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Big crowds came to central Iowa Friday for a government hearing on the lack of business competition in agriculture. Two hundred farmers rallied the night before and a reported 650 people attended the all-day hearing in a community college building in Ankeny, nearly 12 miles north of the state capital. Farmers at the rally cried for more anti-trust enforcement of industrial agriculture. Their concerns are not overlooked, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said as the all-day hearing opened. "This is not just about farmers and ranchers," Vilsack said. "It's really about the survival of rural America. We've seen a significant decline in the number of farmers and ranchers and that translates into a significant decline in the number of people living in rural America." Workers in food-processing companies also attended the hearing. Another top official -- Attorney General Eric Holder of the U.S. Department of Justice – said “reckless deregulation has restricted competition in agriculture.” The goal is to develop new policies, or take new enforcement actions, that will ensure fair competition between farmers and big agribusiness companies, Holder and Vilsack said. Seed giant Monsanto is under scrutiny for its controlling interest of crop seeds. Patented, genetically-altered seeds, such as Monsanto’s Roundup Ready lines, resist a chemical that kills all other plants. Roundup Ready seeds are planted in 80-90 percent of U.S. corn and soybeans fields. The price of those seeds and Monsanto’s profits have increased dramatically despite the economic recession. But it's not just Monsanto that is under scrutiny, it is the growth of an industrialized food production system that turns independent farmers into laborers and contract growers for large corporations, while rural communities wither away, critics say. Vilsack said the survival of mid-size farms is at issue. “If we have a system that is not fair, is not making it easier for midsize operations to stay in business and therefore is leading to further declines in the number of farmers, then that's something we need to address," he said. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christine Varney promised an “unrelenting quest to find the correct balance” within the agricultural industry, with fair deals for farmers, fair pay for agriculture workers in processing factories and ensuring the public has “food on their table that’s safe, healthy and a decent price.” The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, an advocacy group for livestock owners, said the hearings could lead to changes in policy. The presence of two cabinet-level officials is a good sign, said R-CALF executive Bill Bullard. Bullard believes large agri-businesses will protest the hearings, but he said the government is "absolutely committed to listen to producers and find ways to restore competition in our markets." The hearing in Iowa was the first of five scheduled around the country. The next will be held in Alabama, to look at the poultry industry.
The schedule: May 21 - Normal, Ala. - poultry industry Discussion topics may include production contracts in the poultry industry, concentration and buyer power. June 7 - Madison, Wisc. - dairy industry Discussion topics may include concentration, marketplace transparency and vertical integration in the dairy industry. Aug. 26 - Fort Collins, Colo. - livestock industry This workshop will focus on beef, hog and other animal sectors. Topics may include enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and concentration. Dec. 8 - Washington, D.C. - unfair margins This workshop will look at the discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid by consumers. As a concluding event, discussions from previous workshops will be incorporated into the analysis of agriculture markets nationally.
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