Role of Marketing and Procurement Systems in the Control of Agriculture

Issues ancient and modern in the structural organization of agriculture are newly being legitimized. As one evidence, hundreds of extension meetings this winter will utilize a new set of leaflets entitled, “Who Will Control Agriculture?†. In popular articles, speeches, and research reports various aspects of the question are being examined. Even Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, himself an agricultural economist, has proclaimed the relevance of the subject, not to mention his chief economist, Don Paarlberg, who has addressed the same subject frequently.Among these several sources the focus varies: optimal size of farm or feedlot; tax issues; the comparative advantage of the corporate and other forms of organization; economies of vertical coordination; the nature of contractual integration; and bargaining power for farmers and farm workers.