The largest chunk of agricultural output -- 61 percent -- comes from America's "corporate" farms, operations that usually produce a single commodity under contract with a consolidated firm. If current trends of consolidation continue, and all the farms in Iowa become 225,000-acre farms, there will be only 140 farms in the entire state.

Nationwide, there are 163,000 corporate operations, and 63 percent of these are under contract to a consolidated firm. The farmer who signs on with Cargill or Tyson agrees to produce a commodity that meets the firm’s specifications. In the world of "monoculture" farming, the farmer relinquishes his expertise in land use and animal husbandry -- such skills and virtues are no longer required. Instead, he or she follows the dictates of the corporation, which wants a uniform product and mass production, Low cost and speed are the farmer’s priorities.

The ultimate goal of corporate farming is to vertically integrate the entire process of food production, from the development of proprietary strains of DNA through to the distribution and sale of food to consumers.

While this might be good for big business, it bodes ill for consumers.