While prices paid to hog farmers have risen from all-time lows, some 14,000 hog farmers were still driven out of business last year. Fuel prices are at a 20-year high, a major expense for farmers. There are signs of widening poverty in rural areas, as hospitals, wages, and social services are cut. At the same time working farmers and their families are going through ever-toughening conditions, capitalist politicians are pushing legislation to increase the profit margins of the rich farmers and agribusiness giants. The government just lifted any cap on the yearly subsidy an individual can receive, which is just a massive boon to wealthy growers and agribusiness.
Most farmers receive a paltry amount each year in support payments of any kind.
The Washington, D.C., rally will give them the opportunity to join forces with other layers of fighters against foreclosures. This also deals a blow to divisions and prejudices the rulers try to sow among farmers. Toilers increasingly see skirmishes in their plants as part of a larger fight for dignity and the right to work in a safe environment. The rulers would have farmers believe that the cause of their plight rests with toilers of another nation or a foreign country. But working farmers and peasants around the world face similar crises and are part of struggles right now against a common exploiter.