The breathtaking number of mergers and joint ventures among agribusiness firms has left independent American farmers facing the power of an increasingly concentrated buying sector. The author examines this problem in the American Midwest in the decades following World War II. He analyses the competition within meat-packing and grain markets.

Lauck finds that independent farmers' attempts at organisation have been more successful than previously recognised, but he also shows that their successes have been undermined by the growing concentration and power of agribusiness firms, justifying a new approach to antitrust law in agricultural markets. Jon Lauck is editor-in-chief of the Minnesota Journal of Global Trade.