Folks, we are facing a major turning point in our country’s existence. We have groups forming all across our country. Some of them have targeted our tax system, some wages, some immigration, some big government, some our national debt and some our annual deficit and the list keeps growing.
The group I have been watching the closest, and waiting for it to come alive, is the one consisting of farmers. It would seem that they are beginning to take action. They appear to have had enough of a system that is forcing them to give up a way of life or fight. And, it looks like they are ready to fight.
Farmers, by their very nature, are very independent. When they begin to join together things happen. Unlike some of our other currently active groups, farmers know who their enemies are. These enemies are a seed company and a handful of other suppliers and another handful of buyers.
The large corporations that control farm prices have merged or purchased each other until there are only a very few companies left remaining. The farming sector has become like the oil refining industry. There are only five oil companies remaining to refine most of our oil. And, so it is for the farming industry.
Monopoly is the term used to describe an industry that has only one company. Oligopoly is the term used when there are a very few companies in an industry. However, both of these terms relate to the situation where buyers are concerned.
I am aware of no term that expresses the situation where there is only one seller. So, we will need to use monopoly and oligopoly to explain both buyers and sellers. We have allowed the agriculture suppliers and buyers to become too large. And, like it or not the only organization large enough to help farmers is our government.
Recently, at a meeting in Iowa that included high ranking government officials and the large corporations, more than 800 farmers attended to announce their displeasure. It is difficult to get five farmers together much less 800. There are going to be several more of these meetings in the near future.
During the remaining part of this year there will be a lot of talk.
Let’s hope that there is some action. The next agriculture anti trust meetings are as follows; Normal, Ala., May 21; Madison, Wis., June 25; Fort Collins, Colo., Aug. 27; and Washington, D.C. Dec. 8.
All of the above dates are listed just in the case that someone locally may want to attend one of the meetings. I am certain that most Americans do not realize the kind of trapped situation our farmers currently find themselves.
Most farmers give the impression to be either in a mood to fight back or are quickly reaching that point. One farmer at the Iowa meeting stated, “The crops that we grow are the basis of our civilization from when it started; so if anything belongs in the public domain… it’s the crops we grow for food.”
Another farmer, a fifth-generation farmer, said at the Iowa meeting, “The corporation has no conscience and is singularly driven for profit. The government agencies have a responsibility to protect democracy and prevent government of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation.”
Farmers used to be at the top of the food chain, but that is no longer the case. They have always been at the mercy of their input suppliers and the buyers of their products.
But at least in years past the farmers suppliers and buyers competed for the farmers business. That competition is all but gone at the present.
During the past few years about 90 percent of farm household income has come from off farm origins. One other source of income is government subsidizes. The government subsidizes currently only amount to 5 to 10 percent of farm income and they are merely a flow- through.
In other words, they flow from the government right through the farmers’ hands and into the pockets of the large corporations.
For 50 years our family farm took care of us, and then, during the late 1990s, we began taking care of the farm. There are three homes now instead of one and the only farming we do today is a small, but nice herd of beef cattle.
Our beef herd probably doesn’t pay its way, but the pleasure of seeing the new crop of calves each spring is pay enough. Our family is no different than most other farm families; off farm income is what keeps the farm operating.
Individual farm families’ verses a mammoth corporation is not a fair fight. If something doesn’t happen, and happen soon, corporations will control our food sources. This is a problem facing our whole country, not
just farm families.
There was a time when non farm families had relatives farming. This is not the case today. There is no longer a connection between non-farm families and farmers.
This disconnect between the consumer and the producer of our food needs to be repaired if there is to be any chance of stopping the corporate takeover of our food supply.
Bill Horne is a professor at Southern State Community College and a columnist for The Highland County Press.
