Inspired by Wendell Berry, successful farmer has remade his family's farm with the future in mind

Will Harris III, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga., may seem like a typical rancher: Stetson hat, gruff voice, beat-up Jeep he uses to drive his more than 1,000 acre farm. But, he "doesn't always sound the part," John Kessler of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. For example, he quotes George Washington Carver on the order of nature, and Michael Pollan on the dangers of industrial agriculture. He's immensely proud of his farm's organic certification and of the new solar panels he's installing. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin: Harris inspects chicken)

"Row by row, Harris is breaking the mold on farming in Georgia," Kessler writes. His organic grass-fed cattle are slaughtered in ways approved by animal welfare advocates. Steaks from his farm are sold in Atlanta's finest restaurants, and Whole Foods features White Oak Pastures' beef in its stores. But 15 years ago, Harris' farm was a far cry from organic. The fourth-generation farmer had to reverse decades of damage to the land perpetrated by his father, who "pushed the farm as far as he could, pumping any and all chemicals into the earth and into the animals," Kessler reports.

Harris is a first-generation college graduate, with a degree in animal science from the University of Georgia. But it wasn't a book he read for one of his classes that made him want to change the family farm; it was Kentuckian Wendell Berry's 1977 book, The Unsettling of America, that left a great impression on him. The book "argued agribusiness was destroying the cultural and family context of farming," Kessler writes. Harris said it "made him wonder what kind of system his father had prescribed to, and what kind of legacy he was leaving" to his children. It was the spark that Harris needed to change the direction of his farm. (Read more)

UPDATE: Wendell Berry had this to say about Harris, and farmers like him, in a letter to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues: "[Harris] represents at a very high level what is going on all over the country: Local citizens, both rural and urban, who have seen something that needed to be done and have simply set about doing it, without official advice or approval or help and without writing a grant application. If the world lasts long enough, these people will find the real solutions to our problems. I think this is the great story unfolding now everywhere in our country, but only occasionally does some journalist notice that it is happening. So far, no politician of consequence has noticed it." 

Drought is likely to cost consumers next year

The massive drought that hit many U.S. farmers hard this summer will be felt by consumers next year in the form of higher food prices, according to The Food Institute. A family of four will likely spend $351.12 more on food in 2013, about $6.75 a week. The data was gathered by calculating the actual financial effect of the drought, which reduced corn yields, causing feed prices to rise, making livestock producers unable to afford it.

The increase will be felt most at meat counters, Lisa Keefe of Meatingplace reports. Annual costs of meat will rise about $44 next year for a family of four and about $30 for a two-person home. Beef costs would account for almost one-third of those estimates. Fresh produce will be the next most expensive, adding about $23.44 to a family's annual grocery spending. "These spending predictions could vary as substitutions are made in one category or another," Keefe reports, adding that consumers could choose to spend more on canned and frozen products to offset higher prices for fresh meat and produce. (Read more)

'Pink slime' maker suing ABC News for defamation

The beef company most affected by the "pink slime" controversy earlier this year is taking legal action against ABC and its news division for defamation of character. Beef Products Inc. claims the news organization cost the company $400 million. Anchor Diane Sawyer and reporters Jim Avila and David Kerley are also named as defendants.

“ABC ran for about 30 days a vicious disinformation campaign that consists of almost 200 false and misleading defamatory statements,” BPI attorney Dan Webb told Tim Carman of The Washington Post. The South Dakota-based company is asking for $1.2 billion because the state's Agricultural Food Products Disparagement Act allows plaintiffs to triple the amount of damages. ABC News senior vice president Jeffrey Schneider said the lawsuit "is without merit," and that the organization will "contest it vigorously."

Several media outlets reported on lean, finely textured beef, that was once widely used in fast-food burgers, school lunch programs and sold in grocery stores. But reporters discovered a reference to LFTB as "pink slime" in 2002 by former U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein, and it was revealed that ammonia was combined with meat during the process of making LFTB.

Beef Products is singling out ABC because it says that since March 7 the network reported about LFTB in 11 broadcasts, 14 online reports and in social-media statements that allegedly contained 200 false statements about the product. But media libel defense lawyer Laura Handman told Schneider that Beef Products could have a difficult time winning the suit because it will be hard to determine whether ABC knew what it reported was false. (Read more)

Pentagon to buy six-month advance supply of meat from struggling livestock producers, on Obama order

The Defense Logistics Agency is buying a six-month advanced meat supply, estimated at more than $100 million, for its Department of Defense customers by order of President Obama to give some relief to the drought-riddled livestock industry. The DLA asked its top three vendors to buy, store and distribute beef, pork, lamb, chicken and catfish.

The vendor Subsistence provided hundreds of millions of pounds of meat to the U.S. military and other DOD agency across the world in 2011, reports Rita Gabbett of Meatingplace. Subsistence officials are negotiating with prime vendors on storage and distribution fees, estimated to cost between $2.4 and $3.3 million.

Would Obama's order to Pentagon to buy more meat raise prices for producers? Analysts disagree

The Obama administration has ordered the Pentagon to buy more beef, pork and lamb to try and help ranchers through the severe drought, prompting the Defense Department to determine whether it can afford to buy more. The military buys millions of pounds of meat every year to feed troops around the world.

Some analysts say the move would only help Obama politically, but others say it could be an opportunity for the Pentagon to pay less for meat it will eventually need and can freeze. Drought has forced up the price of corn, which livestock producers use as supplemental feed, and since they aren't able to make livestock heavier faster, they are forced to sell sooner than usual, Jennifer Rizzo of CNN reports. This causes more meat to be available, making prices drop, which also reduces the profit that ranchers have available to buy feed. Rizzo reports the mandate to buy more meat is an attempt to raise prices by taking more meat off the market.

Iowa State University economist Bruce Babcock told Rizzo the impact of these purchases is suspect. "The purchase is delaying the day of reckoning because ... it will raise their prices somewhat now and it will allow them to purchase more feed, but that feed cost isn't going to go down for a year," Babcock said. The livestock industry has to shrink by reducing herd sizes in order to afford corn in the future, he said. American Farm Bureau Federation economist Bob Young told Rizzo that even though the purchase would only make a small dent in the market, the move will ultimately help ranchers. (Read more)

Lawyer has become rural America's 'new antitrust cop,' filing suit against agribusiness concentration

Kansas City lawyer Dan Owen, left, could have a major impact on the agriculture business if the antitrust suits he's filed are successful. Bill Bishop of the Daily Yonder reports two suits are "aimed at both the economics and politics of the food industry." A potential third suit would "challenge the way meat packers are buying live cattle at auction."

The Obama administration appeared ready to challenge the increasing centralization and concentrated of agricultural production by large companies with industrial-style farms,  announcing it would conduct a "wide-ranging investigation" to see if it violated antitrust laws. Hearings were conducted and speeches made, but nothing of substance ever happened, Bishop reports. Activists turned to the private sector for help, and no one, Bishop writes, "has taken up the cause more fervently than Owen." He has become "the new antitrust cop on the beat in the food business."

His first suit seeks to keep money collected through the beef checkoff program from going to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. For 26 years, the Department of Agriculture has collected $1 per head of cattle sold for a fund to promote beef industry, and almost all of the $1.6 billion collected has gone to the NCBA, which Owen claims has violated the terms of the  program.

The second suit concerns price fixing in the fertilizer business, particularly among potash producers. Five companies control 70 percent of the world's potash supply, and prices have increased to $1,000 a ton from $140. Owen's suit claims potash companies "conspired to close mining operations in order to manipulate supplies and prices," Bishop reports.

Bishop reported last week that the USDA issued a report concluding that "there are so few cattle sold at auction that there was no way to determine a fair price for beef." Most cattle raisers were selling according to a formula created by meat packers, which left prices up to large companies. "The report says, to us, that cattle raisers no longer have power in the markets. ... Instead of a competitive market, there is a 'dictatorship,'" Bishop wrote.

Owen said he's started investigating the way livestock is purchased. He received complaints from cattle raisers who said they were receiving only one bid at auction, Bishop reports, and Owen said he's investigating "whether packers are avoiding bidding against each other by divvying up feed lots." He's discovered a study in Utah that concluded half of all feedlots sold to one buyer, and is continuing to investigate. (Read more)

Vilsack warns drought will worsen, raise prices; organic stock get a double hit as pastures dry up

The worst drought in decades is getting worse and will mean higher food prices for consumers, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said at a briefing in the White House Press Room yesterday. He also said the suggestion of waivers from ethanol mandates on oil companies isn't necessary because it's not affecting the price of corn, as some farmers have suggested.

Vilsack said an additional 39 counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas, raising the total to 1,297 in 29 states. Here is the list. Russ Blinch of Reuters reports. Vilsack urged Congress to work with the administration to improve aid to farmers, something the new Farm Bill could do. The House has stalled on voting on its version of the bill. Peter Baker of The New York Times reports. Vilsack said more than three-quarters of U.S. corn and soybean crops are in drought-affected areas, and more than one third of those are now rated poor to very poor.

Corn prices have risen to almost $8 a bushel, making it difficult for livestock producers to buy animal feed. This will likely cause the price of beef, poultry and pork to rise late this year or early next. Iowa Pork Producers Association President Bill Tentinger told The Gazette in Cedar Rapids that high corn prices would force many pork producers out of business, and the new Farm Bill would only help crop farmers, not livestock producers. Analysts predicted a 4 to 6 percent increase in beef prices pre-drought, but Hibah Yousuf of CNNMoney reports consumers could see 10 percent increases if the drought and high corn prices continue.

Meanwhile, Bob Meyer of Brownfield reports, "The drought presents a particular challenge for organic livestock and dairy producers. Organic standards require a portion of the ration to include pasture, and when pastures have dried up that is a problem. Another problem is while the price of conventional corn and soybeans hits record highs, the price of organic corn and soybeans is even higher." For Meyer's eight-minute audio interview with Harriet Behar, outreach coordinator for the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service, click here.

Cattle industry 'like a bottle,' with many farmers on the calf end, and 4 companies packing 82% of beef

"In the chicken and pork industries, nearly every aspect of the animals' raising has long been controlled by just a handful of agriculture conglomerates. But the cattle industry is still populated by mom-and-pop operations, at least at the calf-raising level," reports Peggy Lowe for National Public Radio. There are about 750,000 farmers and ranchers who have a "cow-calf operation," which average 40 head of cattle per farmer.

The small numbers of the cattle industry end there, Lowe reports: "In simple terms, the business is bottle-shaped — large at the bottom and narrowing to the neck, where just four companies control the majority of the market." Thus, even though there are many small cattle farms, they have the least amount of control over their industry.

The process generally works like this: Small producers raise calves until they're weaned and weigh about 600 pounds, they they sell them to a "backgrounder," a larger operation that buys calves in groups, transitions them to feeding and fattens them up. They gain about 800 pounds there, get immunizations and prepare for the feedlot, where they will be penned and fed three times a day in a "finishing" process. Here's where the industry bottlenecks. The Department of Agriculture reports that the top 25 feedlots control 47 percent of the market.

And her's where it really gets narrow: Most cattle are sold to just four companies: Tyson Foods, Cargill, National Beef Packaging Co. and JBS. These four deliver 82 percent of the beef on the market. Many ranchers fear the industry will soon be completely controlled by a handful of companies, and statistics tend to support this claim. In the last 20 years, the number of ranchers raising cattle has dropped more then 20 percent, according to the USDA. (Read more)

Local-food advocates, small ranchers trying to revive local slaughterhouses

Almost all small slaughterhouses have gone out of business because they've been unable to compete with large, consolidated abattoirs. Just four corporations in the U.S. slaughter about 80 percent of the country's cattle. The loss of small slaughterhouses, mostly in rural places, has cost jobs in those communities and in many cases creates a lie of the "locally produced beef" label, reports Beth Hoffman of National Public Radio.

Some rural communities and groups are trying to change this by building their own slaughterhouses. The Cattle Producers of Washington will build a new facility in Odessa, Wash. (MapQuest image), exclusively serving small Eastern Washington ranches. Most grass-fed beef in the region had to be transported 400 to 600 miles into Oregon to be processed, but CPOW President Willard Wolf hopes the new plant will change that. "The whole idea is to have quality control and humane processing for local cattle, hogs, sheep and goats that provides consumers in the state with the locally produced products they are demanding," he told Hoffman. "Having a producer-owned plan will help keep dollars, ranchers and farmers in our communities."

Other communities are trying also to keep beef processing local. In Sullivan County, New York, officials say they want to maintain the rural "agrarian feel" of the county. Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency Director Jennifer Brylinski said the county is building the plant 90 from New York City on otherwise undesirable land to see the county's "farmland kept as farmland." The plant will cater to small ranchers in the region. (Read more)