Farmland was funded by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). This group was formed in response to recent movies and books like Fast Food Nation, which warned consumers off factory-farmed ground beef. The alliance includes state farm bureaus and agribusiness giants like Monsanto, whose genetically engineered seeds were targeted for criticism in the film Food Inc. Randy Krotz, with the Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, says they felt it was time to make their own movie.