Big Ag and the Family Farm Chad D. Schisler National University

Big Ag and the Family Farm
A way of life that dates back centuries is disappearing right in front of our eyes. The good old family farm is becoming extinct here in America, and big agribusiness (big Ag) and our wonderful government are both to blame. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of farms in the United States is in decline, going from about 6.8 million in 1935 to only about 2 million today. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is less farming going on. Here in the U.S., farms are producing more than ever. What it does mean is that farming is quickly becoming dominated by the big Ag farmers. The rules of the game have been twisted and manipulated in favor of big Ag so dramatically that most small farmers find that they simply cannot compete anymore.
In 1900, about 39 percent of the U.S. population were either farmers or worked on farms. In comparison, today only 2 percent of our population live on farms. Big Ag, the food processing conglomerates, and big seed companies like DuPont (Pioneer), which I worked for3 in my teens, completely dominate the industry. Unless we make a point do something about this, the family farm is going to continue to fade out of existence. Unfortunately, the outlook is a bleak one, it doesn’t look like things are going to turn around any time soon.
The way that the agricultural industry is structured today, it is simply not economical to operate a small family farm. According to Farm Aid, every week approximately 330 farmers close up shop and leave their land for good. Many of the old timers like my grandfather are struggling to hang on to hope for as long as they can. As of now an extremely large percentage of family farmers are in their fifties, sixties and even their seventies. Today, roughly 6 percent of all farmers are under the age of 35. The majority of young people these days are none too eager to choose farming as a career. A lot of the young adults who grew up on family farms have decided that investing hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more at times, in a business that requires you to work 12 to 14 hours per day or more for most of the year for sometimes extremely low wages is simply not a future that the look forward to.
Over the last few years or so, many family farmers have been forced to look into working second jobs just to be able to support their families. Many farm families are constantly on the verge of bankruptcy. For many of them it is an extremely tough and stressful way to live. Today less than 25 percent of all farms in America bring in gross revenues in excess of $50,000.
To top things off, the federal government and also state governments keep piling a countless amount of rules and regulations on to the backs of farmers. Big Ag has the resources to deal with the massive amount of regulations fairly well, but most family farms are not so fortunate. Year after year, the farming industry becomes even more centralized. If these trends continue, big Ag will eventually control nearly all the farmland here in America. There are some industries in which the amount of consolidation has been absolutely stunning. Take for instance, that between 1970 and today the United States has lost nearly 90 percent of its dairy farms.
Another factor that is shaping the farming industry today is the massive amount of power that the giant food processing conglomerates have accumulated. To this date, there are 10 corporations that control nearly all of the things that we as Americans eat and drink on a daily basis. The giant food processing conglomerates have a very large amount of influence over how food is grown in the United States today. Small farmers that try to go against the grain often have a very rough go of it. This is also true when it comes to the seed industry. For example, approximately 17 percent of all crops in the United States is grown using seeds from DuPont (Pioneer). Pioneer along with 2 other of the Big Ten seed companies, Monsanto and Cargill, spent more than $25 million to defeat the GMO labeling bill recently in the U.S. They are one of the largest chemical companies in the world—not farmers, not agricultural experts—chemical engineers.
This is also true with super seed company Monsanto. If you try to stand up against companies such as Monsanto, you are wandering into very dangerous territory. Monsanto’s predatory business practices have been well documented. Monsanto has taken a countless number of farmers to court, where they are completely and utterly ruthless. To add insult to injury, it certainly does not help matters that there seems to be a constant revolving door between Monsanto and Washington.
Astonishingly, in spite of all that stands in front of them, there are still some small farmers that are able to persevere through all of these obstacles and run very successful farms. Now this is where the federal government comes rushing in. In recent years, the federal government has been on a mission to go after small farmers. One example of this is a recent Food Freedom News article detailing what the feds have been putting Randy and Karen Sowers through. To try and reduce the amount of paperwork they had to do the Sower’s were keeping their cash deposits under $10,000. Well the good old federal government came down on them like a hurricane for doing this....The sad truth of it all, is that the federal government has been using your tax money to go after small farmers in some extremely vicious ways. For example, one Amish farm was raided at 5 AM one morning not long ago. So, you ask, what was this big crime that the feds seemed so concerned about? Can you believe that this Amish farm was selling raw milk? Oh what a horrible thing to do.
The feds seem content to not bother big Ag and leave them pretty much alone, but they are constantly going after small farms in many different ways. Were you aware that the Department of Labor is instituting new regulations that will ban children from doing certain kinds of chores around the farm? This is yet another way to kill off the family farm in America. America is changing, and in my opinion not necessarily for the better. Just like the middle class, the family farm will soon be extinct. Sooner or later, the big corporations and the feds will have almost complete control over food production here in America.
The financial crises that we have been facing around the world since the late 1990s has given big Ag a huge opportunity to land-grab and inch out the small family farm. From Australia to Illinois, Mexico to Texas, the dream of the small family farm, for many farmers is being stolen away from them by the big Ag. Huge farms might look great on paper, but they fail in practice. Super farms not only harm old school farming practices, years old techniques of food cultivation and sound methods of growing ample food without harming the environment and depleting the soil, they are catastrophic for the bottom line of many countries.
There are many of us that say big Ag is a necessity that has come with a population explosion such as the world has never seen, but in actuality small farms can feed more than massive Big-Ag owned farms, though this fact seems counter-intuitive. Many of the same problems that small farmers deal with on a daily basis here in the US are similar to those which must be overcome around the globe. A good amount of small farmers; however are finding inventive ways to compete with Big Chemical and Big Ag.
Today many small farms are winning despite the land-grand and monopolization of financial resources by corporations. Take a small 60-acre farm that started as a ‘big garden’ in Illinois for example. They are able to produce food 12 months a year utilizing hydroponics. Using a bucket and compost system they are able to get tomatoes to market up to seven weeks before those that have been grown primarily outdoors. This farm grows most of their products to sell to restaurants. They are able to grow their crops with high yield all year long since they are growing indoors. Weather and insects are a non-issue. They aren’t required to spend thousands on pesticides and GMO seed, or have massive amounts of land in order to grow edible, healthy food.
Though it may be a surprise to you, the technology invented for big farms are more often than not obsolete on a small farm. There are many techniques, including crop-rotation, organic farming methods, and many other age-old styles of farming that are being used instead of new technology. Many of these farmers pass down from generation to generation ways to remain sustainable that are un-thought of with a Big Farm mentality. The way of growing food sustainably is held closely in the small farm. This new myth that Big Farms can ‘yield’ more is only true when you use only one method to measure productivity, which is usually relegated to mono-crop measurements, for instance how many bushels of GMO soybeans are grown per acre.
You must measure differently when dealing with a small farm that has a mix of crops, and animals. You not only have to take into account its ability to sustain the land but you also must take into account the fact that it is still producing food for many generations to come. As many experts point out, “Smaller farmers tend to have crop mixtures. Mixed in with the the rows of one crop there will often times be another crop, or even several other crops, so that ecological space -- that potential -- is producing something of use to the farmer rather than requiring an investment of more labor, money or herbicides.” With old school farming practices, as well as hydroponic and other ‘new’ organic farming methods, it is not necessary for the world to rely on the corporate agenda to grow food for their families, and by extension, their cities and towns. While Big Ag has been known to alienate the labor force from the growth of food and bankrupt many farmers, small farms and even gardens produce ample food while connecting communities and promoting proper use of the Earth’s resources. Big Ag might be able to grow a massive quantity of pesticide-laced food every year, but in the long run it won’t be able to supply a sustainable method of supporting a worldly food supply, and it certainly offers negligible benefits to our own personal health. Big Ag might make us big and fat and fill our tummies, but the small farm will fill our hearts and souls.
To sum it all up, farming is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Farming in the United States is a big mix of diversity, and it’s most evident when comparing big Ag and small family farming operations. Having grown up on a small, family farm in Illinois, not only did I see first-hand with my own eyes just how truly important our small farmers are to this country, but also the seemingly endless challenges that they face on a daily basis.