Firms that bossed agriculture for a century face new threat: farmers

Across the U.S. Farm Belt, the balance of power is swinging away from multibillion-dollar agribusinesses.For over a century, companies such as Cargill Inc. held sway over markets for U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat, quoting prices to farmers who trucked their crops to company grain elevators. Cargill and its peers would then market crops to food and beverage makers across the country. Now farmers are increasingly calling the shots. Running expanded, consolidated farms, big farm operators are pushing grain giants for better prices or striking their own deals to directly supply manufacturers, cutting out the middleman.On his farm near Tuscola, Ill., Austin Apgar, 36 years old, is preparing to send some of this fall’s harvest to market. Earlier in his 14 years of farming, Mr. Apgar said he typically trucked his crop to one of the local grain elevators, where the employees may not have known his name.Today, Cargill, facing challenges in its grain business, is working to keep him close. Two states away, Adam Hyer, a Cargill grain trader based in Ohio, is negotiating to purchase hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn from Mr. Apgar. As part of the deal, Cargill may provide semi trucks to haul it away at a discounted rate.