I have always thought, even in my high school years, that the business structure, between the agricultural producers and the end consumer, uses the producer to maintain their profit margins. They determine what the end consumer is willing to pay, then subtract their expenses and desired profit margins and that leaves what's left to give to the producer. We take what they offer and give what they ask! In other words, we sell wholesale and buy retail, with very little input in establishing either end of the transaction.

The trend in agriculture is moving rapidly toward integrated corporate structure and mega sized intensified commodity production. As that happens, the operation depends more on massive capital investments and outside labor, just like the industrial corporate world. But, the diversified family farms still have more actual votes in the political world than the integrated owners. Where or with whom should the family farm align themselves? Family farmers have traditionally been radically anti union. Why? It’s a mystery to me! I guess it’s because the Chamber of Commerce and political leaders of the commercial corporate entities are anti union. Also, Farm Bureau, the perceived representative farm organization is against unions. In my opinion the Farm Bureau is playing second fiddle in the Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Business World band; much the same as the upper level bureaucratic executives in the farm cooperatives.

Farm cooperatives were originally organized under the provisions of the Capper/Volstead Act. The intent was to give individual producers the authority to organize and bargain with suppliers of inputs and commodity buyers. This was very much like the authority for individual laborers to form unions to bargain with employers.

Farm coops started out being farmer owned and farmer run. But as they became larger and more diversified in their operations, the local coops began forming cooperatives with one another. The operations depended on professional managers that weren’t held accountable to individual farmers. The business practices and ethics are now patterned after the large investor owned corporations that have allowed upper management to dictate to the boards of directors instead of looking to the board for directions. (What does “Board of Directors” mean?) Instead of giving directions the boards seem to be the fire wall between management and the general stockholders or owners.

Why have the individual farmers allowed this to happen? And, why do they align themselves with the political power that has worked feverishly to undermine the anti trust laws and take away the oversight and regulatory power of the government representatives of the general public and give it to the huge private owned corporations and national/international corporations?