With the next Farm Bill overdue and congressional agriculture committees facing significant shifts, farm policy experts said lawmakers have an opportunity to reshape the future of the U.S. food system, including addressing corporate concentration and providing North Dakota farmers with more economic options.

Four companies handle about 85% of U.S. fed-cattle processing, while the latest available USDA estimates show two companies account for more than half of retail corn, soybean and cotton seed sales.

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Michael Happ, program associate at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said concentrated markets can leave farmers and ranchers with fewer options.

"We have such a consolidated food and farm system, where a lot of these companies hold so much buying power and so much ability to set prices that are unfair to farmers and consumers," Happ pointed out.

The stakes are significant in North Dakota, where agriculture accounts for about one-fifth of the state's economy. Crop production makes up the largest share of the industry. Happ said the Farm Bill is one way Congress can begin addressing the challenges but he argued lawmakers should look beyond simply maintaining existing programs.

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Farm advocates in North Dakota are hoping the long-awaited legislation will be passed before the year’s end. Happ noted the pandemic and ongoing trade disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in a food system heavily reliant on large-scale commodity production and global supply chains. For North Dakota producers, the disruptions can mean greater uncertainty around markets, input costs and where they can sell their products.

"I think with this new Congress, there will be a lot more appetite for building up those alternatives," Happ emphasized. "The administration has broken down a lot of the old system. Do we just rebuild that or do we rebuild a, a better system that is a little bit more of a balance?"

Happ stressed more balance could mean strengthening local and regional food systems and giving farmers more ways to earn a living, while still recognizing the role of exports and commodity production.

A more diversified system would be better equipped to withstand trade disruptions, rising production costs and other economic shocks, building a more resilient future for North Dakota's agricultural communities, Happ underscored.