Voice of Alexandria - As ag consolidation grows, Harris and Trump pitch different approaches

Food program manager Claire Kellaway argues that enforcing antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act is key to combating food industry consolidation.

At Investigate Midwest, we dig deeper to bring you the facts behind agriculture, climate change, and policy decisions affecting rural America and beyond.

In 1994, Greg Gunthorp's father warned him and his wife against buying the family sow herd and breeding stock. The market was basically over for the independent producers, his father told him. The price of a pig sold on the commodities market in the mid-1990s went for less than what Gunthorp's grandfather received during the Great Depression.

But Gunthorp, who lives in Northeast Indiana in LaGrange County, made it work as an independent pig farmer, selling to restaurants throughout the Midwest and through internet sales to consumers who want to know where their meat comes from.

However, due to the continued consolidation of the meat industry, Gunthorp said big companies are now starting to encroach into this territory.

"We're kind of at the same place today that we were in 1998," he said. "The big guys have moved into this space with predatory pricing and deceptive marketing, and all of the same kinds of practices that we've seen in the commodity market have invaded the (independent) wholesale space."

It's not just the meat industry. From seeds to fertilizer to farming equipment, the agricultural supply chain is dominated today by roughly three dozen companies, according to an analysis from Farm Action, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting corporate monopolies in food and agriculture.

Ahead of next month's presidential election, Investigate Midwest looked into the two candidates' track records and promises regarding consolidation in the agricultural sector.

Read full article here.