The Environmental Lawfare Network Targeting Modern Agriculture

At the end of October, AGPROfessionals team leaders attended the Colorado Livestock Association annual meeting with the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment and the Environmental Ag Program. In that meeting, attendees were informed that the Non-Governmental Organization, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP) and their “Water Rangers” were actively taking water samples for their own analysis near large modern farms. This activity by SRAP should catch the attention of producers across the nation. As advocates for our clients, we want to make sure they are aware of this group as well as the group’s connections and activities. Unfortunately, we have seen their devastating impact firsthand, even when their target did nothing wrong and everything right.

A Misleading Mission

SRAP is a group with a name that suggests integrity and stewardship. Despite its name, it essentially functions as an environmental lawfare operation; a network that agitates communities, recruits opposition to local modern farms, and provides pro-bono legal and technical support to activists seeking to halt modern animal agriculture. It is not a group that typically files direct lawsuits as a plaintiff itself. Instead, it actively engages in legal actions primarily through filing amicus briefs in support of other organizations. It also provides free resources and expert assistance to activist groups involved in their own legal battles, such as nuisance lawsuits against modern livestock operations.

The Real Victims: Farm Families

Despite SRAP’s claims to defend “family farms,” the victims of their lawsuits are overwhelmingly family-owned and operated farms, the very people who sustain rural economies and feed millions of Americans. When SRAP-backed coalitions drive a dairy, hog, or feedlot operation out of business, the consequences ripple far beyond the farm gate: lost jobs, eroded local tax bases, and fractured communities. These are American families, not “corporate polluters,” and they deserve better than to be vilified by activist lawyers hiding behind nonprofit tax statuses.

Lawfare and Community Manipulation

SRAP seems to be continually on the prowl for targets. One of their tactics is to troll county permit notices. When a farm applies for an environmental permit, SRAP often appears shortly thereafter, stirring up opposition among local residents, holding “educational” meetings that disparage large modern farms, and forming “coalitions” with names like Save Our Smith Valley or Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture.

These pop-up groups are designed to appear grassroots, but are, in fact, orchestrated and fully supported by SRAP. Once established, they file nuisance lawsuits and regulatory complaints, frequently driving farm families into bankruptcy or halting needed expansions.

In 2018 alone, SRAP boasted of working in 162 communities across 29 states, targeting livestock, poultry, and dairy operations under the guise of “protecting” rural residents.

The NGO Network

SRAP was originally founded under the name of Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) by William Weida, an economics professor with no agricultural background. Behind SRAP lies an interconnected web of animal rights and environmental activist groups, including:

• Humane World for Animals and its legislative arm, Humane Action Fund – formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and its legislative arm, the Humane Legislative Fund (HLF).
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
• Sierra Club
• Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM)
• Compassion in World Farming
• Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOs
• FarmStand (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice)
• Friends of the Earth (partnered with SRAP to produce a report disparaging manure digesters)

These connections are not accidental. SRAP’s leadership and advisors are often drawn directly from these organizations, which openly advocate for the end of animal agriculture. SRAP uses terms from the animal rights lexicon on their website to describe large modern farming practices.

• SRAP’s current Executive Director is Sherri Duggar. Previously, Duggar was a Midwest Outreach Consultant for the environmental NGO Earthjustice, and a consultant for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which has now rebranded with a new name, Humane World for Animals.
• Former CEO Kendra Kimbirauskas previously worked for the Sierra Club’s agriculture program and spoke at Lewis & Clark Law School’s “animal law” conferences, which are training grounds for activists seeking to use the legal system against farmers.
• Joe Maxwell, past Executive Director of OCM and founder of the emerging group, Farm Action, is another key figure aligned in many ways with SRAP, and posts about his activities are often featured on SRAP social media outlets. Maxwell formerly held senior positions at both HSUS and their Humane Legislative Fund (HLF) now rebranded with the name Humane World Action Fund. His transition from animal rights lobbying to agricultural “reform” advocacy underscores the strategic rebranding that enables these groups to infiltrate and influence agricultural discourse; in fact, Joe Maxwell was recently featured in an AgWeb article and podcast titled, “The System is Failing Us.”

We encourage producers to visit the SRAP website and read the bios of the leadership team for themselves.

Disinformation

SRAP’s website lists a host of materials that discredit modern farming practices, even regenerative practices like manure digesters. The public materials it displays rely on discredited or decades-old data, often citing sources like the United Nations' FAO Livestock’s Long Shadow report, which was debunked and eventually retracted for grossly overstating livestock emissions. This selective use of misinformation fuels fear and distrust in rural communities, pitting neighbors against neighbors.

Meanwhile, real science, from experts like Dr. Frank Mitloehner at UC Davis, continues to demonstrate that modern livestock systems are among the most efficient and sustainable in the world, reducing emissions and improving animal welfare through innovation and stewardship.

The SRAP website also hosts an interactive map that it calls the “Right to Harm Action Map.” This map highlights communities and so-called grassroots organizations that oppose Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

What Farmers and Communities Can Do

Modern American agriculture is under threat from well-funded activist groups like SRAP using lawsuits, legal actions and misinformation to dismantle the very system that feeds our nation. SRAP and its network of partners are organized, well-funded, and strategic. Agriculture must be the same.

Here’s how farmers, ranchers, and advocates for agriculture can respond:

1. Stay informed: Understand SRAP’s tactics and educate others and engage before misinformation takes hold in your community.
2. Engage locally: Build trust and transparency with neighbors. Share facts about your operation’s environmental practices.
3. Document excellence: Highlight conservation efforts, animal welfare practices, and sustainability measures on your farm.
4. Collaborate: Support local and national agricultural advocacy organizations that defend private property rights and sound science.
5. Speak up: Don’t allow activist groups to control the narrative. Farmers and ranchers are the original environmentalists, and their voices must be heard.

AGPROfessionals’ Commitment

At AGPROfessionals, we stand firmly with America’s farmers, ranchers, and agricultural businesses. We recognize that modern agriculture is the foundation of food security, economic vitality, and environmental stewardship.

Groups like SRAP seek to dismantle that foundation through deception, division, and litigation. Together, the agricultural community must protect our right to responsibly raise animals, steward land, and feed the world.

Because when agriculture is strong, America is strong.

About the Colorado Livestock Association Annual Meeting:

The annual meeting between the staff of the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE), the Environmental Ag Program, and members of the Colorado Livestock Association took place on October 21st. AGPROfessionals is proud to have a seat at this table.

In 2005, CLA members played a key role in establishing the Environmental Ag Program to oversee air and water quality protection regulations specific to animal feeding operations. This includes issuing permits, conducting site inspections, developing and implementing policies and regulations, providing technical assistance, and initiating enforcement actions in coordination with the Air and Water Quality Control Divisions.