Stolen Chronicles: The day the debate over the high costs of supplies (in the hands of ever-larger companies) took place

"The testimonies of farmers, economists, and legislators during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Tuesday painted a dire picture of the challenges facing row crop producers to stay in business as input prices continue to rise and profit margins shrink drastically. The hearing highlighted a crucial challenge for American agricultural production: as a handful of corporations control a larger share of the agricultural supply chain from seeds to fertilizers, farmers claim they are finding themselves with fewer choices, higher costs, and diminishing control over their own operations. Noah Coppess (photo), a fifth-generation farmer based in Cedar County, Iowa, shared his personal observations on the transformation of the sector over the past few decades. “The reality of today’s agriculture is that we are price takers rather than price setters,” he said, highlighting how farmers have lost bargaining power as agricultural manufacturers and suppliers have become increasingly ...