Fifty Years of Change for Farms and Rural Communities
An Evening with Dr. John Ikerd
Wednesday, July 24, at 7 p.m. via Zoom
Sponsored by Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN); Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA)
Did you know that today’s agricultural system, one that destroys rural communities, public health, and the environment, is a direct result of federal policies developed in the 1970’s and not market forces? That these policies actually shaped the market forces that led to today’s factory farm system?
Learn about those policies and more during a fascinating presentation by agricultural economist Dr. John Ikerd. He’ll share how and why these policies were put in place as well as the political pressures, global events, Farm Bill evolution, and Wall Street influences that all played – and continue to play — a role in shaping agricultural today.
Dr. Ikerd ends the presentation on a note of hope: federal policies created this system. New policies can begin to replace the industrialized system with viable alternatives and start repairing the harm unfurled 50 years ago.
About Dr. John Ikerd
Dr. John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri at Columbia, is a highly celebrated agricultural economist, author, and public advocate for economic sustainability. He was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri.
Dr. Ikerd has had a front row seat to the tumultuous changes that shaped agriculture over the last 50 years. After some time in private industry, the first half of his academic career was spent as an advocate of industrial agriculture. But he became a fierce critic when he saw how it hurt farmers, communities and the environment. He then spent 30 years in various professorial positions at four universities before retiring in early 2000.
A prolific writer, Dr. Ikerd authored seven books, wrote chapters in over 20 books, and penned a library of papers. He’s a sought after speaker and was also commissioned in 2014 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to write a regional report, Family Farms of North America, which led to several international speaking engagements.
Dr. Ikerd was a JFAN board member for 15 years until moving to Illinois in 2023.
Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN) is a 501c3 community organization that works to protect Jefferson County from the proliferation of factory farms. The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA) is a coalition of community, state, and national organizations advocating for a factory farm moratorium in Iowa.
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