Farmers and ranchers in rural Missouri and Illinois, it’s safe to say, are a pretty conservative group, firm in their longtime dedication to the deregulation and free market principles of the Republican Party. But now might be a good time for them to take a good look at their bank accounts and contrast their increasingly meager earnings to the astounding profits being enjoyed by the corporate conglomerates that control America’s meat, poultry and pork markets. Someone is taking it on the chin, and it ain’t the conglomerates.
The last entity farmers and ranchers should turn to for help is the Republican Party, which has a demonstrated record of siding with corporate interests whenever it involves a matchup against the little guy. At some point, rural voters in Missouri and Illinois will perform a frank economic assessment of their sagging financial prospects and start questioning why their party isn’t stepping up to help.
What’s happening right now across America is bizarre and defies all standard economic models. Demand is high for meat, poultry and pork in American supermarkets. Supplies are dwindling and prices are through the roof — rising 20% just in the past year. Under normal circumstances, that situation would deliver a sizable financial windfall for those who control the source product — that is, the ranchers and farmers whose farm animals supply those markets. But both consumers and source suppliers find themselves increasingly squeezed.
