Market Farming

["Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>]

Rick H. wrote:
> The FB in Missouri works against any proposed legislation from
> the Missouri
> Organic Association, the Missouri Farmer's Union (extremely rapid growing
> and diligent organization), any sustainable funding for Extension, and are
> desperately trying to keep the EQIP monies going to the corporate
> confinement operations.

That is pretty lousy policy on their part. And, if true, hardly a size
neutral policy. They may be one of the exceptions. You have to remember that
each county and then each state organization is a separate and somewhat
autonomous unit in terms of PD (policy development). In fact, this year is
was the PD chair for the county and brought in the County Sheriff, County
Board Chair (dairy farmer), and was very fortunate to bring in Wisconsin
DATCP Secretary (small dairy farmer) Jim Harsdorf a year ago last fall for
the annual banquet as our keynote speaker.

It is interesting that when he accepted my invitation, he also requested
that since he was going to be at a meeting in a nearby city, he would have
the afternoon available for touring farms in the area. Guess what farms he
wanted to see?

This may surprise some of you folks, but we had him tour none other than
value-added farms in Vernon County, WI. We visited a small CSA and a large
CSA, an Elk farm that also direct markets elk value added products, a farmer
switching from tobacco production to grapes, and a maple syrup farmer who
also has a small bottling operation with a newly designed packaging machine
she helped invent.

Even the secretary was impressed.

> Those in my opinion are not family
> farms.  They may
> be on farm land. Andy they may have been farmers at one time.
> But corporate
> contracted confinement pork and poultry operations in this neck
> of the woods
> are hardly what I would define as farming operations.

You are saying that the corporate farms have all that much input in the FB?
I think you would be very mistaken indeed. What is happening is the reverse.
These folks will be squeezed out of agriculture, and in fact, are now being
squeezed out and won't be providing much input.

Reality is that in some commodity market it has gotten to the point that
either the farmer contracts with the larger entity, or else leaves commodity
farming. Even this is temporary, in some of the industries, because the
large scale entities themselves are going to be completely vertically
integrated.

We are going to have only a few companies, perhaps a few dozen at most, that
will produce all the commodity hogs that can possibly be needed in the
entire U.S.

> I would join FB myself so I could see first hand what is going on inside,
> but I can barely keep up with the 14 or more organizations I work with at
> present.

Each of us have to make the decision as to which organizations are the most
important. My long term prediction is that as there are fewer and fewer
commodity farms remaining, the new folks who are coming on line will change
the direction of organizations such as the Farm Bureau because they will
overwhelm commodity farmers with sheer numbers.

In fact, many of the county farm bureaus could have a change in direction
right now, if some of the new folks wanted to get involved. Any member can
come to the annual meeting and propose a resolution. If the majority agrees,
then it is county policy and will next be submitted to the state FB. You
don't even have to be a board member to be a delegate to the state. You only
have to be appointed by the board. All expenses paid for
travel/lodging/food.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com