LEXINGTON, Ky. - Decades of unchecked mergers in the agricultural industry have left many farmers struggling, and rural advocacy groups says a proposal in Congress aims to change that.

The "Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act" would give agencies like the Federal Trade Commission more funding and resources to put a stop to unfair consolidation, and strengthen the rules against monopolies.

Tyler Whitley - Manager of the Challenging Corporate Power program for Rural Advancement Foundation International USA - said current antitrust law has left many farmers at the whim of a handful of major corporations.

He said there's not a lot of room for them to select a different supplier or manufacturer to get the best deal.

"So for a farmer, there may be limited options on where you can buy your seeds from, where you can buy your fertilizer from," said Whitley. "And I don't mean the individual point-of-sale; what I mean is the producer."

One 2016 study estimated that the mergers of Dow with DuPont, and Bayer with Monsanto, would mean an initial jump of more than $1,000 in corn-seed costs for the average U.S. farmer, in the first year alone. But opponents of stricter antitrust laws say allowing free-market competition benefits consumers.

Whitley pointed out big-ag mergers trickle down to most Americans at the grocery store.

"The number of manufacturers has gotten smaller and smaller, especially as some of these companies buy up other ones," said Whitley. "You know, if you're walking down the aisle of your grocery store, and you're looking at frozen poultry, for example, you look down the aisle and you see 20 some-odd brands, but what you probably don't realize is that, of those 20 brands, they're probably owned by four individual companies."

Whitley said he believes the bill is the foundation needed to help growers get the best prices for their products, and continue to innovate in the face of the climate crisis and other challenges.

"This bill will go a long way toward policing some of these mergers that have led to so few options for either buying products or selling products," said Whitley, "especially in rural economies."

The same bill would have implications beyond the ag industry, including for tech monopolies like Facebook, which is currently being sued by the Federal Trade Commission and several states for what they claim are antitrust practices.


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Montanans get a sense of what soil health is like on farms and ranches across the state with Northern Plains Resource Council's soil crawls.

The presentations highlight innovative agricultural methods designed to increase the sustainability and productivity of agricultural lands.

Bob Quinn, an organic farmer in Big Sandy who specializes is innovative growing techniques in arid climates, is being featured this month, and said the main concern for growers in northern Montana is water.

"Every drop that falls on your land, you want to keep on the land and not have it run off," Quinn explained. "That's what we've been trying to do is learn how to better increase the water absorption and the water-holding capacity of our soils, which goes hand in hand with soil health."

Quinn pointed out healthy soil provides greater yields and more nutritionally-dense foods. The soil crawl, which includes an on-site workshop, is on July 9 and costs $15 to attend.

Quinn noted the region has faced increasingly severe droughts in recent years. A similar event was planned on Quinn's farm last summer but had to be canceled because of the dry conditions.

He emphasized typically, there are intense droughts followed by wet cycles, but they've skipped a few of those rainier seasons recently. Quinn added it makes some of the techniques he is pioneering for arid conditions even more crucial.

"That's really important in these days," Quinn stressed. "Where water shortage is going to just be a looming and a more pressing problem continuously."

Some techniques they will explore at the soil crawl include drought-resistance practices, such as heavy mulch and cover crops grazed down with animals.

A kinder approach to the soil could be what Idaho farmers need to get more out of their land.

The Nature Conservancy in Idaho has a demonstration farm in Twin Falls that shows the impacts of regenerative agricultural practices, such as no-till farming where a second crop is planted directly into the first crop without disturbing the soil.

Brad Johnson is agriculture strategy manager with The Nature Conservancy in Idaho. He said these practices can help farmers save money.

"It'll help them with water savings," said Johnson. "We can gain some yield, we can lower the input cost to the growers, so their margins will be higher. And we believe that has benefits for community, for our environment, for our waterways in the state."

Johnson said some of the farmers that have implemented no-till practices have reduced their fuel costs by as much as 60%, which is especially important right now with the high price of gas.

Other practices demonstrated on the farm include integrating livestock, reducing the use of chemicals like fertilizer, and cover-crop planting to preserve the farm's living root system.

These practices are important as the state's climate changes, and can even help sequester carbon. But Johnson said the state still is dealing with a years-long drought.

"As we get farther into this drought it's super important that growers start to adjust their practices," said Johnson. "Make a more resilient crop, make your soil more resilient to drought, store more water in the soil. That kind of thing."

Johnson said he's hearing from more "soil health curious" farmers by the day.

"These soil-health practices can and will increase the farmer's bottom line," said Johnson, "once they get through that transition period of getting their soil biology built up and perfecting these practices on their operation."

Over the past several months, parents across Virginia and the country have struggled to find baby formula, particularly in rural communities. Many rural Virginia communities are food deserts, where residents do not have easy access to nutritious and affordable food.

Elyssa Schmier, vice president of government relations for the advocacy group MomsRising, said parents in those towns and villages face additional barriers to accessing formula.

"Their stores are few and far between that might carry formula," Schmier explained. "And with rising gas prices and people who are working full-time jobs, the ability to drive all over God's green earth looking for baby formula is a struggle."

In 2020, the state of Virginia launched a Food Access Investment Fund to support new groceries in food deserts.

Schmier contended the federal government should also look for long-term solutions, such as reconsidering a failed $28 million appropriations bill to help regulators prevent future shortages.

A 2019 report from the National Institutes of Health found rural infants are more commonly fed formula than their urban and suburban counterparts, and rural areas may face "a disparity in the access to and affordability of infant feeding resources."

Schmier noted low-income parents cannot use WIC benefits to purchase formula online.

"So even if they were able to find it on an online store, which would obviously open up more avenues for someone who lives in a rural community, they can't use WIC dollars for that," Schmier explained.

Schmier recommends against home brewing infant formula, watering down formula or giving babies animal-produced milk if they're younger than one year old. She also advised parents to consult with a pediatrician or health care provider before switching infant formula types.