What was one of the problems faced by farmers in the late 1800s regarding railroads?

One way to complete this sentence would be to say “had monopolies in the markets for hauling crops.” Farmers felt this was a major problem for them.

During the late 1800s, farmers had serious economic problems. Most of their problems were actually caused by the fact that they were becoming too productive. They were producing too much, which cause prices to go down.  The farmers did not really want to admit this, however. Instead, they blamed the railroads, among other factors.

The farmers felt the railroads had monopoly power over them. The farmers essentially had no choice but to send their crops to market on trains. There was not much, if any, competition on most short-line tracks that went through farm areas. Therefore, most farmers had to simply accept whatever price railroads charged to transport crops. Farmers felt the railroads could gouge them by charging high prices and that they, the farmers, had no recourse when this happened. They blamed much of their trouble on this monopoly power.