After Farm Bill was rejected in the House in June, the Grocery Manufacturers Association poured money into their federal lobbying efforts during the third quarter, and also into opposing a ballot initiative in Washington State.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association reported it spent $7,470,000 during the third quarter lobbying the executive and legislative branches. This was more than five times the $1,210,000 amount they reported spending in the second quarter. They reported spending $670,000 in the first quarter of 2013, and $750,000 in the fourth quarter of 2012. In the last 12 months they have spent $10,100,000 on lobbying.

The association lobbied on the Farm Bill, sugar reform, FDA appropriations, food and beverage regulatory issues, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. They lobbied the House, Senate, the Food & Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Their lobbyists included Michael Gruber, Matthew Foley, William Tatum, Nancy Kohler, Louis Finkel, Nathanael David Prestwood.

At the state level, the Grocery Manufacturers Association was sued last week by Washington State over the financing of efforts to stop a bill to require labeling of genetically modified foods in the state. The state sought to learn the original donors of a $7,222,500 lobbying effort. The Grocery Manufacturers Assn. quickly agreed to disclose the donors, set up a political action committee in the state, and file disclosure reports of the sources of all funds used in connection with Washington State elections.

Newly disclosed donors to the Grocery Manufacturers Association Washington State lobbying effort included PepsiCo Inc. $1,620,899 million; Nestle USA Inc. $1,052,743; Coca-Cola Company $1,047,332; General Mills $589,819; ConAgra Foods $285,281; Campbell Soup $265,140; The Hershey Company $248,305; J.M. Smucker Co. $241,091; Kellogg Company $221,852; among others.

Other companies giving directly to the No On 522 effort included Monsanto $4,834,381; Dupont $3,420,159; Bayer Cropscience $591,654; Dow Agrosciences $591,654; and BASF Plantscience $500,000; among others.