While told these actions are necessary for these companies to remain competitive, we remain skeptical. US agricultural producers are a modern-day miracle. We have the ability to feed not only our nation but much of the world. Yet, we are facing a cost-price squeeze in which the price of our inputs is rising, in real terms, while the price received for our products is actually declining in real terms. As a result, many farmers are either holding on until they can afford to get out or are simply hanging by a thread hoping something will change.
Competition is a difficult issue and can have many different meanings.
As an organization, Farm Bureau is strongly supportive of competitive markets. When a good or service is controlled by only a few this is cause for concern. Today, the agricultural processing sector provides a good case study on consolidation. Consolidation is also a concern at the farm level. While the extent of consolidation can be quantified it is more difficult to determine the various impacts of a specific transaction.