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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1973)
page 2b page 3b IMI Ml II II II ToMglk tomato to swallow Agribusiness vs. farmers vs. consumers in Land Grant Colleges -ymwrm -T - nnlJ i jr. Kid l-L(J ) A7j:L j ' - v a . i v- ... , . "V I . , n V . 3 ' 1 : . Land Grant colleges have made great advances in technical agriculture, most will agree. But in recent years some critics have speculated that agribusinesses large farming and food preparation corporationshave benefitted more than the average, small-acreage farmer. And in Nebraska, whose economy depends primarily on the small farmer, that can be important. A Land Grant college is an institution of higher learning set up by a state charter. In the preliminary report of the federal Task Force on the Land Grant College Complex, Jim Hightower maintains that the complex has allowed its manpower, facilities and tax dollars to work almost solely to the benefit and profit of large agribusiness corporations. Hightower, who wrote the report also hnads the Agribusiness Accountability Project, which commissioned the report. With extensive agricultural research in mechanical, genetic and chemical areas, each year land qrant colleges spend an estimated three quarters of a billion tax dollars. These funds are appropriated by national, state and county governments, the report said. Although the cost of the complex is staggering, it is easy to pass this by when talking to anyone in the college complex. It has made advances in almost every area of agriculture. The report said that agribusiness has worked on pioduction line efficiency. Machines have taken a prominent place in ail phases of farming, from planting to harvesting, as a means of improving efficiency. A tomato picking machine was recently developed. But scientists found that they had to breed a tomato which can survive the grip of the mechanical fingers, the report said. Michigan State University reported that MSU scientists weie working on changing the physical aspects r.f broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, lima beans, cucumbers, rarrots dnc' aspaurjus, the task force said. In addition to genetic research, drugs and chemicals can help protect animals from disease and crops from in lets and blights. A coups of months ago, UNI. developed a new vaccine for which has ;n a major calf ',(:ours, an intestinal disease problem to breeders. To aid research, land grant institutions often a machinery and processing companies to help P' arid develop improvements, the task foice rcnu't sjk: It said that companies like John Drere. tnt Haivester, Heinz and Del Monte often engage in cooperative research efforts at. land grant colleges. Although rh,.y may contubute funds and personnel, the cot porations benefit most from tax paid research. on f inn research national K " ?l - Accordina to Bert Evans, former cooperative extension specialist at UIML, this picture of agribusiness doesn't fit Nebraska entirely. States like California and Florida, have a much closer link with commercial interests, he said. Owners of large farms also benefit from land grant research. Since the farms hire most of the nation's farm labor, the farmers have built-in incentive to take advantage of the technological advances. Secondly, large tracts of land that farms operate on warrant an investment in the large machinery. On the other side of the fence are farm workers, independent and family farmers and consumers, the report said. The farm laborer was probably affected first by w-wMiiMHiiiiiniitii iini' ' -"iiiiMriTini-'T"' 1 miiMlAiniii liniinififi1 " ""TT" mechanization. According to the report, the number of farm workers in America dropped from 4.3 million in 1950 to 3.5 million in 1970. In 1970 the averaqe yearly wage earned by farm laborers was $1,083, which made the farm worker one of the poorest working groups of Americans. The needs of the independent or family farmer have ben ignored by the land grant research. This group represents 87 per cent of all U.S. farms, the report explained. "Mechanization research by land grant colleges either is irrelevant or only incidentally adaptable to the needs of some 87 to 99 per cent of America's farmers," it said. If the farmer were given a chance to help set priorities tor research at the land grant colleges, he would be likelv to add Turn to page 4b Stories by Peter Anderson Pepperland, Blue Meanies, Yellow Submarines, the Beatles, Great Music, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band, Colors, Fantasy, Good Times. . . ail for 75c 7:00, 9:30 Friday V Saturday Henzlik Hall