PROFITS:
THE WORLD
EMPIRE OF
CARGILL,
INC. JASMINE PARON
INTRO
• Cargill, Inc. is the largest privately owned U.S. corporation
• Based in Minnesota
• Buy and sell commodities worldwide
• Operate manufacturing plants
• Feed, grain, salts, soybeans
CARGILL’S
CORPORATE ORIGINS
• 1800’s
• William D. Cargill and sons bought an interest in grain
elevators
• Grew with financial backing and buying out other grain
elevators
• Owned so many elevators, farmers had to accept fixed
price for their grain
•
Monopolistic trading conditions
CARGILL’S
CORPORATE ORIGINS
• 1900’s
• MacMillan family entered into Cargill corporation
• Expanded grain business East which completely integrated
trading network and began foreign operations
• Profited in WWll and extended part grain trade
• Post-war profited
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT:
PUBLIC LAW 480
• Established this legislation so government could continue
grain expansion
• Results for Cargill
• Enabled them to increase export sales
• Opened direct commercial sales, “taught people to eat
wheat who didn’t eat it before”
• Commodity Credit Corporation
• 1-3 year loans with foreign governments to purchase extra
grain reserves while, at the same time, a Barter program
exchanged grain for war materials
•
Thus provided a subsidy for U.S. exports
CARGILL’S DOMESTIC
STRUCTURE
• Railroads
• Cargill operates grain collection, grain distribution, and
elevator located at railroad ports
•
Monopoly capitalism
• Storage payments from CCC
• Interstate commerce commission didn’t stop growth
• Rivers
• Increase shipping to other states
• Grain companies control grain transport system making it
impossible for other companies to stay in business. Also
effects farmers, they have fewer options to sell their grain
to
FINANCING THE
CARGILL EMPIRE
• Banks
• Credit lines with over 40 different banks
• Insurance companies
• Extended loans
• Take away
• Controls grain transportation
• Storage payments
• Small amounts of capital are used to control vast grain
empires
FOREIGN MARKETING
ACTIVITIES
• Operations in 36 different countries
• Canada
•
Undermines local grain corporations and small scale
farmers
• Philippines
•
Cheap labor
• West Europe
•
Control export/import facilities
• Overall
•
Some countries have moved away from PL:480 and found
other ways of attaining U.S. grain
A MULTINATIONAL
INDUSTRIAL
CORPORATION
• Subsidiaries
• Have other corporations in the Global South
•
•
•
Argentina
Brazil
Korea
• Able to do this with
•
•
•
•
an amendment to PL:480
• Allows Cargill to use local currency from the proceeds
of PL:480 sales to finance the establishment of local
subsidiaries
Financial backing
Friendly environment
Proper legal systems
CARGILL AND THE
STATE
• Majority republican officials
• Connections with MN senator Hubert Humphrey and
Richard Nixon
• Cargill officials serve in government positions
• Sections of the Department of Agriculture has ties to grain
trade
PROFITEERING AND THE
FUTURE OF THE GRAIN
TRADE
• World price of grain rose extremely high
• Farmers are forced to accept a fixed price for grain
• Cargill is the largest grain exporter in 4/5 leading export
nations
• Involved in operations with no direct relation to grain trade
• VERY SECRETIVE