Caution! The Tug of War Over the Farmer’s Dollar
As a family farmer, I find it harder and harder to hang on to my dollar. In any war there are two sides. On one side is the farmer, trying to hold on to the dollar he earned. On the other are multiple entities after that same dollar. Let me give some examples.
It started with seed companies. Farmers pay a premium for seed, and it comes with technology fees. Fine, I understand the business model: companies need to afford to develop and introduce new products. Both sides won. The model worked so well that a majority of seed and chemical companies have now been acquired or are under foreign ownership.
🚩 This sends up a caution flag!
Next is the packing house industry. Through consolidation, fewer than a handful of companies control the majority of the market. That leaves the farmer with few, if any, options, and his marketing leverage is gone.
🚩 This sends up a caution flag!
Not to be left out, major farm equipment manufacturers want recurring fees similar to the seed companies’. The farmer pays a premium to purchase the equipment, but does he even own it if it can only be repaired by the manufacturer’s technicians? (Right-to-repair laws are starting to take effect, which is progress.)
To maintain profits, these investor-owned equipment companies have decided to assess software-as-a-service (SaaS) fees on equipment with technology that can reduce input costs. Again, the farmer pays a premium for the equipment and then gets charged a per-acre fee to use it.
🚩 This sends up a caution flag!
Summary: Investor-owned companies have their hands in the farmer’s pocket three times:
Inputs (seed and chemicals)
Equipment to grow the crop (major manufacturers)
Marketing (limited buyers)
RIP, Family Farmer.
October 2026
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