Thursday, July 7, 2016

Corporate vs the little guy

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....in 1960 that number was just 26. Are family owned farms to thank for the increase in numbers? Lydia DePillis of the Washington Post says yes, even though the family farm of Americana is long past, family owned farms are still thriving. DePillis says it's the midsized farms, not the small ones, that are actually dwindling. Due to the farm bill subsidies, small farms are able to lock in crop prices before harvest even happens and can use the money to invest in high tech equipment to make farming less physically demanding. Most people claim that corporations have taken over a lot of "the little guy" but she claims that corporations are actually taking more of a coordinating role instead of a direct ownership in farms. Corporations have realized that understanding the dynamics of the land in the area is crucial, and it's best to trust in the farmers who have owned their piece of land for several generations. She does admit that technology may still eventually take over some aspects of farming, as technology is evolving every day and knowledge of the land could soon be easily monitored by a computer.

The writers behind Farm Futures agree that the mid size farm is what seems to be going away. They also point out that technological advances have helped the smaller farms to keep up in production with the bigger guys, but it is important to note that farms have become more specialized. Instead of combining many different crops and having room for livestock, farmers are now focusing on just one crop, which allows utilizing more of their land. Those specialized farms are often contracted with a corporation as DePillis stated in her article, which can be misleading because the farm will still show as family owned but the farm is under corporate standards, which can be hard for the small farmer to comply with. DePillis would also disagree with Farm Futures about specialized farms keeping up, she shows that even though farmers are able to plant more of a crop and make more money, a single disaster or dip in price would wipe out that crop immediately.

Both articles have mentioned family farms staying in operation by partnering with corporations, but how does that change the dynamic of the farm? Farmers are able to buy more equipment and better pesticides to keep up with the bigger guys with their subsidy, but what extra regulations come with that? Are the smaller farms staying afloat because of the interest in organic and locally grown produce? How long until that runs out? I say knowledge of the land can never be replaced by a computer, and it's sad to see farmers needing to sell out to corporations to stay running. Stay tuned while I dig deeper.....
This shows that most farms are considered family-owned, but how many are rented by corporations behind the scenes?
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 8, 2016 at 9:55 AM

    I really enjoyed reading this post. Its weird to think that we are told one thing but when researching you find out there is so much more to a topic. I did not know farms were partnering with corporate companies. It is interesting that this companies have an understanding that the farmers know the land better. I know you mentioned that as technology grows this may not be the case. I wonder if it really will happen that way. It was said that with technology things would be obsolete but its weird how many of those things still exist and are still used.

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  2. UnknownJuly 9, 2016 at 6:29 PM

    I know, I really thought I had a decent amount of knowledge on this subject! I barely had the basics. Oh yes, I found one table that I couldn't get to save to my computer that showed ten main companies, and the slew of companies that are under them, it's crazy to look at. Tractors and other big equipment already come with some new gadgets such as GPS capabilities, I found some articles that talk about these becoming even more specialized than that. For example, gadgets that can be placed to monitor soil content and send the information anywhere, so being out in the field for that information isn't necessary.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM

    1. What did you find interesting about the post? I found it interesting that it was the middle man farms not the big corporations and not the small family owned farms that were struggling the most. At first I thought it was going to be the tinier family owned farms that were struggling. After reading this post, it is clear that the farms of medium size are the ones who are struggling. It is interesting how the tiny farms and huge corporations are not struggling but the middle ones are.
    2. What would you add to this post? or What questions does the post generate for you about the topic? Will the farms who are struggling ever be able to make a come back? Do they need to downsize to a smaller family ran farm? Would that solve any problems for the middle sized farms? Just as you asked I am curious what happens when a corporation partners with a smaller farm?
    3. What do you agree with or disagree with and why? I agree with you when smaller farms have to pair up with bigger corporations it is sad. It is sad to know that smaller farms might need help from bigger corporations. I think the big corporations could easily take advantage over the smaller farms and that is very unfortunate. Is there any other way for a smaller farm to be successful without having the big corporation get involved?

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