CISSNA PARK, Ill. — With the intention to help shape the U.S. Senate’s version of a new farm bill, three Illinois farmers traveled to Washington, D.C. to recommend inclusion-and-or passage of agriculture-related bills that benefit small farming operations. Ed Dubrick, policy organizer for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance (ISA), along with two fellow farmers, Bethany Salisbury of Saratoga Homestead in Henry and John Dailey of Dailey Farms in Alexis, joined a coalition from neighboring states to meet with members of Congress and their staff during their May 19-21 trip. 

“We joined the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment in D.C. and on the first day we prepped for our meetings with lawmakers. The second day we went to Capitol Hill and met with (representatives) from Congresswoman Robin Kelly’s (D-IL, 2nd) office, Congressman Erik Sorenson’s (D-IL, 17th) office, Congressman Darin LaHood’s (R-IL, 16th) office, Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski’s (D-IL, 13th) office,” said Dubrick, a north-central Illinois producer of chickens, turkeys, laying hens, sheep and fresh produce. 

“We talked a lot about competition in agriculture and how very few companies control such large market shares. Simultaneously while trying to address the consolidation we have to improve competition and provide marketplaces for farmers who are outside that corporate control to be able to compete and be viable.”

Dubrick noted that there was a lot of interest from lawmakers in restoring fair competition to agricultural and food markets. “We’re starting to see a lot of attention in the media and from news sources about the monopolies and the corporate consolidation in agriculture. It was clear that the (lawmakers’) offices have heard this and are paying attention,” he said. 

The timing of the trip was fortuitous in that the House of Representatives had recently passed its version of a new farm bill, meaning the stage was set in Washington for a new round of farm bill debates as the Senate began to craft their response to the House legislation. Meeting with the staff of Durbin, a Senate Ag Committee member who was home in Illinois at the time of the ISA  visit, was one of the highlights of the trio’s campaign.

“It was important to also tell our House members that when the (Senate farm) bill comes back to you, here are some things you can do,” said Dubrick. “It’s not unheard of for them to pass stand-alone bills when it comes to ag policy, as we just saw with E15 being passed stand-alone. The mandatory COOL that we were advocating for didn’t survive the House version; maybe it gets in the Senate version, but if it doesn’t the House can still take action on its own.”

Concerning monopolies in agriculture, the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act may offer the most potential for improving competition and pricing for small producers, according to Dubrick. “Right now about 80 to 85 percent of our beef in the U.S. is processed by what they call the Big Four meat processors. Those same four also process pork and poultry and because they are so large they have an outsized control on the market and an outsized impact on communities,” he said. 

“Just recently a processing plant in Milwaukee closed. Now the nearest one for that company is about an 8 hour drive. Those producers will have their cost of production greatly increased to go that far. We’ve seen it time and time again, whether up in Milwaukee, in Missouri with a poultry processor that closed or Nebraska and another processor there.”

The law would direct the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the monopolies and create a divestiture plan to provide better competition. This could lead to “true price discovery,” the ISA policy leader predicted. 

“Right now with so many of the cattle in the U.S., or pork or chickens purchased under contract by these large corporations, it really does impact the market because there is not another alternative buyer that has any influence on pricing. If we can increase competition we will see better prices for farmers and better prices for consumers,” said Dubrick. 

“I am definitely re-energized after meeting with legislators on both sides of the aisle,” he added, “and I’m holding on to a lot of hope.”