Farm to Family Connection - Commentary

FARM TO FAMILY COMMENTARY ---Select commentary from a weekly column by Curt Arens published in the Cedar County News, Hartington, NE

May 2006

Size Matters

Dear Friends,
A big gulf has formed between the mega-farmers and the small farmers. The mid-sized family farms that were so dominant across the landscape just a decade ago are truly an endangered species.

Farm facts back this up. The sector of agriculture growing most rapidly nationwide is small farms, where a good share of income is derived from the farm, but farmer, spouse and other major players in the operation garner part of their family living income elsewhere.

The big guys have grown too. Not only are there more mega-farms around the country, but the mega-farms have been super-sized, growing into farms of enormous magnitude in numbers of head of livestock and numbers of acres covered.

Sadly, in many localities, the rules and regulations governing farmers are hopelessly outdated. With the increasing numbers of small farms and mid-sized family farms looking to direct marketing for more of their farm income, regulators have been slow to the table to come up with permitting processes and equitable rules to govern this enormous growth in the farm sector.

In the same way, environmental concerns from mega-farms have grown for local neighborhoods and communities, but the rules and policies governing these types of operations have often been at least a step or two behind.

That’s what happens when things change so rapidly. Policy has to come along with the changes. How the policy develops and who makes the policy decisions are the questions that cause most folks the most headaches.

But it is insane to set up permitting processes for small and mid-sized family farms that direct market food and farm products that are the same as the rules set up for the huge food processors and retailers.

Obviously, because of pure volume of sales, the small guys are again at a great disadvantage, although everyone should agree that the actual risk for problems for the little guys is obviously less because of strict, up close and personal oversight over day to day operations by the folks who own the place.

The same is true when it comes to environmental regulations. You can’t tell me that someone who raises 100 hogs in an open lot has the same risk of water quality or odor concerns as the mega-farm that raises 15,000 head of hogs in confinement. They are worlds apart. So the rules and regulations guiding these operations should be suited to the income-producing ability of the producer and the risk of problems with the operation.

A big problem on a small number of acres is a small problem. But a little problem on a big acreage or with a large concentrated number of livestock can turn into a big problem in a hurry.

I don’t necessarily believe that small farms are always good and big farms are always bad. You have good and bad players in each size category. But one size does not fit all and one policy does not suit all. If we want to encourage growth in agriculture in all sectors, we have to be realistic when we set down the rules. So the rules should be multi-tiered and fair to farms of all sizes. That is the real challenge, but one worthy of tackling.

Making the little guys play by all the same rules as the big guys is for the small farmers like forcing them to oust a mouse with a stick of dynamite. But for the big guys, it might be expecting them to catch an elephant with a mousetrap. You aren’t providing the right policy tools for the job.

In other words, when it comes to policy, I think size should matter.