In New Book, Former North Dakota Ag Commissioner Spotlights Fight to Save Family Farms - DTN The Progressive Farmer

WASHINGTON (DTN) -- Sarah Vogel, the former North Dakota agriculture commissioner who famously won a class-action suit against the Agriculture Department's attempts in the 1980s to foreclose on the farmers it was supposed to help, has written a memoir of that struggle, "The Farmer's Lawyer: The North Dakota Nine and the Fight to Save the Family Farm."

Bloomsbury Press released the book on Nov. 2, and it is available in bookstores and online.

In recent weeks, Vogel has spoken about the book at the annual meeting of the American Agricultural Law Association in Salt Lake City and at events in North Dakota and Minnesota.

In a speech, Vogel told the lawyers she hoped the story of her victory for 240,000 farmers in one class-action suit would show them "the importance of lawyers working with farmers." And she has said at events in Minnesota and North Dakota "there needs to be a big upswell" in support for family farmers through stricter antitrust efforts and aid to young and beginning farmers.

"The Farmer's Lawyer" is an extraordinary mix of a landmark legal case and the personal story of a young single mother who was so determined to use her legal skills to help the farmers that she lost her house and was so stressed she failed at attempts to give up smoking while the case was ongoing. The results of the case can still be seen today in the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 and reforms to the way the Agriculture Department handles the appeals of farmers who borrow money through...

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