Teddy Roosevelt Still Hurts Farmers Today, Property Rights Advocate Says

American farmers haven’t had the benefit of operating under a free market system since the early 20th century, property rights advocate Joel Salatin says. A critical turning point came when President Teddy Roosevelt established the Food Safety and Inspection Service, he says. The agency, now a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, draws its authority from the Pure Food and Drug Act signed into law by Roosevelt in 1906. Salatin, a prolific author on the subject of property rights, owns Polyface Farm in rural Swoope, Va. With an eye toward history, Salatin points the finger at Roosevelt and other progressive political figures who unleashed the power of government on entrepreneurs. “If the government never told us how to farm and to eat, we would be a healthier society,” he said. Salatin agreed that Americans have legitimate concerns about pollution and irresponsible industry actions. “Yes, we should stand up to radical environmentalists,” he said. “But we can’t just be the party of no. We need to focus on real solutions, and that means creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs.” The “libertarian environmentalist” was joined by Martha Boneta, who increasingly needs no introduction to conservative audiences. Boneta’s name is attached to two property rights bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly with broad bipartisan support. As The Daily Signal has reported extensively since 2014, Boneta is embroiled in a legal dispute with the Piedmont Environmental Council over the terms of a conservation easement on her 64-acre Liberty Farm in Paris, Va., which is part of Fauquier County.  In Boneta’s case, however, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation identified “serious flaws” in the easement that it says are in need of “corrective amendments.” In addition, two versions of the easement exist: one signed by Boneta and another unsigned but filed in county records. The panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, was preceded by a documentary on the Boneta case entitled “Farming in Fear.” Boneta filed a lawsuit in Fauquier County Circuit Court against the Piedmont Environmental Council and the husband-wife real estate team of Phillip and Patricia Thomas, both members of the land trust...more 

And according to this article:

...in a case that has attracted national attention, Boneta has charged in lawsuits and elsewhere that the PEC has trespassed, conducted overly invasive inspections and even orchestrated harassment from the county government to force her off her property.

Watch this video for more info on the Boneta case: