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About the conference
Concentration in
agriculture is not an abstract concept. It will
affect what we eat, what we buy, how we do business,
and how we manage our farms.
Some have predicted that the global retail food
system may soon be in the hands of five or six
firms, with perhaps only one of them an American
firm - Wal-Mart. What does that mean for consumers?
How does it change the industry for farmers?
This conference looked at the legal avenues to
combat concentration, some policy alternatives for
government (both legislative and administrative) to
manage the effects of concentration, and ways for
farmers to survive, and even thrive, in the world of
highly concentrated agriculture.
More than 200 people attended the conference, part
of the Leopold Center's new public policy initiative
led by associate director Mike Duffy.
Topics and presenters
The conference featured presentations on five
aspects of concentration in agriculture:
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Current level of concentration in production,
processing and retailing
[overheads]
Mary Hendrickson is extension associate,
assistant professor of rural sociology, and
network coordinator for the Food Circles project
at the University of Missouri-Columbia. (For
other information, look under
Publications/Concentration.)
-
Economic impact and impacts of continuing to
proceed as we are now [pdf]
Neil Harl is the Charles F. Curtiss
Distinguished Professor in Agriculture at Iowa
State University, professor of economics and
director of the Center for International
Agricultural Finance at ISU
-
Anti-trust actions: History and current
situation [speech text]
Douglas Ross is the Special Counsel for
Agriculture in the Antitrust Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice. His speech was based
on a paper he presented at a policy development
meeting of the American Farm Bureau Aug. 20,
2002, Kansas City, Mo.
-
Alternative policy options: Federal and state
Doug O'Brien
[read his comments, pdf only] works with
Senator Harkin as Counsel for the Senate
Committee on Agriculture. Mark Reisinger
works with Senator Grassley as a legislative aid
on agricultural issues.
-
Farmer responses: Collective bargaining, new
generation cooperatives, value-added agriculture
[pdf]
Richard Levins is professor of applied
economics at the University of Minnesota-St.
Paul. His presentation was based on a recent
paper.
Order a video from the conference
A videotape is available for $10. To order,
contact Terrie Hunter at ISU conference services,
(515) 294-5961,
thunter@iastate.edu
Conference recap
Leopold conference considers effects of ag
concentration
[Feb. 6 news release]
Conference brochure [pdf]
Related news reports
Experts pin blame on concentration on retailers,
Feb. 5 Successful Farming Online
News
Senator calls ISU concentration conference 'badly
needed' Feb. 5,
Successful Farming Online News
Economists stress cooperation between farmers when
marketing, Feb. 10 Farm News
Concentration called troubling trend, Feb. 11,
AgriNews
Economist: There's more than one way to negotiate
better prices, Feb. 11 AgriNews
Is Capper-Volstead an underutilized law?, Feb.
11, AgriNews
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