Perdue: Comments We Not Telling Producers Get Big Or Get Out

Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, says comments made during a recent trip in Wisconsin were not meant, as some have interpreted, as a "get big or get out".  However, Perdue said he was offering merely a summary of recent challenges producers , particularly small scale farmers and ranchers, face regarding economies of scale.

"There's been consolidation and whereby my dad put two kids through college on 318 acres in middle Georgia," Perdue said.  "That's difficult to do these days."

The Ag Secretary continued, from his own farm background he has nothing but empathy and hope for small farmers struggling to survive in today's economic landscape.  Hope similarly reflected in small scale producers such as through dairy growers, and recent dairy policy included in the 2018 Farm Bill.

"The airmen I think for the first time in a few years have a real optimism about going forward what can happen with their risk management so with these small herds have a better show now."

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