Dodge County, Inc: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America

On June 3, LWV UMRR welcomed Sonja Trom Eayrs to talk about her book, "Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America."    ​

Ms. Trom Eayrs was the guest speaker at the LWV UMRR Annual Meeting on June 3.  We had a lively discussion; the video of that talk follows in this post.  Many thanks to Sonja for speaking at this meeting!  

In 2014 Sonja Trom Eayrs’s parents filed the first of three lawsuits against Dodge County officials and their neighbors, one of the few avenues available to them to challenge installation of a corporate factory farm near their intergenerational family farm in Dodge County, Minnesota. For years they’d witnessed the now widely known devastation wrought by industrial hog operations—inhumane treatment of animals and people, pollution, the threat of cancer clusters, and more. They’d had enough. They also deeply understood an effect of Big Ag rarely discussed in mainstream media—the hollowing-out of their lifelong farming community and economy in service of the corporate bottom line.

In a compelling firsthand account of one family’s efforts to stand against corporate takeover, Dodge County, Incorporated tells a story of corporate malfeasance. Starting with the late 1800s, when her Norwegian great-grandfather immigrated to Dodge County, Trom Eayrs tracks the changes to farming over 

the years that ultimately gave rise to the disembodied corporate control of today’s food system. Trom Eayrs argues that far from being an essential or inextricable part of American life, corporatism can and should be fought and curbed, not only for the sake of land, labor, and water but for democracy itself.

Here is the video from June 3, on the left.  Here, Ms Trom Eayrs had problems with her slides and not all the pictures appeared.  The video on the right is from a presentation made for Farm Aid on March 31, 2025, and has all the pictures included.  

In her talk, Sonja discussed other organizations that are active in this area.  Here's that list of organizations:
​
Dakota Resource Council
Farm Aid
Farm Action
Food and Water Watch - Be sure and check out the most recent edition of Factory Farm Nation: 2024 Edition
GROWW - GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin
Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture
JFAN - Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors 
Land Stewardship Project (LSP)
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
SRAP - Socially Responsible Agriculture Project

As a reminder, Farm Aid will occur in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 20, 2025.

OpEd piece of interest.    


https://www.startribune.com/opinion-big-ags-corporate-culture-of-indifference-has-been-years-in-the-making/601359545?utm_source=gift

Sonja Trom Eayrs is a farmer’s daughter, rural advocate, and attorney. She is involved in several rural advocacy organizations, including the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, Farm Action, Land Stewardship Project, and Dodge County Concerned Citizens. Trom Eayrs also serves as the business manager for the Trom family farm in Dodge County, Minnesota.

For more information about the author, visit sonjatromeayrs.com.

---

Dodge County, Incorporated, is available for purchase at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other bookstores.  Readers are urged to post a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads​