MISSOURI WATCH: MISSOURI'S BASIC INDUSTRY, AGRICULTURE, FACE MAJOR TRANSITION

Dr. William Heffernam, a professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri at Columbia, has captured more than a little attention for his well-documented report on the transformation of the farm and food economy to a network of huge, vertically integrated agribusiness "clusters."

The prevailing public reaction to the Missourian's predictions has thus far been largely one of indifference and even disinterest. This "so-what?" attitude is typical of predicted basic changes in long-established economic, cultural and even political sectors. Enter the traditional view that predicted transformations will go away if ignored.

There is, of course, more than one approach to Dr. Heffernan's thesis, and there are good and logical reasons why his study should be taken seriously. After all, he has addressed an audience that, depending on age and economic status, includes some alert and sensitive listeners. (Hint: politicians rank high; theoretical economists are near the bottom.)

Missouri's agricultural community has not been uniformly of the "so what?" school. For example, recent meetings to protest farmers' current financial squeeze have generally drawn sizable crowds, and among them are lifelong growers and producers who have given serious thought to giving up the ghost for another life.

At one farmers' meeting of mixed makeup that I recently attended, the sensitivity to what can be called the structural change in agriculture clearly varied widely. It seemed as though younger audience members who are associated with agribusiness were generally indifferent to Heffernan-style allegations. They envision successful agribusiness careers.

On the other hand, rank and file farmers who find their life savings to be in jeopardy and sense that established markets on which they have long depended are being closed out find these developments extremely frightening and threatening.

And those who have taken satisfaction and pride in their role as proprietary farmers are crestfallen. They see that role disappearing before their eyes.

I must confess that I take the Heffernan report very seriously indeed. Why? Because what is at stake is the structural makeup of the entire farm and food economy in Missouri and every other agricultural state in the U.S.

I once took an undergraduate course that was called "Comparative Economic Systems." We learned that an economy can be structured in various ways, but in the end the final decision as to what kind we are to have is made through the political process.

To best understand the alternate structural systems, one should go back to high school geometry. one system is a democratically structured horizontal system of markets; that is what we have long had -- until recently. The other is hierarchal: organized from the top down, thus vertically oriented. The production and delivery process is implicitly vertical -- it ends with consumption by the consumer.

In a system of markets, value is established and ownership transferred at each stage. The process is loaded with ethical values, foremost of is to be rewarded proportionately he has provided. Similarly the buyer arrives at his bids according to the worth of the product to him. In the selling-buying process, product is directed into the next stage of distribution. Over many years a code of market practices has been developed in order to improve equity.

A hierarchal system as is emerging now -- Dr. Heffernan's clusters -- is essentially an exact opposite. it's organized and managed from the top down. It's essentially imperious. If it takes over, as it now seems likely to do, it will replace the system of markets that has been traditional in our state and the entire nation, as well as in most western agricultural nations.

Does it make a difference whether Missouri's agricultural industry remains with a system of markets or turns to clusters? Indeed it does. Who cares? A great majority of rank and file farmers in our state. So do politicians who are sensitive to the concerns of rural constituents. Who doesn't care? Corporate farm industries are at the top of the list, as well as the average consumer who never heard of comparative economic systems.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.