Walmart, Costco make a move to eliminate middle men in fresh local produce supply chain

While officials in Washington stare at a federal budget proposal headed nowhere and a federal budget deficit headed to the moon, farm leaders in rural America are closely watching two recent moves into Big Ag by Big Retail.

In mid-2018, Walmart, the Arkansas retailing giant, began bottling milk in a newly-built facility near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for its 500 stores in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

In doing so, this newcomer shoved an industry veteran, Dean Foods, its former bottler, out the door and with Dean went 100 or so dairy farmers in surrounding states who sold milk to it. Walmart replaced all with just 30 farmers and cooperatives within 140 miles of its new plant.

By Alan Guebert