Antitrust – Organization for Competitive Markets

New JBS Violations Highlight Weak Enforcement of Packers & Stockyards Act

OCM Staff — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:07:19 +0000

Today, Organization for Competitive Markets received information indicating that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will be releasing the terms of a settlement agreement with JBS Swift over its gross mishandling of beef carcasses at its Grand Island, Nebraska facility, its largest beef processing plant in the U.S. This unconscionable practice led to probable underpayments to cattle producers in violation of the Packers & Stockyards Act. In a soon to be released press statement, AMS Read More ...

DOJ Approval of Bayer-Monsanto Mega-Merger Hangs Farmers Out to Dry

OCM Staff — Tue, 29 May 2018 15:15:02 +0000

PRESS STATEMENT Tuesday, May 29, 2018 DOJ Approval of Bayer-Monsanto Mega-Merger Hangs Farmers Out to Dry Today, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. The Organization for Competitive Markets, which has fought on behalf of U.S. family farmers to block the mega-merger, issued the following statement: “Today’s news makes it clear that our anti-monopoly laws and the U.S. Department of Justice merger review process are ineffective. Economists have well established that there Read More ...

The Flawed European Remedy to Bayer-Monsanto Deal

OCM Staff — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 19:00:04 +0000

By Allen Grunes and Maurice Stucke Farmers in the United States have been battered for years by the rising costs of seeds and chemicals. It looks like things are only going to get worse. There were news reports last week that the U.S. Justice Department has reached an “agreement in principle” to give the green light to Bayer AG’s acquisition of rival Monsanto Co. Bayer is the second largest supplier of pesticides worldwide, and is an important global seed company. Monsanto is Read More ...

Poll: Farmers Overwhelmingly Oppose Bayer-Monsanto Merger

OCM Staff — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 13:23:19 +0000

For Immediate Release: March 8, 2018 Contacts: Patrick Davis, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0744, pdavis@foe.org Angela Huffman, Organization for Competitive Markets, (614) 390-7552, ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Poll: Farmers Overwhelmingly Oppose Bayer-Monsanto Merger Farmers’ concerns illustrate why merger should be blocked; milder remedies unlikely to work WASHINGTON, D.C. – An overwhelming majority of surveyed farmers are concerned about the proposed Bayer-Monsanto merger and believe it will have a negative impact on independent farmers and farming communities, a poll released today Read More ...

Farm Groups Urge Missouri Attorney General to Investigate Bayer, Monsanto Merger

OCM Staff — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 19:03:18 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 28, 2017 Media Contact: Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552 ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Farm Groups Urge Missouri Attorney General to Investigate Bayer, Monsanto Merger Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley Should Conduct Public Joint Investigation with DOJ JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Today, farm organizations urged Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into the proposed $66 billion mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co., and to conduct a public joint investigation. The letter, Read More ...

Agriculture giants Bayer, Monsanto merging could ruin American farmers

OCM Staff — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 15:38:04 +0000

By John W. Boyd, Jr. and Mike Weaver This article first appeared in The Hill. Earlier this year, we planted our crops — soybeans, corn, and wheat — and began feeding our spring chickens. Farmers like us have been doing this for generations. But next year, when we turn to our spring tasks again, the entire farming economy will have shifted under our feet as a result of a merger wave currently underway among the world’s agricultural giants. They Read More ...

Putting Competition Policy at the Top of the Agenda for Rural America

OCM Staff — Mon, 22 May 2017 17:34:19 +0000

By Lillian Salerno, former Deputy Undersecretary for Policy for Rural Development, USDA As one of the few rural entrepreneurs who served in the Obama Administration, I was so fortunate to get to spend much of my time with rural small businesses and local farmers implementing the programs Congress authorizes to assist in rural economic development. In this role for 5 years, I worked alongside USDA’s amazing State Directors and field staff implementing and supporting economic development in rural Read More ...

Senate Judiciary Committee must carefully assess Delrahim in light of potential agribusiness mergers

OCM Staff — Tue, 09 May 2017 19:47:26 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 9, 2017 WASHINGTON, DC – Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Makan Delrahim, President Trump’s nominee for Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. The DOJ’s Antitrust Division reviews and makes decisions on corporate mergers, and as an Assistant Attorney General Delrahim will be the ultimate decider on the proposed merger of giant agrichemical companies Monsanto Company and Bayer AG. A coalition of 137 farmer, consumer and environmental Read More ...

The New York Times | Leashes Come Off Wall Street, Gun Sellers, Polluters and More

OCM Staff — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:51:50 +0000

The New York Times By ERIC LIPTON and BINYAMIN APPELBAUM WASHINGTON — Giants in telecommunications, like Verizon and AT&T, will not have to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers’ Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released. Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will not be punished, at least for now, for not collecting extra money from customers to cover potential losses from certain kinds Read More ...

OCM Still Focused on Competitive Markets

Fred Stokes — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 00:55:59 +0000

On August 11th, OCM will return to the Airport Embassy Suites in Kansas City for our annual convention. There, in October of 1998, OCM was founded and declared its mission to be reestablishing fair and competitive markets for agriculture. Fair and competitive markets are what OCM still strives for; not as an end in themselves but as a critical contributor to the survival of independent family agriculture, a tenable rural America and our national food security. In my Read More ...