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| As a non farmer this whole discussion(s) is interesting to me because it seems to be indicative of a broader change in the business of farming in that this business has a major PR problem. With the rapid dissemination of information on the internet these days large operations like these are going to have to start thinking of people in different states and even different countries as their "neighbors." The coffee shop just got a lot bigger. In the past a reputation might affect somebody a couple of counties over but this is totally new.
Illinois Family Farms clearly has a toxic PR problem going on. What should the next outfit with similar ambitions draw from their experience? Manage your media footprint wisely- Corporate farms are not Paris Hilton, all press is not good press, use it to your adavntage. Change your name- WorldCom anyone? Diffuse the problem- by splitting into several smaller wholly owned subsidiaries under different names they make their target smaller and harder to hit and people might not be so aware of the massiveness of the corporation.
As has been mentioned in this post, Illinois Family Farms is not the biggest and there are tons of operations on the same scale. So why is this one the target of so much criticism? It would make an interesting business school case study that's for sure. My guess is that the people at the helm drastically underestimated the rapidity and scale that this problem could take on. 21rst century farming keeps adopting different aspects of the "corporate" world at large outside of just growing great corn: marketing, information technology, automation, detailed cost accounting... The large farm of the future will likely have to be aware of itself as a "brand" also.
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Wait just a minute Mr. Illff
