“Get big or get out!” These five words—and the mentality that drove them—are singly responsible for destroying more local economies than anything else in the last 75 years of American history. This isn’t just a witty slogan. It was a vision espoused from the pulpit of the Secretary of Agriculture that became our nation’s overriding farm policy after World War II. This idea was first espoused by Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture under Eisenhower. Benson declared that the era of small farming was over and crafted American farm policy to this end. In 1971, Benson’s former deputy Earl Butz became Secretary of Agriculture and would serve under Nixon and Ford until forced to resign amidst scandal in 1976. Butz was infamous, he was loud, and he was a bully. He berated farmers with the “get big or get out” notion. He decried small farms as an archaic notion of the past. He exhorted farmers to “plant fencerow to fencerow” and turn every acre of land into cultivated crops. Butz advocated to use food production as a geopolitical weapon and bargaining tool.
Essays from West of 98: Get Big or Get Out
Essays from West of 98: Get Big or Get Out
Essays from West of 98: Get Big or Get Out
“Get big or get out!” These five words—and the mentality that drove them—are singly responsible for destroying more local economies than anything else in the last 75 years of American history. This isn’t just a witty slogan. It was a vision espoused from the pulpit of the Secretary of Agriculture that became our nation’s overriding farm policy after World War II. This idea was first espoused by Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture under Eisenhower. Benson declared that the era of small farming was over and crafted American farm policy to this end. In 1971, Benson’s former deputy Earl Butz became Secretary of Agriculture and would serve under Nixon and Ford until forced to resign amidst scandal in 1976. Butz was infamous, he was loud, and he was a bully. He berated farmers with the “get big or get out” notion. He decried small farms as an archaic notion of the past. He exhorted farmers to “plant fencerow to fencerow” and turn every acre of land into cultivated crops. Butz advocated to use food production as a geopolitical weapon and bargaining tool.