Federal Brass Hear Complaints
About Ag Concentration Issues

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. —(AP)— Farmers upset about increasing market concentration in the agricultural sector criticized government policy during a rare meeting with federal officials.

Hundreds of farmers from Texas to Minnesota joined a rally Sunday billed as the ``Midwest Farm Price Crisis Forum.'' The event was organized by Democratic Sens. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Tom Harkin of Iowa.

Joel Klein, an assistant attorney general who directs the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, and Mike Dunn, who oversees the U.S. Agriculture Department's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards, flew in from Washington, D.C., for the rally.

Klein and Dunn heard from farmers who are concerned about low commodity prices and a lack of control in swiftly consolidating agricultural industries such as meatpacking, grain-processing and farm supply.

``We're going out of business because livestock markets aren't functioning anymore and you're not doing anything about it,'' said farmer Linus Solberg of Cylinder, Iowa.

Both federal officials asked the crowd for patience. ``I want to be straight with you, and I want to listen,'' Klein said. ``I know you want action ... but I've got to know the facts. And when we have the facts, we are not afraid to act.''

He and Dunn spent much of the afternoon taking notes as farmers took turns speaking.

``Now, USDA, I don't want to pick on you too much, but it wouldn't even be fair to say you stood by as an agency and let this happen,'' said Rhonda Perry, a farmer from Howard County, Missouri.

``Millions of taxpayer dollars were used to help finance this concentration in the form of corporate welfare, in the form of guaranteed loans to hog factories,'' Perry said. ``It's no surprise to the people in this audience. It's only a surprise, apparently, to the people in this administration. ''

Unease about market concentration has intensified since Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis, the nation's largest grain company, announced plans to buy the worldwide operations of second-ranked Continental Grain Co. The Justice Department is reviewing the proposed merger.

(Editor's note: Klein heads the Justice Department division that has spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars prosecuting alleged monopolistic practices by computer software maker Microsoft. Cynics who question how vigorously that division would prosecute monopolies elsewhere contend that Microsoft's biggest crime was not making campaign contributions whereas its rivals did; if that is indeed the criterion, livestock producers have already lost the battle.)