February 2002
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But apart from the politics, one of the major philosophical points of debate concerning the Farm Bill, and federal agricultural policy in general, is whether America's family farmers are really benefiting from government farm programs. And of course the challenge in trying to answer that question hinges on how you define both “farms,” and the concept of a “family farm.” There's a great deal more rhetoric than certainty about these terms and their use.
The former Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart once coined a familiar phrase during high court deliberations on a free speech issue. He said he couldn't define pornography, but “he knew it when he saw it.” That well-worn axiom may also apply these days to efforts by elected officials, and especially those of us in agriculture, to define the meaning and purpose of a family farm. We can't exactly describe it in every instance and in every detail, but we know when we see one – and when we don't.
Describing and defining farms has become an important issue because in the debate over the Farm Bill, some critics of government ag policies assert that “family farms” don't benefit from the current program – and they won't benefit in the future if the currently-proposed House and Senate versions of the 2002 Farm Bill are passed into law.
The Environmental Working Group, an anti-pesticide lobbying group, even created a heavily-trafficked website listing how much certain farmers have received in government payments the past six years. EWG apparently is trying to drum up opposition to the direct AMTA payment system featured in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. Their hope is that by showing some farmers are getting money – big money, in a few cases – while others get little or none, it will generate a groundswell of opposition to traditional farm programs. EWG's theory apparently is that large payments going to some large farmers means “family farmers” are being given short shift – a point other special interests have also made.
I think it remains to be seen whether there will be a cause and effect reaction between the publication of government farm payment data, and the demise of conventional farm programs. But what this situation definitely illustrates is that farmers need to do a better job of explaining how their businesses are structured, and why. And I think that we in the dairy sector have a particularly good story to tell.
Farms of all types, in all areas of the country, have been getting larger since the introduction of mechanized agriculture more than 100 years ago. Dairy farm numbers continue to shrink, and those that remain get larger. Several complex social and economic reasons underpin this trend, although the level of government involvement is probably not even in the top five.
In dairy, the major reasons are advances in cow genetics and feeding practices allowing us to get more milk from fewer cows, coupled with the need to spread capital costs across more units of production (i.e., cows). Also, the 24/7 demands of dairy farming – unique in all of agriculture – look less attractive to each successive generation of potential young farmers, who increasingly have other career options away from the farm.
Still, many young people are attracted to the lifestyle, challenging as it may be, of dairy farming. As a result, dairy farming in this country remains a family enterprise. By any reasonable definition of what a family farm is, probably 99%+ of America's 75,000 dairy farm operations qualify. And how should a “family operation” be defined? As one where the farm in question is owned and operated by people who provide the capital, the management, and the labor needed to make the farm work. One or more members of the family take the risk of running the enterprise, and is responsible for the decisions that ultimately affect the farm's success.
Again, by that definition, we have virtually no “non-family” dairy farms. We have farms where brothers and sisters have incorporated their business partnership to run the dairy. Or where the partnership is between a father and his children, or even between neighbors. But at the end of the day, the people who live on the farm, who buy and sell the cows, who keep the books and suffer if the milk price drops – these are family dairy farmers, whether they have 50 cows or 5,000.
The terminology issue has become a hot button because of the inroads that corporations – publicly-traded, for-profit, high-profile companies like Smithfield and Tyson – have made in other livestock sectors, primarily poultry and pork. In those animal agriculture sectors, the role of the family in the farm has been shrinking. Business decisions are made not by farmers, but by corporate boards acting on behalf of shareholders. And now, beef producers are debating whether to support an amendment in the Senate Farm Bill that would ban packers from owning their own livestock. The concern is that if trends continue, family cattle ranchers will be squeezed out by vertically-integrated, corporate meatpacking giants.
We in the dairy community have been spared these disputes because of the fact that corporations are not a presence among our producers (in fact, probably the largest true corporation owning dairy cattle in this country is, ironically, a leading organic milk marketer). Instead, thanks largely to family ties, the role of the family in dairy farming remains preeminent.
The final question on this subject might be, Does it matter who owns a farm? Do “family farmers” have any inherent right to a place in agriculture, in relation to so-called “corporate” farms? Is one business model better at serving consumer food needs than another? These are questions that cannot be answered by any Farm Bill, or even by government policymakers. The American public ultimately will vote, with their ballots and their wallets, as to whether they prefer one over the other. However, for those consumers who place an importance on the concept of the family farm in the American landscape, we in the dairy community can continue to say – proudly – that we have thousands of hard-working dairy families serving their needs.
