Farm Business

[JimMeade]

As farms get bigger in size and fewer in number, it makes me wonder how badly we need checkoff.  It's kind of like the coops - maybe their time has passed.

Does the checkoff system fund research into industrial uses of our products such that it expands our markets?  Making candles and crayons out of soybeans?  Who pays for that and does it trickle down to my soybean check?

I'm not a big fan of trade boondoggles - this is person to person trade diplomacy.  We change leaders all the time in a democracy - why does sending the head of the corn growers to China help when the CEO changes?  Sounds to me like a way to practice using chopsticks.

I'm not saying they're no good, but I'm a skeptic.