The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

19'72 A NEW AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION 263the large farms to the test, causingmany to fail. Fluctuating farmprices thus tend to even the score,so that the little fellow. has an opportunityto compete. What willhappen to the small family farmwhen collective bargaining assuresstable high prices for the largefarmer ? Won't this be the openingcorporations are looking for andwon't they come pouring into agricultureonce we assure a higherprofit margin?To limit "over-production" whenbargaining achieves a better pricefor farmers, there will have to besome kind of a quota system. Justas laborers wait in line to workon union jobs, so shall young far-·mers wait in line to farm. In goodgrowing years we will be forcedto let a portion of the crop rotto insure higher. prices.from theconsumer. It will be an entirelynew ball game for the self-reliant,independent, competitive farmer.But he will adjust, once he tastesthe fruits of collective action.As time goes" on, I anticipatethat these quotas will be purchasedby the larger growers; and thelarger growers will merge andform even larger corporations.Once we establish "rights" as towho can farm and how much, weare opening the door to big businessin farming. Just as truckers"rights" are soon purchased bythe larger trucking firms, the farmers"rights" will also flow towardwhere the money is. By turningto collective bargaining, wemay be dooming the family farm.We already have legislation." toprevent buyers from discriminatingagainst us when we sell· cooperatively- The Agricultural Fair.Practice Act. The National AgriculturalMarketing and BargainingAct (Sisk Bill) is about to bepassed in Congress. It would forcethe buyer of farm products to negotiatein good faith with his reg-·ular suppliers and prevent himfrom buying from· other sourcesduring these negotiations.· Thenext logical legislative step willbe a requirement for compulsoryarbitration if negotiations fail.Along with this will have to comea limit on entry and quotas for allexisting farmers.In summary, we are witnessingin a few short years the coming ofa monopolistic type of collectivebargaining for agriculture. Farmersare accomplishing this throughstrong and efficient lobbies inWashington. Farmers may soonhave the collective bargaining powersthat it took labor a century ofbloodshed to obtain. Even theD.S.D.A., after 35 years of all sortsof farm programs that have failed,now suggests that we try farm bargaining.The collective bargainingjuggernaut is rolling in ;high gearand is on a collision cqurse with