Packed in this small book is a warm and entertaining biography of one of the great living icons of agricultural economics and lifelong champion of the family farm. The progressive movement in agriculture was perhaps at its peak when Cochrane served as agricultural advisor to President Kennedy, and the flyleaf presents reviews by many of the past and current leaders in agricultural policy.
Levins cleverly traces the evolution of agribusiness during Cochrane's career through the growth of four giant corporations: Cargill, Pioneer (recently acquired by Dupont), John Deere and Monsanto. Early in his professional life, Cochrane questioned the common belief that supply and demand for farm products would adjust itself through price mechanisms. Later, as an economics professor, he wrote the classic, Farm Prices: Myth and Reality (University of Minnesota Press, 1958), that defined his liberal viewpoint vis-ˆ-vis the prevailing conservative thinking led by Ezra Taft Benson.
Cochrane was the logical choice as agricultural adviser to Kennedy during his 1960 Presidential campaign, and subsequently as director of agricultural economics in U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1961 to 1964. During this time he established the Economic Research and Statistical Reporting Service and helped Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman establish the Food Stamp Program.
The love and respect that the author, Dick Levins, has for his former colleague is evident in the heartwarming discussions of Cochrane's personal life including his long marriage to his wife, Mary. The book ends with a poignant chapter titled "Heartland" that retraces Willard's visits to his maternal grandfather's farm near Greenfield, Iowa. Levins drives Cochrane to the farm and accompanies him on visits with distant relatives and the abandoned farmstead. One can readily feel the depth of his sadness and anger at loss of the farms and farmers to industrialized agriculture.
It should come as no surprise that Cochrane is critical of the direction of today's agriculture and agricultural policy. He feels that the benefits of commodity-based price and income support programs accrue to agricultural corporations and large producers. He has concerns for the move toward globalization, the threats of global warming, soil erosion, chemical pollution and agricultural biotechnologies. He believes in taking advantage of marketing opportunities, but feels farmers should be protected against wildly fluctuating prices. Above all, he remains a champion of the family farm and rural communities.
The thoughts of Willard Cochrane deserve wider dissemination in the halls of Congress and the federal and state agencies that influence farm policy. Above all, sustainable agriculture proponents should carefully examine his views as the debates begin on the next farm bill. This book is a start.
At the time of this writing, Willard Cochrane is alive and well, and few can keep up with his intellect, still sharp at age 86. - Dennis Keeney, emeritus professor, Iowa State University