Yes, it’s true, most commercial farmers I’ve spoken with have exactly the attitude you convey here.

At the same time, don’t forget what put the small farms out of business in the first place. Companies like Monsanto, seed laws like we have in Europe, government subsidies and farming policy, exclusive markets and middlemen, and so on. These things still exist.

If a group of farmers got together and did what you suggested with unprotected soybeans, the only place they could sell them would be a roadside farmer’s market stall. No middleman or wholesaler would touch them. Monsanto would be there insisting they prove the beans didn’t have any of their genes, under threat of a lawsuit. They would have administrative problems with USDA officials, subsidies and so on.

They would end up with an over-priced product they couldn’t sell to anyone at any price.

Of course if you then started trying to get rid of these restrictive policies, farmers would cry out in protest that they might have to work harder as a result, just like you said.

There is just very little a small group of farmers could do by themselves.