The Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plants in downtown Chattanooga last month were fined nearly $7,000 in penalties and fees for three violations over the past 18 months involving odor problems, documents show. The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, responding to a complaint related to the 1591 Broad St. “kill plant” last Aug. 5, said that bay doors had been left open and a fan that disperses liquid for odor control wasn’t operating. Also, an odor control mister outside Read More …
Author: OCM Staff
22nd Annual Food and Agriculture Conference and Membership Meeting
CANCELLED 22nd Annual Food and Agriculture Conference and Membership Meeting After much deliberation and careful consideration, the OCM Board of Directors has decided to cancel the 2020 annual convention in Oklahoma City. The Board is concerned about the health and safety of our members, staff, annual meeting speakers and registrants, and the possibility for community spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) during our annual gathering. Therefore, we believe the responsible decision is to cancel our 2020 annual conference. We Read More …
The Criminals Win Again: JBS Signs Deal to Increase Sales to China
JBS has done it again. Today, Meatingplace reports the Brazilian meatpacking giant’s South American arm has secured a deal to sell over $700 million dollars worth of beef, pork, and poultry to China per year under its Friboi and Seara brands out of Brazil. “This agreement reflects the maturity and evolution of our trade relations with China,” said Renato Costa, president of Friboi. “It will be an opportunity for us to evolve in our supply chain in an Read More …
CNN | Walmart takes a step toward owning the food chain
Source: CNN By Nathaniel Meyersohn America’s biggest retailers are pushing back against this country’s largest meat processors. The future of the nation’s food chain is on the line. Walmart last week opened a meatpacking plant in south Georgia that will cut, package and label its own brand of steaks and roasts to deliver to meat cases at 500 stores in the region. It is Walmart’s first meatpacking plant. Costco has also developed its own farm-to-store poultry production operation in Nebraska Read More …
Walmart the Meatpacker: When the Big Save Money Do the Small Live Better?
When you control over 25% of the U.S. grocery market and more than 50% of grocery sales in over 200 regions, you pretty much get to do whatever you want. Walmart, whose SuperCenter stores have been driving out local businesses in a town near you for over 30 years, has now decided it wants to try its hand at meatpacking. And why not? Cutting out the middleman is good for the bottom line. Keeping as many processes in-house Read More …
WNAX Radio | OCM Concerned With Dairy Market Concentration
Source: WNAX Radio Date Published: January 19, 2020 The Organization for Competitive Markets is studying the Justice Department’s investigation of Dairy Farmers of America and their potential deal to acquire the bankrupted Dean Foods. OCM Policy and Research Director Ben Gotschall says they’re very concerned about increasing concentration in the dairy industry. He says prior to Dean Foods filing for bankruptcy there was already market concentration and following the restructuring it also led to the loss of several Read More …
POLITICO | The Trump Administration Chose Meatpacking Giants Over Farmers in USDA Proposal, Critics Say
Source: POLITICO By Catherine Boudreau Farmers who hoped President Donald Trump would side with them over meatpacking conglomerates were dealt a blow after the Agriculture Department proposed changing rules governing fair competition in the industry. The latest proposal omits an Obama-era effort that would have made it easier for livestock farmers to win lawsuits against meat processors like JBS or Tyson Foods. For at least a decade, farmers have said there is an impossibly high bar to prove Read More …
New Brazilian Class Action Targets Corrupt JBS in the Name of Democracy
Brazilian class action lawsuit against corrupt meatpacking behemoth JBS lays out the undisputed evidence that through bribing over 1,800 Brazilian politicians, JBS was able to take over U.S. Swift Food, U.S. Smithfield beef group, and Pilgrim’s Pride, launching their takeover of the U.S. meat processing industry and becoming the world’s leading meat processor. The lawsuit demands JBS restore to the Brazilian public nearly a billion U.S. dollars of its ill-gotten gain. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have forked over yet Read More …