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Western MN Farmers Share Stories with Attorney General on How Consolidation is Devastating their Communities

LSP Meeting Highlights the Importance of Reporting Antitrust Activity in Agriculture

March 7, 2025

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DONNELLY, Minn. — As winter winds howled outside, farmers gathered in a machine shed near Donnelly on March 4 to share stories with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on how consolidation in everything from livestock markets to ag implement repairs is negatively impacting their operations and communities. The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting was held at a time when four large firms handle 85% of all beef cattle purchases and 67% of all hog purchases. Just seven corporations control roughly half of the grain and oilseed market globally. And during the past few decades, the farm equipment manufacturing industry has consolidated at an unprecedented rate, with Deere & Company now dominating the market.

“If you’re operating a small to mid-sized farm, you’re probably not feeling too good about the market being dominated by these giants,” said Ellison, who had traveled to LSP member Greg Fynboh’s farm with some of his staff to hear about how anti-competitive behavior on the part of big ag firms is impacting farming communities. “The winners and losers are clear. I do believe that companies have to obey the rules of fair competition.”

Andrew VanDerPol talked about how John Deere’s control of how the equipment it manufactures is repaired is impacting his family’s Swift County livestock operation. A John Deere tractor the VanDerPols were using “basically every single day” has had two major breakdowns in the past two years. Attempts to repair it have been limited by the fact that John Deere often forces farmers to rely on Deere’s network of authorized dealers for necessary repairs, a situation that can be time-consuming and expensive.

VanDerPol said he would prefer being able to have his farm equipment fixed by a local maintenance shop.

“They’re close to us, they understand the time frame we have,” he said, adding that local repair shops can be part of a vital rural economy. “Being we’re a smaller farm, they don’t push the big guys ahead of us like the dealerships do.”

Ellison said the ability of farmers to repair their own equipment should not be controlled by the manufacturer.

“You bought it, it’s yours. That should be the end of the conversation,” said the Attorney General. On January 15, Ellison’s office joined the Federal Trade Commission and other state attorneys general in suing John Deere over its restrictions related to farmers’ ability to repair equipment. More than a dozen states, including Minnesota, introduced bills to establish right-to-repair agricultural equipment legislation in the first two months of 2025. An informal survey of the participants at the Donnelly meeting showed the majority of respondents felt the lawsuit against Deere was important.

Andrew’s father, Josh, said consolidation in the livestock processing industry has forced his family to focus exclusively on selling their pork direct to consumers, rather than marketing hogs through packers, which prefer to purchase from just a handful of mega-operations via a closed contract system. James Kanne, a retired dairy farmer in Renville County, said that the milk processing business is on the verge of being captured by major dairy firms.

“When they do so, they are going to start excluding all the little guys, which is going to be a major problem for any small dairy that happens to be in the area,” said Kanne.

And putting smaller farms of any type out of business is bad news for rural communities, said LSP western Minnesota organizer Matthew Sheets.

“When you have seven family farms that go out of business in the local community, that is equivalent to one hardware store that doesn’t have enough business in town,” said Sheets. “And it’s not just stores — it’s not enough people in church, not enough people in schools, it’s ripple effects across the economy.”

Ellison agreed that consolidation in agriculture is bad for rural economies, and he said that’s why his office needs to gather concrete evidence that antitrust activity is negatively impacting farmers and rural communities. He encouraged farmers to contact his office with any evidence they have so that an investigation can be started. Complaints can be filed confidentially with the Attorney General’s office at ag.state.mn.us/Office/Complaint.asp or by calling 800-657-3787.

“We do want to establish an open line of communication,” he said. “It’s damn hard, pardon my language, to pull together a strong antitrust case without somebody willing to say, ‘This is happening to me.’ “

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The Land Stewardship Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston, Montevideo and South Minneapolis. More information is at landstewardshipproject.org.

On March 4, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison fielded questions about agricultural consolidation and antitrust enforcement at a Land Stewardship Project town hall on the Greg Fynboh farm near Donnelly, Minn.
Category: News Releases
Tags: antitrust • corporate consolidation • Keith Ellison • right to repair • rural economic development

CONTACT

Matthew Sheets, LSP western Minnesota organizer, e-mail

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May 2025

Thursday May 29

9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Thursday May 29
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Zoom Online

Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing Best Practices to Get Your Farm’s Next Customer is designed to help farmers grow their customer base by sharpening their storytelling and digital marketing skills—whether they’re selling through farmers’ markets, CSAs, or direct-to-retail. This Greener Pastures and Meet the Minnesota Makers workshop will cover how websites and social media can actually convert viewers into buyers to creating content that builds community loyalty.

This workshop is also designed for ag educators, professionals, and partner organizational staff who support farmers directly and want to be well-versed on the marketing best practices to support direct-to-consumer farms. 

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday May 31

10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
Saturday May 31
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
872 320th Ave, Frederic, WI 54837, USA

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&Dand UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by JohnsonFamily Pastures LLC. The farm is located five miles east of Frederic in PolkCounty. This educational event willemphasize direct marketing, multi-species grazing, part-time family agricultureand silvopasture development. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

TheJohnson Family Pastures farm is home to Chris and Tamara Johnson and their twochildren. They raise grass-fed beef, silvopastured goats, and recently raised anumber of other species. The farm consists of about 160 acres of gently rollingpastures, silvopasture, and forest. Use of both temporary polybraid fencing andhigh tensile permanent fences allow for rotational grazing of small ruminants andout-wintering of beef cattle. Use of long-term farm transition strategies, cost-shareprograms, silvopasture development with goats, regenerative grazing, cattlehandling facility and bale grazing will be discussed along with answering anyand all questions from pasture walk participants.

An extensive and diversified direct marketing programhas been developed by Tamara and Chris that has included farmer markets, e-maillists, newsletters, website ordering, on-farm freezer storage, and other strategiesand tools to support direct sales and services for their customers.  Come and learn all about their successfulapproach.

For more information,contact Chris Johnson at 920-960-4475 or Lynn Johnson 715-225-9882 at NW Graziers.

June 2025

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

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