Franke: Family Farms or Agribusiness?
by Mark Franke
There used to be an economic-outlook panel from the IU School of Business that would travel the state to give advice on the state of Indiana’s economy. I attended enough of those during my professional career that, while the presentations were interesting, they soon got relegated to the dustier recesses of my memory attic.
One comment I still can remember came from economist Morton Marcus. I will freely paraphrase him here:
“People say the backbone of Indiana’s economy is agriculture. Every dead corpse has a backbone but to be alive requires a beating heart. That heart in Indiana is manufacturing.” He went on to cite several statistics that affirmed his conclusion and who can argue with facts. He was objectively correct but in my opinion missed the moral issue at stake.
Yes, industrial production is the economic driver for this state. My home congressional district, the Third, is number one among 435 districts in the nation based on manufacturing employment. Indiana ranks number eight among states.
But there’s more to economic importance than looking at accountants’ reports. Sometimes, there are things that punch well above their weight class. In Indiana, that is agriculture.
The problem is that farming is now the property of big business, even when pursued by the last farming member of a rural family. These few, these happy few, to steal from Shakespeare, must continually buy or lease more farm ground to make a living.
I admit to being incurably nostalgic but there is something to be said about driving past corn fields this time of year, all tasseled out and ears beginning to form. Looking at these seas of green for as far as the eye can see is a soothing experience for a native-born Hoosier. The problem is that these fields are hundreds of acres now, without any family farmhouses or livestock barns to break up the landscape.
Is this trend irreversible? My Socratic discussion group thinks not, based on our July meeting. Another future is possible but the odds against it are daunting.
The group, with two elected officials and a handful of farmers in attendance, developed a short list of alternatives to large-scale corporate farming with the goal of returning agricultural production to small-scale, family-based farms.
Utopia? There are obstacles to overcome. Current government policy emphasizes subsidizing consumers over producers through programs like food stamps that can be used for unhealthy choices. There are the politically unassailable subsidies for rice and sugar, hitting American pocketbooks at the checkout counter. Farmers in the Midwest benefit from a corn-to-ethanol shell game which diverts feed from protein production to inefficient gasoline price manipulation. A few farmers benefit while the rest of us pay up.
There are national-security concerns as well. Who owns the farm ground? The current issue with Chinese purchases of farmland, especially that around military bases, must be addressed. Even the briefest study of past wars instructs us that a nation’s ability to feed itself is critical to its survival. That is why Japan does not allow more than token rice imports; rice is a strategic material that must be supplied by native Japanese farms to keep the nation safe.
The laws of economics come into play. Putting aside market distortions caused by government manipulation of prices and supplies, there are economies of scale that favor the large producers. And let’s be honest; Americans love cheap prices.
If American consumers are always looking for a bargain, this may offer an opportunity for local producers to sell directly to households without utilizing — and paying the cost of — multiple levels in the distribution channel. Ideally this reduces the use of processes such as preservatives and refrigeration for transportation, resulting in a fresher product making its way to the family dinner table.
One movement that is gaining traction is the heritage farm, in which a family maintains a small farm on 10 or so acres. The farmer’s focus is on preparing the soil for higher yields without the use of artificial chemicals. It sounds like a throwback to previous centuries but somehow that system once worked. Farm-to-table is not a 21st century innovation.
As one member of our group summarized: You are what you eat. It’s no wonder that nearly 20 percent of Americans are classified as severely obese. Just do a quick count of the cars in the drive-through lines at the nearest fast-food restaurant.
In the final analysis our group recognized that the mini-farm movement is dependent on changing American preferences for convenient fast food and super-sized portions.
Morton Marcus is right about the manufacturing heart of the Indiana economy but living bodies also need a soul. And in Indiana that soul is farming. My group believes it is time to restore balance to our state’s soul through family-based farming.
Mark Franke, M.B.A., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review and its book reviewer, is formerly an associate vice-chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Comments...