That includes everything from processing grain into livestock feed to selling packaged foods to you at the grocery. For starters, jobs are threatened. Rural veterinarians lose key clients. Lower demand for feed means less grain is purchased from Ohio growers. Less Ohio meat is processed for consumer products.
Consumers have fewer choices, which usually causes prices to go up.
What affects one segment of the farm economy ripples through the entire food system. That's why ODA worked to help Ohio hog farmers. To boost retail pork sales, we lobbied grocery stores to lower prices to consumers. To alleviate farmers' cash flow problems, we asked bankers to grant forbearance on outstanding loans to producers. To open new markets for Ohio's specialty meat processors, we petitioned the feds to allow our small state-inspected meat packers to sell their products out of state.