Category: Blog

What can we as eaters do to encourage a better food system? In today’s broken corporate-controlled food system, more and more people want to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced. The biggest industrial food companies are well aware of this fact and clearly see how consumer demand has shifted towards local sourcing of food over other attributes like antibiotic and hormone free. The world’s biggest food companies, including meat packers, processors, food distributors and Read More …

Building on OCM’s past 19 years of unwavering commitment to the fight for economic justice for America’s family farmers and ranchers, 2017 has proven to be one of the most impactful years yet. Here is your year in review. Fighting to End Big Ag’s Abuse of Family Farmers’ Checkoff Tax Dollars We worked with Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) to reintroduce federal legislation that would curb the rampant abuses of the $800,000,000 in commodity checkoff Read More …

The National Chicken Council (NCC) is on the verge of convincing the USDA to eliminate line speed limits in poultry plants. Jobs inside poultry plants are some of the most dangerous and difficult in America, and the risks to food workers and our food supply increase when the line speeds increase. OCM has joined with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in opposing the chicken industry’s proposal by submitting comments to USDA, and we urge you to do the same. For Read More …

The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association is holding a referendum to double the beef checkoff tax assessed on cattle producers. In-person voting takes place on November 1, 2017 at Oklahoma County Extension Offices. The election process has been controversial, with many constitutional and illegal irregularities. On behalf of our Oklahoma membership, the Organization for Competitive Markets urges a “No” vote for the following reasons: It’s throwing good money after bad. The fee increase would raise an additional $3 million to Read More …

By Brenda Cochran Tioga County, Pennsylvania The latest from the “Dairy Industry” is another outrage that is hard to imagine is even happening. As outlined in Jim Dickerell’s article in Farm Journal’s Milk, “Industry Proposes Changing How Fluid Milk is Priced,” the “Dairy Industry” is going to make a move in the upcoming Farm Bill to change how fluid milk is calculated, abandoning the “high of” calculation. Where do dairy farmers or consumers fit in with these globalized Read More …

In order to bring the Oklahoma beef checkoff tax increase to a statewide referendum, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) launched a petition drive in 2015. It took OCA nearly two years to collect their stated requirement of 5,100 signatures to bring the issue to a statewide vote this Fall. OCA cleared their stated signature requirement by only 77 signatures. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry verified all the submitted petition signatures without throwing a single one Read More …

I am writing to encourage you to put parental safeguards in place to ensure parents are informed of this election and to seek their permission before any child would be asked to cast a ballot that would place this burden on the backs of Oklahoma farmers and ranchers.

A Word on Farm Law and Policy By Harlan Hentges Edmond, Oklahoma A $1.00 tax is imposed every time cattle are sold. This is the “Beef Checkoff” imposed by federal law. Oklahoma ranchers pay about $3 million per year. Half goes to the Oklahoma Beef Council (OBC), and half goes to the national Cattlemen’s Beef Board. OBC says the money is used to make “a positive difference for Oklahoma’s farming and ranching families” and for “strengthening consumer trust.” Read More …