Pagt'I2 RAIN February-March 1980 At the risk of beating the "corporate control of everything" issue to death (small risk), I'd like to say a few things about that frighteningly fast-fading American institution, the family farm. Small farms in this country seem (like the foods th ey produce) to be FAMILY FA taken for granted. Not too many of us worry about farmers or farm policil's although th ey affect the price and quality of the foods we cat as w,,11 as the economy as a whole. With the current trend away from small farms and towards fewer , larger farms, the control of the food mMkct becomes more and more concentrated. The potentilal for monopolistic food pricing grows as corporations such as Cargill and Del Monte own not only more of the land bu t more of the total food production and distribution industry. These giant corporations also manage to collect more than their share of govl'rnment policy bendns for their efforts. Minnesota Congressman Richard Nolan, in his address before Congress Feb. 2,1978, stated, "Good-sized efficient family farmers are leaving our small communities by the tens of thousands because government land policy, government price policy , government tax policy, government marketing policy, and government extension policies are designed to enhance large corporate farmers, speculators and middlemen." Congressman Nolan's statement served to introduce the Family Farm D,'velopment Act of 1978, which has been rewritten and reintroduced as the Family Farm Development Act (FFDA) of 1980. Bridly stated, the FFDA will establish within the u.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a Family Farm Development Service' to "focus attl'ntion on the family farmer's problems." This service would research and implement land, price, tax, marketing and extension polici,'s which will "enhance" smaller scale farm operations. Research \ovili include the "whys" of declining farm numbers whik farm sizes increase, as well as th e " hows" of reversing this trend . Other emphasis for study wili be on developing energy efficiency and alternative tl'chnologies, such as ways to improve and maintain sod productivity bio-agriculturally rather than depending on petrochemicals. But resl'arch IS only one aspect of this bill. Therl' are other changes incoporated in the plan that will have very significant effects on rural America. There arc programs to provide training to small farmers In financial as well as horticultural management of their business. There will be loan incl'ntives for sustainable agriculturl' farming, integrated pest management strategies, and the utilization of othl'f appropriate farm technologies. Evt'n tax code amendments to "help prewnt non -farm corporations and outside investors from using losses or expenSl'S from farming to offset profits earned off tht' farm." The high cost of land makes starting new farm operations prohibIliW Farmers wryly joke abou t being millionaires-they refer to their debts, not their worth. The FFDS will provide grants administl'fed by the Farmers Home Administration to '·county orcity governments or local community development urganizations" so that farmland can b" purchased for resale through a revolving loan fund. Thl'f" 's more to this bill than I've mentioned , much more . Your C()ngr,'''pl'Opk can sl'nd you a summary , or the l'ntire bill if you requl'st It . Another good sign from Washington for the small farmer is the recent USDA redefinition of the "small farm" itself. It used to be that gross sales and acreage Wl'rl' the basic factors considered in eparatlng big from small. That policy gave businesses with other non-farm Incomes an advantage while ('xcluding farmers whose gr(l~, saic-s might bl' above the $20,000 limit but whose net family Income placed them wl,lI below the poverty level. The new definition conSiders threl' bctors : I. The farm family provides most of the labor and management of thl' farm. 2. Total farm income from all sources is bl'low the med ian nonmetropolitan famil y income in the state. :). The farm family depends on farming for a significant portion ()f its Inlilme. How we gonna keep 'em?
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