Author

Darvin Bentlage

Darvin Bentlage

Darvin Bentlage is a fourth-generation cattle and grain farmer from Barton County, Missouri, and a member of Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

COMMENTARY

Just four meatpackers control 85% of the market. Cattlemen like me need a voice.

By: - November 14, 2022

In the past two decades, hundreds of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in the past two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent family farmers were put out of business because of corporate consolidation. This has […]

COMMENTARY

The elephant in the room is destroying family farms, rural communities and our democracy | Opinion

By: - June 8, 2022

I love farming and have been doing it all my life, but I told my kids not to come back to the farm, because there’s no future in it. That’s the sad truth. Over the past year on Capitol Hill, there have been multiple hearings and bills and even an executive order to address what […]

COMMENTARY

Family farmers are struggling in the fight against corporate ag | Opinion

By: - February 23, 2022

Even though the cards are often stacked against us, farmers are the ultimate optimists. I’m a 4th generation cattle and grain farmer, and, right now, I’m optimistic that, for the first time since Teddy Roosevelt with the Packer and Stockers Act of 1921, we have a president that is trying to take on corporate control […]

COMMENTARY

Will Biden’s executive order spark change in food production? — Opinion

By: - August 25, 2021

President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order aimed at increasing competition across all sectors of the economy. This is a long time coming and a good first step in addressing a number of long term problems. One important point of interest for agriculture is the change to the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Act, […]