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 …
Cattle Producers Mad as Hell and Not Gonna Take It Anymore BAY SPRINGS, MS – Yesterday evening, over 100 farmers and ranchers gathered in Bay Springs, Mississippi to say “enough is enough.” With this year’s calf prices dropping to about half of what they were a year ago and putting Mississippi cattle producers’ viability in question, cattle producers learned of actions they can take to win back a free and just market to regain their fair share of Read More …
On Tuesday, NCBA’s attempt to delay and disrupt OCM’s search for the truth hit a snag when a federal court greatly limited its role in a lawsuit for beef checkoff records. A federal court allowed the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) a limited entry into a lawsuit brought by OCM to obtain audit records of the beef checkoff program. NCBA had been seeking full party status. In part the court’s order stated, “NCBA’s participation in this case is limited Read More …
On Friday, September 30, 2016, attorneys for the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) filed their response in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to the National Cattleman Beef Association’s (NCBA) late attempt to intervene in a case filed by OCM to obtain records from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) related to Beef Checkoff Program activities. In October of 2014, OCM filed the original complaint for injunctive relief, demanding the OIG for the U.S. Department Read More …
In 1985 most cattlemen proudly acknowledged the passage of the Beef Promotion Act and Order that authorized a $1 per head checkoff assessment (Beef Checkoff) for the promotion of our own product, beef. These were exciting times with great expectations for improving both beef demand and severely depressed cattle markets. The passage of the Act and Order culminated many years of congressional debate and wrangling which began in 1972. Many changes were made to the Act and Order Read More …
I am Fred Stokes from Porterville, Mississippi. I am happy and honored to be a participant in this conference. Ralph Nader is one of my heroes and the epitome of unselfish commitment to worthy causes. I was born on a small diversified family farm in Kemper County Mississippi, the home of the late Senator John C. Stennis. After spending some 20 years in the Army, I retired and returned to my home country to get rich in the Read More …
By Mike Callicrate Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a longtime advocate for fair markets, is once again reintroducing a bill that would make it unlawful for meat packers to own livestock more than seven days prior to slaughter. Similar legislation has been introduced before, but the powerful packer lobby has always succeeded in killing it. Aside from whether the bill actually has a chance this time, there’s another question to consider. If Congress bans meat packers from owing livestock, Read More …
by Lee Pitts, Livestock Market Digest I don’t get it. Admittedly, there are a lot of things in life I don’t understand, but one of the more puzzling phenomena is rancher’s support of the NCBA while the organization is doing everything possible to hurt American ranchers, including killing COOL. At the same time those ranchers seem to despise R CALF who has had the cattlemen’s back every step of the way. People will flock to an NCBA convention Read More …