Over the past several decades, he has studied concentration of ownership within the food industry and is one of the nation's leading authorities on the changing structure of agriculture. The future of agriculture comes down to economic power. It's no longer a question of becoming more efficient or smarter at what you do, having a vision when someone else doesn't, or being right when someone else is wrong. The hand of large corporations is more visible in agriculture than it has ever been before. I would like to see the Leopold Center evaluate its work from the perspective of whether each step taken would increase a base of power for the sustainable agriculture community.
Farmers continue to compete with each other, a sure way to keep economic power low.
Meanwhile, giant corporations merge to further increase their economic power. Dick Levins is professor of agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota. A 10-page summary of the July 21 session is available. The Center plans a series of meetings throughout Iowa to gather more comments.