Big Ag!

Our food system has evolved and consolidated. Change is totally possible! But, we need the size and expertise of ALL – big and small to scale foods next evolution.

by Chad Steiner

Are the big agriculture companies (“Big Ag”) to blame for harming our food? This topic comes up with visitors to the farm and tasting room. The most recent topic is about glyphosate and pesticides on our food. On a scale of 1 to 10 on emotion, this topic hits 7 or above for folks. Which then puts it into a place where it could be very polarizing. Kind of an “us” vs. “them”, making “Big Ag” a more delicate topic to tackle. We all want to eat healthy, clean and safe food. My goal is to help bring this topic to a neutral place. “Us” vs. “them” won’t get us where we need to go. Where is it we need to go? We need a regenerative food system! This is the next evolution in how we grow and feed the world. But, and it’s a big “but”, we’re going to need everyone in the food system to get there – especially Big Ag. I won’t be able to tackle the entire topic in this week’s blog post. I’m going to break it into parts over the next couple weeks. 1. What is Big Ag? 2. How the system evolved/how’d we get here? 3. Let’s talk about the “people” in the Big Ag companies. 4. What does the future hold? My plan is to touch on each of these but only go in depth on one or two of them this week.

Caption: Chad tours greenhouse tomato production outside Guadalajara Mexico while working for Syngenta.

I’m passionate about helping others know and understand how our food production system works. It’s also my goal to inspire collaboration, empathy and understanding. Fighting or villainizing won’t get us as far as understanding and acting with our pocketbook and or time. We get to choose where our food dollars go, this is huge. Spend an “informed” dollar on your food. Dedicate time to learn about, join or reach out to companies or organizations on a mission to create a better food system and planet. I’m incredibly optimistic about the future of food and our country’s ability to scale new methods.

Let’s talk about “Big Ag”. Is this a term commonly used? Probably not. Big Agriculture may come up in other ways. During COVID it became very clear that our meat production is reliant upon a few large animal production companies. Other big agriculture company examples you may be familiar with would be around pesticides, in particular glyphosate. There are also massively large farms in the United States. In other words, “Big Ag” is a reference to large agricultural companies. No different than the Walmart’s, Costco’s or AT&T’s we’re all very familiar with. In a free market, as time goes on, companies merge, get purchased or go out of business. There has been lots of consolidation over the years in agriculture. Farms are larger than ever before and so are the companies that serve them. As you may know, I worked many years for the largest pesticide company in the world – Syngenta. This was an incredibly positive experience for me. Now as a small organic farmer, I believe it’s why I’m in a position to help people learn about farming in a broader, big picture context. I truly believe these large companies are in the best position to help scale change in our food system. And in the meantime, they might experience some disruption as small innovators enter the picture.

Caption: Chad, partner/friend Todd Cameron, Marco with CIV & Jacopa with Salvi on a cherry variety tour just outside Ferrara Italy. This cherry production system was incredibly high tech. Each row totally covered and on a dwarf system allowing all work to be done from the ground. The cherry varieties were amazing!

I’ll get into – “how did we get here” next week. The story behind the evolution of our food system is helpful to understand. And I believe it’s what provides hope it can continue to evolve in a positive direction.

Have a great weekend everyone!