I have not followed agriculture closely since my 1977 book on the subject. Agricultural statistics must be taken with a grain of salt. Farmers commonly will write off expenses, such as gasoline, that can be used for their own personal consumption. Also, in many branches of agriculture, farmers are more like franchisees. They have contracts to sell, which determine their inputs and their methods almost as much as a McDonald's franchisee.
Because of the enormous power of the distributors and suppliers of agricultural inputs, small and midsize farmers are being squeezed. Bankruptcy and debt is rampant. Big farmers often profit by farming the government rather than the soil. The new book King of California, which I hope to get to soon covers this very well by telling the story of the Boswell operation in California. Agricultural subsidies in US are a scandal, but part of the scandal is that the bulk of the subsidies go to a handful of farmers. Note to Doug Henwood and Sacha: the authors of the book would make a good interview. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
