American Agriculture and the Problem of Monopoly: The Political Economy of Grain Belt Farming, 1953–1980. By Jon Lauck. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Pp. xiv, 254. $45.00, £30.00.

Abstract

Dr. Jon Lauck's book focuses on the problem of monopoly in grain-belt states from 1953 to 1980; in doing so, he analyzes a long-standing conflict that has touched the entire agricultural sector during the entire twentieth century. The late-nineteenth-century shift from small-scale farms, spread across the nation, to regional specialization in production, often on large farms, created a struggle in the agricultural and political community that has remained alive until today. Economic, political, and philosophical factors have been integral parts of the controversy. The media has been involved, as evidenced through discussions of unfair practices inflicted on chicken farmers by processors and discussion of rural outmigration. Environmentalists have added to the debate, suggesting that large farms deplete the environment by overusing resources. Politically, as the author states, many have felt that the USDA has supported agribusiness firms rather than the small-scale farmer. The political economy of these issues raises two questions. One, are the increases in farm and processor size efforts to gain market power, making it possible for these firms to engage in anticompetitive behavior? Two, farmers are often loath to leave the family farm behind, and are often thought of as the essence of U.S. history, raising questions as to whether policies should be implemented to maintain the family farm. Dr. Lauck's thorough documentation of the political economy of grain-belt farming from the late 1800s until the late 1980s indicates that answers to these questions are not easily found.