Editing Corporate farming (section)

=== Common definitions ===
In public discourse, the term "corporate farming" lacks a firmly established definition and is variously applied.  However, several features of the term's usage frequently arise:

# It is largely used as a [[pejorative]] with strong negative connotations.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|title = The Power of Words: Exploring Consumers' Perceptions of Words Commonly Associated with Agriculture|last = Rumble|first = Joy N.|date = March 2014|journal = Journal of Applied Communications|volume = 98|issue = 2|doi = 10.4148/1051-0834.1072|doi-access = free}}</ref>
# It most commonly refers to corporations that are large-scale farms, market agricultural technologies (in particular [[pesticides]], [[fertilizers]], and [[Genetically modified food|GMO's]]), have significant economic and political influence, or some combination of the three.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://business.uni.edu/economics/Themes/wittmaack.pdf|title = Should Corporate Farming be Limited in the United States? An Economic Perspective|date = July 2006|access-date = 27 October 2014|last = Wittmaack|first = Nathan|archive-date = 22 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150922013202/http://business.uni.edu/economics/Themes/wittmaack.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter = Impact of Agribusiness Market Power on Farmers|last = Persaud|first = Suresh|date = 16 April 2008|pages = 127–145|doi = 10.1002/9780470390375.ch7|title = Agricultural Policy for the 21st Century|isbn = 9780470390375}}<!--|access-date = 27 October 2014--></ref>
# It is usually used in opposition to [[family farms]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.8586841/k.382D/Corporate_Power_in_Agriculture/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=8586841&en=clKNK3NLJbJWJdMOLaKTJaPZImJQKaPWKmKXIdO4LvJdG|title = Corporate Concentration in Agriculture|access-date = 27 October 2014|website = Farm Aid|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141017211909/http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.8586841/k.382D/Corporate_Power_in_Agriculture/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=8586841&en=clKNK3NLJbJWJdMOLaKTJaPZImJQKaPWKmKXIdO4LvJdG|archive-date = 17 October 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref> and new agricultural movements, such as [[sustainable agriculture]] and the [[local food movement]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/122868/err97_1_.pdf|title = Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues|last = Martinez|first = Steve|date = May 2010|journal = USDA Economic Research Service|access-date = 26 October 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141021054917/http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/122868/err97_1_.pdf|archive-date = 21 October 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==== Family farms ====
[[File:Santa Gertrudis.jpg|thumb|The Nunley Brothers Ranch in Sabinal, Texas has been family owned and operated for over 70 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nunleybrothers.com/about.html|title = Nunley Brothers Ranches: About|access-date = 6 November 2014}}</ref>  The ranch is also among the largest private landowners in the US.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-biggest-landowners-in-america-2012-10?op=1|title = The 25 Biggest Landholders in America|date = 23 October 2012|access-date = 6 November 2014|website = Business Insider|last = Zeveloff|first = Julie}}</ref>]]
"Family farm" and "corporate farm" are often defined as mutually exclusive terms, with the two having different interests.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=64+UMKC+L.+Rev.+835&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=2b050682a704960759a0412d6cda223d|title = The Missouri Anti–Corporate Farming Act: Reconciling the Interests of the Independent Farmer and the Corporate Farm|date = 1996|access-date = 27 October 2014|last = Stout|first = Jan}}</ref> This mostly stems from the widespread assumption that family farms are small farms while corporate farms are large-scale operations. While it is true that the majority of small farms are family owned, many large farms are also family businesses, including some of the largest farms in the US.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/demographics.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112140127/http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/demographics.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2012-01-12|title = Ag 101: Demographics|date = 2012|access-date = 27 October 2014|website = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency}}</ref>

According to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations]] (FAO), a family farm "is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family labour, both women's and men's. The family and the farm are linked, coevolve and combine economic, environmental, reproductive, social and cultural functions."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Identifying the "family farm" {{!}} FAO|url=http://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/281545/|access-date=2021-02-09|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

Additionally, there are large economic and legal incentives for family farmers to incorporate their businesses.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.mnfarmliving.com/2014/10/family-farms-farm-corporation.html|title = Family Farms vs. Farm Corporations|date = 20 October 2014|access-date = 27 October 2014|website = Minnesota Farm Living|last = Patsche|first = Wanda|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141106220839/http://www.mnfarmliving.com/2014/10/family-farms-farm-corporation.html|archive-date = 6 November 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==== Contract farming ====
Farming [[Contract farming|contracts]] are agreements between a farmer and a buyer that stipulates what the farmer will grow and how much they will grow usually in return for guaranteed purchase of the product or financial support in purchase of inputs (e.g. feed for livestock growers).<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/contract-farming/faq/en/|title = Contract Farming Resource Centre: FAQ|date = 2014|access-date = 27 October 2014|website = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|archive-date = 23 November 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161123083356/http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/contract-farming/faq/en/|url-status = dead}}</ref>  In most instances of contract farming, the farm is family owned while the buyer is a larger corporation.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.pugetsound.edu/files/resources/6926_00-6.pdf|title = The Impact of Contract Farming on Income Distribution: Theory and Evidence|last = Warning|first = Matthew|date = 30 June 2000|journal = Western Economics Association International Annual Meetings|access-date = 27 October 2014}}</ref> This makes it difficult to distinguish the contract farmers from "corporate farms," because they are family farms but with significant corporate influence.  This subtle distinction left a loop-hole in many state laws that prohibited corporate farming, effectively allowing corporations to farm in these states as long as they contracted with local farm owners.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.celdf.org/anti-corporate-farming-laws-in-the-heartland|title = Anti–Corporate Farming Laws in the Heartland|access-date = 27 October 2014|website = Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund|archive-date = 2 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151002225605/http://www.celdf.org/anti-corporate-farming-laws-in-the-heartland|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==== Non-farm entities ====
[[File:Cargill Beef Australia in Bomen.jpg|thumb|[[Cargill]] beef processing plant in Australia.]]
Many people also choose to include non-farming entities in their definitions of corporate farming. Beyond just the farm contractors mentioned above, these types of companies commonly considered part of the term include [[Cargill]], [[Monsanto]], and [[DuPont Pioneer]] among others. These corporations do not have production farms, meaning they do not produce a significant amount of farm products. However, their role in producing and selling agricultural supplies and their purchase and processing of farm products often leads to them being grouped with corporate farms. While this is technically incorrect, it is widely considered substantively accurate because including these companies in the term "corporate farming" is necessary to describe their real influence over agriculture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Asselt |first1=Joanna |last2=Useche |first2=Pilar |date=2022-11-01 |title=Agricultural commercialization and nutrition; evidence from smallholder coffee farmers |journal=World Development |language=en |volume=159 |pages=106021 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106021 |issn=0305-750X|doi-access=free }}</ref>