Peter RileyJun 6, 2024

In Iowa, pigs currently outnumber people seven to one.
"We basically shove most animals into these massive sheds called confinements, where they never see a blade of grass. Iowa used to be made up of independent, family farms, it is now mostly families of low-wage workers employed by the mega-rich and often out-of-town agricultural barons.”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-07/meet-the-mega-rich-families-controlling-the-us-food-system/103874576

#agriculture #farming #food #Capitalism

Meet the uber-wealthy families who control much of the food system in the US and Australia

The average American farmer doesn't fix fences and drive tractors. Thanks to market concentration, there is now a handful of companies that dominate the US food system, and they are impacting Australia too. 

ABC News
Show threadclearwater53
@peterjriley2024 Same for my rural area of NY. It is the story of US farming. A dozen farms in my childhood road all gone to the massive factory dairies.
Jun 7, 2024 at 3:00amMastodon for Android
Show threadPeter RileyJun 7, 2024

@clearwater53

Yes across Australia too even back 200 years ago - in Colonial era - small holdings hyped as struggling but taken over by Banks and large “stations” / farms for sheep, cattle, dairy; vineyards and wheat on land stolen by wealthy settlers aka “squattocracy” using #TerraNullius fiction, since sold onto Corporate monopolies.
Once labour intensive now much less so seasonal fruit picking; mechanised, automated, herbicide and pesticide regime investments over-cleared/eroded lands.