Farmers need
to reconnect,
prof urges

Industrialization has eroded
family farms, John Ikerd tells
a state agriculture conference

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By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

With the zeal of a fundamentalist preacher holding a tent revival meeting, John Ikerd challenged Hawaii's farmers to reconnect with their land, their neighbors and, ultimately, consumers.

Because industrialized agriculture takes decisions away from farmers nationwide, they are less likely to be concerned about their neighbors or the welfare of consumers, said Ikerd, the keynote speaker at yesterday's Agriculture 2002 conference in Waikiki. Ikerd is professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, and a specialist in sustainable agriculture.

Family farms and rural communities are dying all over the country as more agriculture is produced at large highly mechanized corporate-run operations, Ikerd said. The important decisions about what is being produced, how it's produced and who is producing it are being made in corporate boardrooms of multinational companies who control much of the nation's food system, he said.

Nationwide, the number of farms decreased steadily between 1935 and 1974, then became more stable, at about 2.3 million farms, according to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While the number stabilized, 56 percent of those farms had sales of less than $10,000 in 1999, and overall accounted for about 2 percent of the value of national agriculture production.

Family farms still dominate, however, with 86 percent of farms run as a sole proprietorship, according to the USDA. Many farmers, though, must also work outside the farm to make ends meet.

"Industrialization has separated farmers from the land, if not physically, at least psychologically," Ikerd said. "Most farmers don't even own the land they farm and most who own land don't have enough time or can't afford to care for it even if they do care about it. They can't afford to love the land and stay competitive in a global economy."

Agricultural decisions are driven by the needs of corporations rather than by the needs of families, communities, the land and society in general, Ikerd said. With production efficiency and profits the primary goal, Americans may eventually see themselves as dependent on outside sources of food as they currently are for oil, he said.

But Ikerd said a growing number of people are trying to develop an agricultural system that is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially responsible.

The new breed of farmer now emerging is a response to growing concerns about agriculture's future and the negative social and ecological impacts of today's large-scale industrial agriculture, he said.

Ikerd believes the transition now taking place in agriculture presents opportunities for those willing to re-think the way they approach farming. Hawaii's move away from plantation to diversified agriculture is part of that movement, he said.

The Agriculture 2002 conference at the Sheraton Waikiki marked the 20th anniversary of Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii, one of the sponsors of the event along with the Hawaii Farm Bureau and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. The conference focused on ways to help farmers expand their businesses and consider new ways to market their products and increase profitability.