Category: General Advocacy

Terminate NCBA as Checkoff Contractor

Mike Callicrate

Mr. Weldon Wynn, Chairman Cattlemen’s Beef Board 9000 E. Nichols Ave., Suite 215 Centennial, CO 80112 Dear Mr. Wynn, The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) calls for the termination of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) as a contractor for the Beef Checkoff Program. The organization’s latest move demonstrates once again that it cannot be trusted with producer funds. NCBA is now a plaintiff in a lawsuit to block the implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling that Read More …

NCBA Files Suit to Abolish COOL

Mike Callicrate

PRESS RELEASE Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com Contact: Mike Callicrate, OCM President 785-332-8128 callicrate@competitivemarkets.com August 5, 2013 Beef Checkoff dollars undermining producer interests! The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) today called for the immediate dismissal of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) as a contractor for the Beef Checkoff Program. On July 8th, NCBA and seven other plaintiffs, including the American Meat Institute, American Association of Meat Processors, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canadian Read More …

OCM to plot long overdue market revival at convention

Mike Callicrate

PRESS RELEASE Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com Contact: Mike Callicrate, OCM President 785-332-8128 callicrate@competitivemarkets.com July 18, 2013 Expect a somber tribute to lost markets, followed by invigorating plans for a rebirth, at the Organization for Competitive Markets’ annual convention coming up August 9th and 10th in Kansas City. “The free market we all like to talk about is a mirage. We pretend it’s there, but in reality our competitive markets have been Read More …

OCM Challenges Inspector General Refusal to Release Records

Mike Callicrate

PRESS RELEASE Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com Contact: Mike Callicrate, OCM President 785-332-8128 callicrate@competitivemarkets.com July 2, 2013 Group Appeals OIG’s Decision to Withhold Records Relating to Questionable Checkoff Audit Report The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) filed an administrative appeal today challenging the USDA Inspector General’s (OIG) refusal to release more than 3,000 pages of information relating to a questionable audit report. Despite an independent audit that discovered substantial violations of the Read More …

Mike Callicrate featured on The Tim Danahey Show discussing the recent Smithfield Foods sale to China

Mike Callicrate

The Tim Danahey Show recorded on April 13th 2013 When China’s Shuanghui Group purchased America’s Smithfield Foods (the largest pork producer in America) for $7 billion, it only created a minor ripple in the media. It was perceived as a simple and welcome Chinese investment in American free enterprise. However, there is more to the story. Mike Callicrate, a nationally-recognized leader in the local food movement and an ethical rancher, tells of the environmental, economic, and food supply Read More …

Monsanto’s growing monopoly

Mike Callicrate

What the Supreme Court got wrong: Patents on self-replicating seed are unethical, dangerous and anti-competitive By Kristina Hubbard A still from a Monsanto ad When the Supreme Court unanimously sided with Monsanto recently, it upheld the company’s right to prohibit the replanting of patented seed – handing the biotech giant a major victory. The court ruled that the doctrine of “patent exhaustion,” which an Indiana farmer argued should apply after the first sale of patented seed, “does not Read More …

MILK AND HONEY

Richard Oswald

Industrial agriculture erases the identity of our food, filtering its origins as cleanly as removing bee pollen from honey. Just mix, blend, inject it with a brand – and it’s ready for a shelf near you. Who made your food? In these changing times that’s becoming an important question. Maybe it’s something we should all ask more often as industrial food becomes rule over exception. But what makes food industrial? With so many working families and no one Read More …

It’s Still Called Stealing

Mike Callicrate

Grade and yield buying used to be called “Grade and Steal” by most cattlemen. Today, it’s called Value-Based Marketing by the big packers and their cheerleaders, like Certified Angus Beef’s (CAB) Miranda Reiman. In her March 4th article, “Value-based cattle marketing dominates”, Reiman attempts to mentally condition Angus breeders and other cattlemen to accept their fate in Big Food’s supply chain where performance enhancing drugs, added flavorings, Pink Slime, various pre-digestion methods, and meat recalls, do more to Read More …