Under Contract Farmers and the Fine Print

RAFI produced this film to illustrate the challenges contract farmers face. For more information about RAFI and to learn about our services for small- to mid-scale farmers in the Southeast U.S. and U.S.

Contract farmers tell their stories and industry experts reveal how the corporate production model pits farmer against farmer.
Under Contract: Farmers and the Fine Print takes viewers across the American South and to Southern India to understand what’s happening to farmers living under contract and what we can do to change our food system for the better.

The story of the contract farmer is the story of what’s changing in rural America. Power in agriculture is changing hands,
but few people know what’s happening to the farmers producing our food.

Under Contract tells this story through the lens of global poultry farming. Around the world and all across agriculture,
contract farming is taking hold.

But farmers who sign contracts often face unfair challenges and hidden risks under the terms that are offered by the giant “integrator” meatpacking corporations that control the industry.

Under Contract provides a timely glimpse into the little-understood fine print of modern agriculture.

In 2020, family farms accounted for 98% of total farms and 87% of total production. 89% of those farms were small family farms which, compared to 2011, showed a drop in the share of land operated by small family farms from 52% in 2011, to 48% in 2020. Likewise, the share of the value of production on small family farms declined from 26% to 20%.

However, large-scale family farms accounted for 46% of the total value of production in 2020, an increase from 35% in 2011. Large-scale family farms also accounted for an increased share of total land operated from 16% in 2011 to 24% in 2020.

https://protecttheharvest.com/news/2021-usda-report-finds-98-of-farms-are-still-family-owned

USDA definition of ‘family farm’ a headache for some

https://www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-news/2018/09/usda-definition-of-family-farm-a-headache-for-some/

The Tournament System: What is the tournament system? How are chicken farmers paid?

https://www.chickencheck.in/faq/tournament-system/

Farmers have a high suicide rate.
Therapists struggle to connect with them.
Many farmers have handled their own problems,
whether it’s a busted tractor or debilitating anxiety. 'With the older generation, it’s still, ‘Suck it up,'” one farmer and mental health advocate says.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/06/15/farmer-suicide-usda-mental-health-training/74076743007/

More than 50,000 Americans took their own lives in 2023, the nation's highest yearly rate of suicide on record. Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.

Climate, tariffs, debt and isolation drive some farmers to suicide.
More than 450 farmers killed themselves across nine Midwestern states from 2014 to 2018

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/03/09/climate-tariffs-debt-and-isolation-drive-some-farmers-suicide/4955865002/

Farmers' suicides in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_the_United_States

A Deeper Look at the CDC Findings on Farm Suicides

https://nfu.org/2018/11/27/cdc-study-clarifies-data-on-farm-stress/

New Federal Bill Would Help End Factory Farming for Good

https://www.aspca.org/news/new-federal-bill-would-help-end-factory-farming-good

Bill would use USDA funds to convert CAFOs to pasture, crops

https://www.feedstrategy.com/business-markets/news/15704535/bill-would-use-usda-funds-to-convert-cafos-to-pasture-crops

Sen. Booker, Rep. Khanna Introduce Federal Bill to Ban Factory Farming
Broad national coalition supports new legislation to build a more resilient and humane food system

https://www.aspca.org/about-us/press-releases/sen-booker-rep-khanna-introduce-federal-bill-ban-factory-farming

H.R.797 - Farm System Reform Act of 2023 - Congress.gov

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/797

NEPA Carveout for Medium-Sized CAFOs Struck Down by District Court
Animal Legal Defense Fund lawsuit leads to rule revocation excepting medium-sized factory farms from environmental review before receiving federal funding

https://aldf.org/article/nepa-carveout-for-medium-sized-cafos-struck-down-by-district-court/

Shapiro Administration Invests More Than $27 Million to Strengthen Pennsylvania’s Economy and Enhance Communities Across the Commonwealth

https://dced.pa.gov/newsroom/shapiro-administration-invests-more-than-27-million-to-strengthen-pennsylvanias-economy-and-enhance-communities-across-the-commonwealth/

Investing in Farms and Rural Communities
USDA is taking a new approach to support smaller, more diverse food and agriculture businesses, giving rural Americans the opportunity to succeed in the communities they love.

https://www.usda.gov/framework

How Agriculture Came to Be a Political Weapon—And What That Means for Farmers
In his new book, Ted Genoways follows a family farm and the ways they’re impacted by geopolitics

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-agriculture-came-be-political-weaponand-what-means-farmers-180964849/

Two new bills would blunt the impact of factory farms on public health and the environment

https://thecounter.org/two-new-bills-booker-cafo-factory-farms-environment/

Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_Inspection,_Packers_and_Stockyards_Administration

Contact Packers and Stockyards - Agricultural Marketing Service

https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/programs-offices/fair-trade-practices/packers-and-stockyards-contacts

The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) was established October 20, 1994, under the authority of the Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/22gipsaexnotes2018.pdf

Federal Grain Inspection Service - Agricultural Marketing Service

https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams/programs-offices/federal-grain-inspection-service

Corporate vs. Independent, Family Owned Farms

https://www.jobmonkey.com/farming/independent-corporate/

Farmers' Use of Contracts Has Declined Over Last 25 Years

https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2022/june/farmers-use-of-contracts-has-declined-over-last-25-years/

When Being A Family Farm Doesn’t Mean Squat In The Government’s Eyes

https://investigatemidwest.org/2018/09/16/when-being-a-family-farm-doesnt-mean-squat-in-the-governments-eyes/

Family Farming in the United States - USDA ERS

https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2014/march/family-farming-in-the-united-states/

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/90985/eib-203.pdf?v=9520.4

Earthlings Documentary

https://rumble.com/v649n81-earthlings-documentary.html

original link on Rural Advancement Foundation International

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS5GJYlHkp4