North Dakota shouldn't end ban on corporate farming

A cruel wind is blowing from Bismarck. Our current Gov. Doug Burgum is pushing to end the ban on corporate farming in the state.

A beginning economics class teaches that corporations are responsible only to their shareholders, ergo the bottom line. Corporations buy inputs the cheapest, putting local suppliers out of business. They will take the land away from resident producers forcing producers to work for them. Producers will be handcuffed to being price takers. Corporate entities will require them to buy specific inputs if they want to sell their livestock/crops to the corporations.

Corporate-purchased land artificially inflates land prices removing that opportunity from local generational farmers. Allowing corporate farms will begin the death knell for small towns. Class B comradery will be a thing of the past. Generational farms will disappear. When you aren’t tied to the land you are not invested in taking care of it for future generations. Local ownership is food security. Multiple local producers ensure food security when weather or disease affects plants or animals. Corporations will take all they want out of the land and then sell it either at a profit or a loss. Both are beneficial to their bottom line.

Friends like us involved in the ag industry in other western states wish they had the ban on corporate farming like North Dakota. They bemoan what happened to price out small producers in their states. They say hold onto our ban with fierce determination. Our legacy dollars can support the ag growth that Burgum touts without outsiders. Say no to the BS.