By Mike Callicrate & Fred Stokes Eating is one thing we all have in common. And, to millions of us, what we eat, how it’s produced, and where it comes from is important. OCM has worked for the last fourteen years to restore competition in the agricultural marketplace. We believe family farmers and ranchers make the best stewards of our land and livestock, and are the most reliable and trustworthy sources of high quality, healthy and safe food. Read More …
In 1980 there were 62,000 hog farmers in Missouri, today in this country there are 67,000 left. Joe Maxwell discusses the power of BIG Ag and market concentration at the Local Foods Summit, on February 11th 2013, hosted by Mile High Business Alliance. Joe Maxwell a fourth generation Hog Farmer from Missouri and Vice President, Outreach and Engagement for The Humane Society of the United States, Maxwell works directly with family farmers, helping them organize into producer groups Read More …
The best explanation I’ve heard for why the world did not end last month according to Mayan prophecy is that “every calendar has a beginning and end”–when the last page is torn off we simply start a new one. If it ain’t the end of the world then maybe its just time to turn the page. End of days came again, in November, when President Barack Obama was reelected to his second term. I don’t really think he’s Read More …
By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press A rancher vows to continue his legal challenge against the national Beef Checkoff even though his original attorneys have decided to exit the court battle. “We fully intend to pursue the case,” said Michael Callicrate, a Colorado rancher and plaintiff in the litigation. A federal judge recently allowed attorneys to withdraw from Callicrate’s lawsuit, which alleges that national Beef Checkoff dollars intended for promotions were unlawfully misused for lobbying. The complaint claims Read More …
By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press Attorneys involved in a lawsuit against the national Beef Checkoff program want to quit the case, citing a conflict of interest. Michael Callicrate, the Colorado rancher who filed the complaint, said he believes the law firm has caved in to pressure from the meat industry. “I am very skeptical,” said Callicrate. “They have no legitimate basis for withdrawing from this lawsuit.” Gabriel Zorogastua, an attorney with the Polsinelli Shughart law firm who Read More …
December, 2012, in the United States of America a real life Monopoly game is being played. The people have NO chance of winning: Watch Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream on PBS. See more from Why Poverty?. “We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the bench. The people are demoralized….The Read More …
The worries about the power of Wall Street have their roots in rural America. More than 120 years ago, rural Grangers and Populists were warning about concentrations of business power. Maybe it’s time we listened to our rural forebears. By C. Robert Taylor When Nebraska farmers in the 1880s saw that their economic future was being controlled by large businesses, they didn’t occupy Wall Street. They built a new political party. Here is a picture of the Nebraska Read More …
“Cartels have always been the highest concern of antitrust. They overcharge consumers many billions of dollars every year1 and there is a strong consensus that they should be sanctioned heavily. Yet, until now no one has ever seriously attempted to analyze whether cartel sanctions are at the optimal level. This Article is the first to undertake this formidable task. Surprisingly, it demonstrates that the combined level of U.S. cartel sanctions has been only 9% to 21% as large Read More …