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Pierce county WI | Maybe we will see a rise of grassroots co-ops again like they were intended to be in the first place. Land o lakes started as a co-op of farmers trying to break the butter market that was a racket. Maybe we need to get rid of the retailers and the processors if they start to pull the Walmart and Amazon game of trying to get a controlled Monopoly. The nice part of row crop grain production is the ability to increase or decrease the size of your operation, in comparison to a livestock operation that is built for a capacity. Machinery and grain storage can be added and removed temporarily, and easily, in comparison with a dairy herd. Believe it or not, agribusiness is on the side of the independent farmer. They would much rather have lots of customers than be at the mercy of a single one. I watched hogs go out in the 90s. My parents had a breeding stock facility leased to a grower for lieske genetics. When we entered that agreement we had to sell our own pigs. The contract ended just before the bottom fell out. As a former dairy farmer, I can't believe how fast the small dairy farm is being shut down. Will they come for private land ownership someday? Of course. So will we sell and give up the American dream? Some will. Hopefully things will come full circle, and people will continue to take an interest in where their AG comes from. They claim the next threat is urban vertical production and lab grown meat. | |
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First they came...
