25 Farmers Arrested in 2nd Day of Protest in Chicago

For the second day Tuesday, farmers marched to protest against low grain prices, and more than 20 were arrested at the front door of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Almost 100 farmers and their families continued the protest that they had begun Monday at the nearby Chicago Board of Trade, where a dozen were arrested.

The confrontation Tuesday was hardly hostile, as police officers and protesters alike shared hot coffee and doughnuts provided by the Mercantile Exchange.

Futures trading, which the protesters contend artificially depresses commodity prices, continued uninterrupted inside.

The 25 who were arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing after insisting that they be let inside the exchange, where livestock and meat futures are traded. They were released later on their own recognizance.

Wayne Cryts, an organizer of the American Agriculture Movement protest and one of those arrested Monday, acknowledged that the demonstration probably would not affect futures trading regulations, which he said are destroying the family farm.

But he said the protest succeeded in putting the plight of the family farm in front of the American public, via the news media.

In a prepared statement, the Mercantile Exchange said: “The only result is to confuse any public understanding of agricultural issues at a time when general awareness is all important.”

Cryts said the farmers plan to take their demands for new regulations over futures trading to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington. And about 20 of them marched a few blocks without incident from the Mercantile Exchange to the CFTC Chicago office in the Sears Tower.

The group wants to eliminate selling in agricultural markets by speculators.

Cryts said such selling drives the price of grains down to levels that don’t equal the cost of production.

Cryts and another organizer, Corky Jones, both of Missouri, met late Tuesday morning with representatives of the exchange, including Clayton Yeutter, its outgoing president and a former deputy assistant secretary of agriculture.

In its statement, the exchange said: “The demands would so alter the structure of futures trading mechanisms as to jeopardize the existence of these markets.”

The Merc said that, while these farmers may believe this is desirable, other farmers trade in futures contracts, using them to hedge their risks.

In another demonstration, in St. Paul, Minn., as many as 12,000 farmers and their supporters marched on the state Capitol on Monday to protest foreclosures and other issues. Organizers said the rally was just the start of a grass-roots agricultural movement.