Corporate farming
Encyclopedia
Corporate farming is a term that describes the business
of agriculture
, specifically, what is seen by some as the practices of would-be megacorporations involved in food production on a very large scale. It is a modern food industry
issue, and encompasses not only the farm
itself, but also the entire chain of agriculture-related business, including seed
supply, agrichemicals, food processing, machinery
, storage, transport
, distribution
, marketing
, advertising
, and retail
sales
. The term also includes the influence of these companies on education
, research
and public policy
, through their educational funding and government
lobbying efforts. "Corporate farming" is often used synonymously with "agribusiness
" (although "agribusiness" quite often is not used in the corporate farming sense), and it is seen as the destroyer of the family farm
.
Critics argue that the ultimate goal of corporate farming is to vertically integrate
the entire process of food production, up to the point of the distribution and sale of food to consumers. Some corporations are considered to be well on the way to achieving this objective, and have become very large in the process, such as Archer Daniels Midland
, Monsanto Company, and the privately held Cargill
, with 2004 revenues of $62.9 billion.
"Corporate farming" is a fairly broad term that deals with the general practices and effects of a small number of large, global corporations that dominate the food industry. It does not refer simply to any incorporated
agribusiness enterprise, although most agricultural businesses today are in some way economically connected to the dominant food industry players. As such, it may be thought of as a movement
, which is at times also referred to as "anti-corporate farming".
is a form of vertical integration where the farmer is contractually bound to supply a given quantity and quality of product to a processing or marketing enterprise. The buyer agrees in advance to pay a certain price to the farmer and often provides technical advice and inputs (the cost of the inputs being deducted from the farmer's revenue once the product has been sold to the buyer). Contract farming has arguably not resulted so far in a significant improvement in the livelihoods of small farmers in developing countries because buyers generally prefer to deal with large-scale producers who are better placed to meet the stringent quality and timeliness requirements.
, fertilizer
s, irrigation
, pesticide
s, fuel
, and seeds. Some people question whether small family farm
s are still economically sustainable
in the United States
. However, there is a growing resurgence of interest in organic
, free range
, and locally grown
family farm products.
One major difference between independent farming and corporate farming is that a corporate farmer is usually a contract
ed employee, rather than the owner
of the farm. However, ownership itself does not mean independence. An owner-operated farm today faces many constraints that are completely out of the owner's control. Most of these can be seen in light of increasing concentration of ownership, not only of farms, but of the equipment and inputs necessary to farm, and the available sales channels.
Production contracts are a primary means of control and vertical integration of family farms. These are of two general types. Production management contracts specify the methods farmers must use. Resource-providing contracts require the contractor to also provide materials (e.g) and equipment. Under the latter, increasingly prevalent arrangement, the family farm owns its land and "sells" its output, but retains no real decision making control over the essential farming activities, like crop selection, equipment purchase, production methods, sales channels, and buyers.
A prime example is the drive to constantly improve production efficiency, as measured by farm output. By using successive waves of new technology (in agrichemicals, mechanization, crop varieties, drugs, etc.), output has steadily risen over the past decades. This in turn has contributed to steadily driving down the price farmers can get for their output. As the cost of remaining in production rises, and income falls, only the larger business entities, with the ability to profit from outside of the immediate farming activities (such as through financial services, agrichemical production, food distribution, and so forth) can afford to remain in the game.
In terms of income disparity, large family farms, rather than factory farms, have the greatest impact. Although 14% of total food production comes from the two percent of all farms in the United States that are owned by corporations or other non-family entities, 50% of food production comes from the biggest two percent of all farms. In 1900, it came from 17% of all farms.
which provides significant economies of scale
to large producers. As is the trend
in such industries, agricultural production in most free-market economies has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of large companies. As this trend continues, so too does the risk that markets for food will display monopolistic
or oligarchical
characteristics. At the same time, competition law
and policy seeks to redress such market anomalies.
. At the same time, through a process of vertical integration, corporate farming results in the concentration of not only ownership of the means of production, but also the distribution and sale of food which is produced. Over time this has resulted in the steady decrease of the number of farms and the percentage of independent farmers. Those farmers who cannot compete or whose businesses are purchased are no longer able to make independent production decisions, and are forced to sign production contract
s with corporations.
The trend
towards concentration began in the chicken
and vegetable
industries
and has since expanded to hog
and grain
production. In 1997, some 60% of hogs sold within the U.S. were sold under some form of contract, whereas in 1980 only 5% of hogs were sold in this manner.
As production continues to concentrate and is coupled with increasing reliance on technology
, farmers complain about their increasing remoteness from centers of population or production. For example, farm machinery repair services, which were once as close as two miles away, are increasingly as far as 40 miles away.
al value, freshness and flavour, as well as upon the range of products available for consumers. Corporate farming practices may also more readily involve the use of genetically modified
crops, hormone
s, preservative
s, color additives
and insecticide
s, again with a view to maximising yield and profit.
. Critics of both are concerned that these large businesses will leverage their economic and political power to defeat attempts to regulate or restrain the spread of genetic engineering in agriculture, or leverage intellectual property
rights in GMOs
to unfair advantage over their competitors, against the interests of users and consumers of their products, and to the detriment of the environment
.
A reason given in support of patent
s is that they provide an economic incentive for the creation of new and useful inventions by temporarily rewarding the inventor with monopoly profit
s. The patent holder has certain exclusive rights to the exploitation of her invention, which may result in significant economic rewards. However, consumers may choose to buy rival products (which could be protected by other patents), and the lifetime of the patent is limited.
Simple possession of a naturally occurring seed (free from patent restrictions) gives one the ability and the legal right to grow crops from the seed, to modify the breed, and to sell, exchange, or share the seed as one sees fit. With patent rights, however, the inventor (often a large corporation) may choose to restrict how farmers may use a given organism, in order extract the economic value of each type of use, and to extract economic value from each user.
Critics of GMOs and corporations say that these rights give already powerful corporations an even greater advantage, and in a way which disrupts millennia-old agricultural practices. Supporters of genetic engineering emphasize the potential benefits in nutrition, reduced environmental impact, and increased productivity that may be possible with the technology. They say that the additional economic rewards are necessary to encourage the large capital investments needed to make useful advancements in the field.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, specifically, what is seen by some as the practices of would-be megacorporations involved in food production on a very large scale. It is a modern food industry
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
issue, and encompasses not only the farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
itself, but also the entire chain of agriculture-related business, including seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
supply, agrichemicals, food processing, machinery
Agricultural machinery
Agricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.-Hand tools:The first person to turn from the hunting and gathering lifestyle to farming probably did so by using his bare hands, and perhaps some sticks or stones. Tools such as knives, scythes, and wooden...
, storage, transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
, distribution
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, and retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
. The term also includes the influence of these companies on education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and public policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
, through their educational funding and government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
lobbying efforts. "Corporate farming" is often used synonymously with "agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
" (although "agribusiness" quite often is not used in the corporate farming sense), and it is seen as the destroyer of the family farm
Family farm
A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family, and often passed down from generation to generation. It is the basic unit of the mostly agricultural economy of much of human history and continues to be so in developing nations...
.
Critics argue that the ultimate goal of corporate farming is to vertically integrate
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
the entire process of food production, up to the point of the distribution and sale of food to consumers. Some corporations are considered to be well on the way to achieving this objective, and have become very large in the process, such as Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer Daniels Midland Company is a conglomerate headquartered in Decatur, Illinois. ADM operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial and animal feed markets worldwide.ADM was named the...
, Monsanto Company, and the privately held Cargill
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...
, with 2004 revenues of $62.9 billion.
"Corporate farming" is a fairly broad term that deals with the general practices and effects of a small number of large, global corporations that dominate the food industry. It does not refer simply to any incorporated
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
agribusiness enterprise, although most agricultural businesses today are in some way economically connected to the dominant food industry players. As such, it may be thought of as a movement
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
, which is at times also referred to as "anti-corporate farming".
Contract farming
Contract farmingContract farming
Contract farming is agricultural production carried out according to an agreement between a buyer and farmers, which establishes conditions for the production and marketing of a farm product or products. Typically, the farmer agrees to provide established quantities of a specific agricultural...
is a form of vertical integration where the farmer is contractually bound to supply a given quantity and quality of product to a processing or marketing enterprise. The buyer agrees in advance to pay a certain price to the farmer and often provides technical advice and inputs (the cost of the inputs being deducted from the farmer's revenue once the product has been sold to the buyer). Contract farming has arguably not resulted so far in a significant improvement in the livelihoods of small farmers in developing countries because buyers generally prefer to deal with large-scale producers who are better placed to meet the stringent quality and timeliness requirements.
Corporate farm vs family farm
Farms are expensive to operate; input costs include farm machinery, crop insuranceCrop insurance
Crop insurance is purchased by agricultural producers, including farmers, ranchers, and others to protect themselves against either the loss of their crops due to natural disasters, such as hail, drought, and floods, or the loss of revenue due to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities...
, fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
s, irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
, pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s, fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
, and seeds. Some people question whether small family farm
Family farm
A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family, and often passed down from generation to generation. It is the basic unit of the mostly agricultural economy of much of human history and continues to be so in developing nations...
s are still economically sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, there is a growing resurgence of interest in organic
Organic product
An organic product is made from organic raw materials. It also requires Organic certification.-Food:*Fruit and vegetables*Meat, dairy, eggs*Nuts and seeds*Flour and Grains*Herbs- Processed foods :*Organic juice*Canned goods*Frozen vegetables...
, free range
Free range
thumb|250px|Free-range chickens being fed outdoors.Free range is a term which outside of the United States denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. In the United States, USDA regulations apply only to poultry and...
, and locally grown
Local food
Local food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
family farm products.
One major difference between independent farming and corporate farming is that a corporate farmer is usually a contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
ed employee, rather than the owner
Ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
of the farm. However, ownership itself does not mean independence. An owner-operated farm today faces many constraints that are completely out of the owner's control. Most of these can be seen in light of increasing concentration of ownership, not only of farms, but of the equipment and inputs necessary to farm, and the available sales channels.
Production contracts are a primary means of control and vertical integration of family farms. These are of two general types. Production management contracts specify the methods farmers must use. Resource-providing contracts require the contractor to also provide materials (e.g) and equipment. Under the latter, increasingly prevalent arrangement, the family farm owns its land and "sells" its output, but retains no real decision making control over the essential farming activities, like crop selection, equipment purchase, production methods, sales channels, and buyers.
A prime example is the drive to constantly improve production efficiency, as measured by farm output. By using successive waves of new technology (in agrichemicals, mechanization, crop varieties, drugs, etc.), output has steadily risen over the past decades. This in turn has contributed to steadily driving down the price farmers can get for their output. As the cost of remaining in production rises, and income falls, only the larger business entities, with the ability to profit from outside of the immediate farming activities (such as through financial services, agrichemical production, food distribution, and so forth) can afford to remain in the game.
In terms of income disparity, large family farms, rather than factory farms, have the greatest impact. Although 14% of total food production comes from the two percent of all farms in the United States that are owned by corporations or other non-family entities, 50% of food production comes from the biggest two percent of all farms. In 1900, it came from 17% of all farms.
Effects ascribed to corporate farming
Agriculture is an industryIndustry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
which provides significant economies of scale
Economies of scale
Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...
to large producers. As is the trend
Bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have...
in such industries, agricultural production in most free-market economies has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of large companies. As this trend continues, so too does the risk that markets for food will display monopolistic
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
or oligarchical
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
characteristics. At the same time, competition law
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
and policy seeks to redress such market anomalies.
Concentration of production
Corporate farming is criticized for its tendency to concentrate food production, through the adoption of methods which are designed to maximize crop yieldCrop yield
In agriculture, crop yield is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, yield is also the seed generation of the plant itself...
. At the same time, through a process of vertical integration, corporate farming results in the concentration of not only ownership of the means of production, but also the distribution and sale of food which is produced. Over time this has resulted in the steady decrease of the number of farms and the percentage of independent farmers. Those farmers who cannot compete or whose businesses are purchased are no longer able to make independent production decisions, and are forced to sign production contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
s with corporations.
The trend
Bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have...
towards concentration began in the chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
industries
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and has since expanded to hog
Intensive pig farming
Intensive piggeries are a type of factory farm ' specialized in the raising of domestic pigs up to slaughter weight...
and grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
production. In 1997, some 60% of hogs sold within the U.S. were sold under some form of contract, whereas in 1980 only 5% of hogs were sold in this manner.
As production continues to concentrate and is coupled with increasing reliance on technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, farmers complain about their increasing remoteness from centers of population or production. For example, farm machinery repair services, which were once as close as two miles away, are increasingly as far as 40 miles away.
Food quality and cheap food
A critical consideration is whether the quality of the food which reaches the consumer is as good as it would be under alternative structures of ownership and production. To the extent that corporate farming primarily seeks to maximise yield and profit, this is seen as adversely impacting upon nutritionNutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
al value, freshness and flavour, as well as upon the range of products available for consumers. Corporate farming practices may also more readily involve the use of genetically modified
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
crops, hormone
Hormone
A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...
s, preservative
Preservative
A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....
s, color additives
Food additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines...
and insecticide
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
s, again with a view to maximising yield and profit.
Genetic engineering
The debate about large corporations in agriculture is heightened at the intersection with the already controversial issue of genetically modified foodGenetically modified food
Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...
. Critics of both are concerned that these large businesses will leverage their economic and political power to defeat attempts to regulate or restrain the spread of genetic engineering in agriculture, or leverage intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
rights in GMOs
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
to unfair advantage over their competitors, against the interests of users and consumers of their products, and to the detriment of the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
.
A reason given in support of patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s is that they provide an economic incentive for the creation of new and useful inventions by temporarily rewarding the inventor with monopoly profit
Monopoly profit
- Monopoly Profit - Basic Definition :In economics, a firm is a monopoly when, because of the lack of any viable competition, it is able to become the sole producer of the industry's product. In a normal competitive situation, the price the firm gets for its product is exactly the same as the...
s. The patent holder has certain exclusive rights to the exploitation of her invention, which may result in significant economic rewards. However, consumers may choose to buy rival products (which could be protected by other patents), and the lifetime of the patent is limited.
Simple possession of a naturally occurring seed (free from patent restrictions) gives one the ability and the legal right to grow crops from the seed, to modify the breed, and to sell, exchange, or share the seed as one sees fit. With patent rights, however, the inventor (often a large corporation) may choose to restrict how farmers may use a given organism, in order extract the economic value of each type of use, and to extract economic value from each user.
Critics of GMOs and corporations say that these rights give already powerful corporations an even greater advantage, and in a way which disrupts millennia-old agricultural practices. Supporters of genetic engineering emphasize the potential benefits in nutrition, reduced environmental impact, and increased productivity that may be possible with the technology. They say that the additional economic rewards are necessary to encourage the large capital investments needed to make useful advancements in the field.
Further reading
- Corporate Agribusiness Research Project
- Voices of the Family Farm
- Project to Eliminate Factory Farming
- Anti-Corporate Farming Laws in the Heartland law, history, and facts on anti-corporate farming laws in nine US states
- Big Sugar and the Political Economy of US Agricultural Policy