Taking a tour of far Western Kansas with the Godfather of Wheat.

Many of the issues in rural America have to do with competition — as in, there's not enough of it. Hog farmers and poultry raisers worked under contract for a few large companies. Seeds are provided by a handful of businesses. Retail sales are concentrated. There are constant efforts to move the sale of cattle out of the auction barn where a fair price can be determined. The Obama Administration's top antitrust official, Christine A. Varney (above), is taking aim at some of these areas, according to Sunday's New York Times. Stephen Labaton reports, "At the request of some lawmakers, notably Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont, Ms. Varney is examining whether small agricultural operations are being hampered unfairly by large food processors, particularly in the milk industry, congressional aides said."

Food processing isn't the only area Varney is exploring. She is looking at complaints from phone companies that cable providers are blocking them from buying sports programs that the cable channels produce. She is also examining why generic drugs aren't more readily available. "It is a major policy reversal from the Bush administration, which did not prosecute cases in which some dominant companies engaged in potentially anticompetitive behavior, often because those officials maintained such behavior was not harmful to consumers," Labaton writes.

"In some cases, though, the new approach is being opposed by administration officials," Labaton continues. "Some fear that the crackdown is coming at a bad time, as corporate America reels from the recession. Other officials embrace the Bush administration’s view that larger companies and industry alliances can provide consumer benefits by making their businesses more efficient."

Horticulturist Allen Bush reaches rural Kansas and Nebraska just in time: Penstemon grandiflorus is in season, and so is strawberry-rhubarb pie.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted yesterday to give the Food & Drug Administration more power to police the nation's food supply. The proposal now goes to the full House. The new law would increase FDA's funding and require the agency to conduct yearly inspections of food facilities that run a high risk of contamination. The law would require all food production facilities to pay a $500 annual fee to help pay for the inspections.

The new law comes after contaminated foods, ranging from spinach to peppers to peanut butter, have sickened thousands of consumers. "A series of foodborne disease outbreaks...has not only sickened and killed American consumers, but has laid bare unacceptable gaps in our food safety laws," said committee chair Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). "Today the Committee will act to close those gaps — and give the Food and Drug Administration new authorities, new tools, and a new source of funding to carry out this vital mission."

The Washington Post notes that the FDA has been given a "formidable to-do list," including regulating tobacco. The agency, however, has compiled a long list of failures. "When I was first talking to the administration and the vetting process was going on, suddenly I realized that every day there was some story about a really bad situation and the FDA, and I thought, 'Do I really want this job'?" said new FDA commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg (above).