Hello fine redditors,
I am a university student looking into the American corn industry, specifically examining the lock-in many conventional corn farmers experience. In my research I have become quite interested in the role of farmers unions and political lobbyist groups.
I originally found the National Corn Growers Association, thinking it was somewhat of a conventional union. I now realize that they are more of a lobbyist group than anything else. This leads me to wonder what infrastructure exists in terms of farmer representation on a country-wide scale, compared with that which represents the interests of companies like ADM, Cargill, etc.
Can anyone help me understand the nuance behind this? I have stumbled upon the “Diverse Corn Belt” project, and it seems like they are focused on market access, but not necessarily addressing the larger institutional forces that shape the corn production landscape. In a hypothetical transition toward crop diversity and economic diversification, where would we expect to find pro-farmer welfare, pro-environmental voices? Any and all insight helps!
submitted by /u/Initial-Top-1845
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