August 4, 2000
There's a better option for family farmers than "folding their tents and stealing away into the night," says Willard Cochrane, professor emeritus with the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota.
"Farmers could form a national association and call it the National Trade Association of Family Farmers (NTAFF)," Cochrane wrote in an article in the Minnesota Agricultural Economist, published by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
"Agriculture is a high-risk, unpredictable and unstable industry," Cochrane wrote. "History tells us that boom times are the dangerous times for farmers-they tend to get carried away.
"They expand their operations with generous applications of credit and forget that boom times have always been followed by hard times-times when those who have over-extended their credit, unfortunately, go broke."
But a powerful trade association of family farmers could bargain with Congress, state governments, suppliers and processors. Cochrane says family farmers could bargain with:
--Congress for new farm legislation that favors small farms and reduces the amount of support that currently goes to corporate farms.
--State governments to implement favorable tax provisions for family farmers.
--Suppliers for the kinds of inputs that meet the requirements of small family farmers
--Handlers and processors to find new market outlets and buyers for products of the family farm.
They could also "negotiate contracts with suppliers that benefit family farmers, such as giving them the same discounts enjoyed by corporate farmers."
"Trade associations have worked well for other sectors of the agricultural industry," Cochrane says. "Sugarbeet growers, cotton producers and wheat farmers all formed trade associations that clearly benefited members."
"A strong trade association of family farmers would give them real market power and real political power," Cochrane says. "By organizing, family farmers could once again become a vital and thriving part of our nation's economy.":
