Western Farms

A California farmer was given one million dollars by a jury for damages done to his crops by a neighbor’s spraying of pesticides. There are laws against aerial spraying causing damage, but this was field spraying, then the wind blowing it over onto the crop. The chemicals were legal on the crops they were being used on, but not the organic crop that it drifted over on. So, what happens now if organic farms can’t coexist with more conventional farms?

Western farmers aren’t taking it anymore, and they are making themselves heard over wrong business practices of the large supermarket chains. The chains are costing farmers many big dollars and denying customers access to quality produce. They are filing complains heard before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business. They feel large chains have too much power over what they are going to pay the farmers, and are driving the prices down, but yet not sharing that with the customer. They are saying the supermarket chains are making large sums of profit with this practice.

Some would condemn the American and European farmer for their corporate farming practices the last few decades. It’s true; these big farms do exist now, but they are family run. The father or grandfather is the CEO, and family members are the officers of the corporation.

The small family farm is gone because you just can’t make it anymore. Nowadays, it takes a large farm to support a family because of the percentage of profit.