Letter to the Editor...

Interesting reading:

Autumn is upon us in Wisconsin, and a bountiful harvest season is well under way.

Farmers throughout the state continue to work hard, invest in new technologies, and take steps to increase the productivity of their operations.

For their efforts, farmers have been rewarded with near record grain production – along with low commodity prices.

In many cases, if someone does their job well, they are rewarded with a raise. All too often in farming, the opposite is true.

While farmers are told that the key to success and increased profitability is to grow more food more efficiently, we continue to encounter situations like this year: Record crops accompanied by low commodity prices that barely cover a farmer’s cost of production.

Low commodity prices and high input costs did not “just happen.” They are a direct result of a lack of competition in agricultural markets.

Currently three firms (Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, and Syngenta) control over half of the global seed market, up from 22 percent in 1996.

These same three firms also control more than one-third of the global pesticide market.

This intense industry consolidation, along with the near disappearance of seed saving practices, has led to a dramatic increase in seed prices. It has also led to situations in which a single firm owns the rights to (and controls the price of) both the seed a farmer purchases and the chemicals that a farmers relies on to protect that seed.

In some cases, a farmer who purchases a specific variety of seed is contractually obligated to also purchase proprietary chemicals owned by the same firm.

Just last week, another case of industry consolidation slapped family farmers in the face when the Department of Justice announced the purchase of Cargill Inc.’s pork unit by JBS SA.

With approval of the deal, more than 70 percent of the pork processing ability in the United States is now controlled by just four companies.

The move reduces marketing opportunities for family farmers and could directly impact pork prices for consumers.

Farmland prices have also dramatically increased, further narrowing the profit margin for farmers.

From 2009-14 farmland rental prices rose from $79 per acre to $130 per acre, a 65 percent increase.

The driving factors of this increase are agricultural policies that encourage increased production without consideration of the effect on the farmer’s bottom line.

This increase in price also makes it difficult for beginning farmers to access land, which is troubling considering that the average age of the American farmer is 58 and climbing.

The above issues are all symptoms of a much larger problem – our current system of agricultural production is rigged against family farmers.

Instead of markets and government policies that help all to thrive, we have markets and government policies that enable the largest operators, processors, input manufacturers, and crop insurance companies to become even larger.

These firms have everything to gain and nothing to lose from using their wealth, power, and influence to maintain the current “get big or get out” system of agricultural production, in which farmers must continue to adopt new technologies and strive to increase production regardless of demand.

Farmers – not large corporations – are the ones forced to tighten their belts in response to low commodity prices.

But there is another way.

In order to level the playing field, robust competition within agricultural markets is vital.

We must advocate for increased and improved enforcement of federal anti-trust laws pertaining to agribusiness concentration.

Federal and state regulators should revise and reform existing legislation to ensure fair market pricing and avoid non-competitive monopolistic and oligopolistic market control.

Crop insurance must undergo major reforms and become a true risk-management program that no longer encourages the overproduction of a few commodity crops.

Now is the time to work for changes that favor sustainable production rather than overproduction.

Now is the time to advocate for a system that allows farmers to earn a decent price for the food they grow rather than one that prioritizes enormous profits for a few large corporations.

We must all work together to take these important steps.

Because farmers deserve better.

Zach Herrnstadt, Government Relations Associate
Wisconsin Farmers Union