In North Carolina Smithfield Foods followed exactly the same scenario with respect to hogs. We should expect that as calf contracting is introduced in the Northern Plains, local auction barns will be put out of business. This is not idle speculation. Such oligarchic food systems will not only turn farmers into serfs, it will eventually hold all consumers hostage to corporate greed. Tysonization will increase the liability of farmers.
Contract farming allows agricultural companies to externalize their risks.
By owning the results of the farm's production instead of the farm itself, agricultural companies assume no liability for the environmental or social damage caused by the farming operation. The large, mass production systems which Tysonization creates produce increased environmental and social harm. Government regulations to protect the public good, and citizen law suits to protect private property, will increase. And farmers, as well as other citizens, not the agricultural companies, will bear the cost. Tysonization will further degrade the quality of life in both rural and urban communities.