http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/14328426.html

Bush nominee irks Iowa farmers By JENNIFER DUKES LEE Register Staff Writer 04/08/2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marcus, Ia. - The Iowa farmer President Bush wants to lead the nation's rural development efforts couldn't get elected dog-catcher in his own hometown, many of his lifelong neighbors say.

Bush has nominated Thomas Dorr, 54, as the U.S. undersecretary for rural development. In his hometown of Marcus, farmers call Dorr the poster boy for corporate agriculture.

They say he would do nothing to preserve the small family farm. They fear Dorr would speed up trends of fewer farmers and bigger farms, rather than safeguarding independent farmers.

"He would be very counter to rural development, unless you would consider that rural development is one farmer in every county," said Verdell Johnson, a Republican and farmer who lives near neighboring Cleghorn. Johnson has known Dorr since he was a child.

Dorr, also a Republican, admits his nontraditional views and direct manner may occasionally get him into trouble. He said his critics are wrong to view him as an enemy of the family farm.

"I regret the fact that people perceive me as not being for family farms," Dorr said. "I think if they took a little time to know us and understand us better, it would be pretty clear that we are pretty passionate family farmers."

Widespread uneasiness with Dorr's views are setting the stage for what could be a bruising confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate. The debate over Dorr will be framed by a deep concern in rural America over the concentration of agricultural production in fewer and fewer hands.

Dorr has shocked Iowa agriculture leaders and small-town farmers with his views on large-scale farming operations and with his attacks of the Iowa State University Extension Service, an outreach program that has helped Iowa's farmers become the most productive in the world.

On top of his controversial philosophies - which have been featured in The New York Times - some Iowans say Bush will have his hands full with a man they call self-centered and arrogant.

"Who are his friends? I don't think he's got any," said Marvin Pick, a retired farmer whose farm sits next to one of Dorr's farms. His adversaries offer measured praise. They describe Dorr as an intelligent, driven and successful farmer, but they don't want him helping set policies for rural America.

Broadly, the office is charged with helping improve the economy and quality of life in rural America, which includes family farmers.

Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has confidence in Dorr - "a progressive farmer who has worked hard to harness technology and improve agricultural operations in an increasingly competitive world market."

Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said Dorr is well-qualified.

"The undersecretary . . . should be someone who is an innovative thinker, someone who understands issues of agriculture, trade, economic development and technology," Stanzel said. "Tom Dorr has a unique understanding of all those issues."

Soon, Dorr will head to Washington, D.C., for a hearing where he will face tough questions on how he plans to help the nation's rural residents.

So far, the toughest questions are coming from people not far from his front porch.

**** In a world of overalls and seed-corn caps, Tom Dorr has rarely been viewed as a typical Iowa farmer, even though his ancestors have farmed for several generations in Cherokee County.

Dorr's hair is neatly groomed. His fingernails are clean. Wearing a sweater in his office, he seems more suited for work inside an insurance company on casual Friday, rather than on a farm weeks before spring planting begins.

He lives in town, rather than on the farm where five full-time employees do much of the day-to-day work.

"I don't know if he could start a tractor and get it across the field," said Harold Russell, a retired farmer from nearby Granville.

Dorr said he does do some hands-on farm work, including starting and driving a tractor, though he relies heavily on his employees - a group of "very, very good people."

Dorr has a title: president and chief executive officer of Pine Grove Farm. His peers simply call themselves farmers.

He is at ease with computers and the English language, which he uses deftly to make his point.

Farmers credit the Dorr family with having the courage to try new products and techniques. The same family trait has opened Dorr up to criticism as well.

"I do tend to try new things; I do tend to verbalize new concepts," Dorr said. "And sometimes perhaps I shouldn't verbalize them as aggressively or as openly as I do. . . . It catches people off guard."

He riled many Iowans in 1998 when he told a New York Times reporter of his vision of a 225,000-acre farm operation. The average Iowa farm is closer to 350 acres.

The operation would be "made up in three "pods," each with its own manager but sharing an information system back at farm headquarters," the Times wrote.

Local farmers and some agriculture experts say such an operation is corporate farming at its extreme and would put most Iowa farmers out of business.

If farms were 225,000 acres each, there would be fewer than 140 farms in Iowa, said Neil Harl, an ISU agricultural economist who described Dorr's philosophies as "frightening."

Dorr said his comments have been misinterpreted. The 225,000-acre operation would allow numerous individual farmers to work together under a single structure - not a single farm owner, he said.

"It's a creative attempt to keep people actively involved in their farming units, while giving them the advantages of newer technologies," Dorr said.

He said he was not advocating the elimination of Iowa farms. "This would allow them to be competitive in a nontraditional way," he said.

Dorr also may face senators' questions about his attacks on the ISU Extension Service. In 1995, Dorr said the service "was bogged down in tradition" and no longer served a useful purpose.

"He wouldn't fit my concept of rural development," said Dennis Keeney, former director of ISU's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

He said Dorr, while serving on the Iowa Board of Regents, barged into the Leopold Center's campus offices and complained about sustainable-agriculture programs.

Keeney said ISU officials had to ask Marvin Pomerantz, the regents president at the time, to explain to Dorr that he needed an appointment.

"The regents can't just walk into an office and give you hell, but he was doing that," Keeney said. "You'd all of a sudden look up, and there he was. . . . He was badgering the staff."

Dorr declined comment on the incident, saying it served no purpose to argue in the media with Keeney.

**** Dorr's detractors and supporters say some of the hometown criticism stems from jealously.

"He has posed somewhat of a threat to small operators," said Rod Ogren, a Marcus farmer who supports Dorr's confirmation.

Dorr farms about 3,000 acres. While his operation has grown, many other Marcus farmers have had to take second or third jobs to pay their bills - a trend that has swept the nation.

"We all resent success," said Russell, the Granville farmer.

Dorr's successes locally have propelled him to prominence before. He was appointed by former Gov. Terry Branstad as a regent. He served on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Dorr was a farm policy adviser for Bush during the last presidential campaign. His two grown children helped on the campaign. Dorr also has been a generous financial backer of Republicans in Iowa and Washington. Dorr gave Bush $2,000 toward his campaign in 1999.

Despite Dorr's loyalty to the party, even some fellow Republicans are wary of his appointment.

"He's arrogant, abrasive and self-centered," said Johnson, 64, the farmer who lives near Cleghorn. "He's not above walking over the top of somebody."

Pomerantz called Dorr "intense" and "interesting."

"He's willing to stand up for his position, even though it may not be popular," said Pomerantz, a Republican and West Des Moines businessman who declined to answer additional questions.

Kenny Letsche, who used to repair Dorr's John Deere tractors, added: "If he'd be up for a vote around here, he wouldn't stand a chance." Letsche said he would encourage senators to reject Dorr's confirmation.

Dorr said some of the criticism may be simply a matter of style. "Like any person, there are ways I could have handled things better," he said.

His supporters do not want him to apologize.

Robert Engel, executive vice president for Farmers State Bank in Marcus, defended Dorr as an intelligent man well-suited for the U.S. Department of Agriculture post.

Jon Dorr of Marcus said his older brother would work hard for the country. "They'll get their money out of Tom Dorr."

Ogren said Tom Dorr is an asset to Marcus. "The guy has got a lot of really good things about him. To have someone that comes from our community, right here in northwest Iowa, get this opportunity, I'm really proud of that."

**** By the looks of Dorr's farm, he is confident he will pull through the Senate hearing with a new job in Washington.

Dorr has lined up part of his farm-machinery fleet in the yard. The equipment will hit the auction block on Wednesday.

He has notified three of his full-time employees that they will no longer have jobs on the farm, although they will leave with severance packages, he said.

Dorr said he is not allowed to participate in farm-program payments and hold the USDA post at the same time, so he is making arrangements to have his land farmed by others.

Farmers say Dorr has spent a career treating his farm like a business, rather than a lifestyle. The approach has probably helped him remain afloat financially, but it has also made him the target of other farmers' ire.

But when the CEO talks about moving from his lifelong home in peaceful northwest Iowa to the fast-paced life inside the Washington beltway, he gets choked up.

"I'm a farmer," Dorr said. "I love going out every spring. I love smelling the dirt. There's really nothing more marvelous than to watch a seed open up and sprout.

"I'm gonna miss it."

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2001