摘要：Major issues impacting farm operators throughout the country include the rapid structural changeoccurring at the farm level that has threatened the independence of farm owner-operators, thediminishing share of the consumers' food dollar claimed by farmers, increased global competition, andthe growing concentration in food manufacturing and retailing that limits markets. Buffeted by thesefactors and concern over growing limits to market access, producers in the livestock and poultryindustry have increasingly turned to various forms of group action to shore up their deteriorating marketposition.
