Lucas Oil-man financed propaganda picture"[27] and Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com writing, "As much as I enjoy the image of Jane Seymour blasting away with a shotgun that’s probably bigger than she is, the melodrama of the effort only manages to cripple the production."[28]

References
  1. Beckel, Michael (29 May 2014). "'Radical Animal Rights Movement' Gets New Foe". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  2. P.J. Huffstutter and Lisa Baertlein (16 April 2012). ""Pink Slime" controversy stokes clash over agriculture". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  3. Wyant, Sara; Chase, Spencer (2017-05-10). "Meet Sec. Perdue's new inner circle at USDA". Agri-Pulse. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  4. "Who's Really Attacking The HSUS?". humanesociety.org. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  5. Hernandez, Anne Helen Petersen, Ken Bensinger, Salvador (2018-07-12). "Meet The Man — And Propaganda Machine — Behind The Hammond Pardon". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-09-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Statutory Amendment to Chapter 273, Relating to Dog Breeders. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  7. Steve Fairchild. "A promise to protect". Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  8. Amendment to the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices shall not be infringed. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  9. Philpott, Tom (Dec 13, 2016). "A guy who exists purely to troll the Humane Society was just hired by Donald Trump". Mother Jones. Retrieved Dec 17, 2016.
  10. Wade, Christian (Oct 16, 2016). "Oil baron behind cage ban opposition". Salem News. Retrieved Jul 30, 2017.
  11. Clifton, Merritt (2017-02-05). "Is Protect the Harvest behind USDA purge of Animal Welfare Act data?". Animals 24-7. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  12. Jurga, Fran (2017-02-10). "Wipeout: How the battle over the Big Lick Walking horses changed access to information on the welfare of all animals". Equus Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  13. "Protect The Harvest makes leadership appointments". WATTPoultry.com. 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  14. Newswire, P. R. (2023-09-05). "Dr. Mike Siemens named Protect The Harvest executive director; Theresa Lucas McMahan appointed chief administrative officer". The Times. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  15. "Protect the Harvest PAC Summary". OpenSecrets. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  16. ""The Dog Lover" Nationwide Release". Protect The Harvest. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  17. Gleiberman, Owen (7 July 2016). "Film Review: 'The Dog Lover'". Variety. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  18. Hult, John (12 July 2016). "Sorting truth from fiction in 'The Dog Lover'". Argus Leader. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  19. "The Dog Lover". Rotten Tomatoes. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  20. Rechtshaffen, Michael (5 July 2016). "Heavy-handed 'Dog Lover' takes aim at activists". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  21. Kenny, Glenn (2017-07-11). "The Dog Lover Movie Review & Film Summary (2016)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  22. Hult, John (2016-07-08). "Activist film revisits SD puppy mill fiasco". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  23. Holman, Gregory (Jul 9, 2016). "'The Dog Lover' prompts a protest at the Gillioz". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved Jul 30, 2017.
  24. Duprey, David (2017-06-20). "Pray For Rain (2017) Review". That Moment In. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  25. Walsh, Katie (2017-06-15). "Investigative thriller 'Pray for Rain' offers oversimplified explanation for drought". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  26. "Pray for Rain". Rotten Tomatoes. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  27. Moore, Roger (2017-06-11). "Movie Review: "Pray for Rain," but wear your waders". Movie Nation. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  28. Ornsdorf, Brian. "Pray for Rain (2017)". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.

Official website

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