Farm owners face challenges from big corporations in agriculture due to economic pressures favoring large farms, mechanization, and historical factors.
Farm owners are at the mercy of big corporations due to economic pressures favoring large corporate farms, high costs of farming equipment, and the shift towards large corporate enterprises in agriculture markets. The industrial agricultural system, with its focus on efficiency and economies of scale, makes it challenging for small farmers to compete.
The impacts of land clearing for smallholder farms are increasingly dwarfed by the outsized demands of commercial interests, leading to a loss of small farms and farmers. This trend has historical roots in the mechanization of agriculture, land consolidation, and the challenges faced by small farmers in accessing resources.
Factors such as debt, land loss, and the influence of economic intermediaries have contributed to the vulnerability of farmers to market forces, leading many to lose their land and livelihoods, thus perpetuating the cycle of dependency on larger entities.