Category: General Advocacy

Ban On Meat Packer Ownership: Too Little, Too Late

Mike Callicrate

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 …

The Confession of an Outlaw – April 15, 1926

Mike Callicrate

from Tom Giessel The Kansas Union Farmer Thursday, April 15, 1926 A crow sat on an old elm tree, and he was black as black could be I told him it was my belief that he was just an outlawed thief. “O yes, I am a thief.” Said he, “but there are bigger thieves than me; its true, I eat a little corn, and chickens too just newly born; and all the farmers plainly know that I am Read More …

A Pin Drop

Mike Callicrate

Once upon a time when our politicians did not tend to apologize for
our country’s prior actions, here’s a refresher on how some of our
former patriots handled negative comments about our great country. JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when
DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.  Rusk responded, “Does that include those who are buried here?”  DeGaulle did not Read More …

BFF

Mike Callicrate

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 …

BANKERS LAWYERS AND POLITICIANS

Richard Oswald

Readers keeping up with current vents can gather from the news that a couple of front runners in the US presidential race have something in common; It’s Goldman Sachs. I wasn’t invited, but unless it’s Warren Buffet I don’t know what anyone would talk about that could possibly be worth the $670,000 speakers fees Hillary collected from Goldman Sachs, just as I don’t know how I would justify asking to borrow one million dollars from Goldman Sachs to Read More …

MO Bad News: NCBA, cattlemen’s worst nightmare, wants $1 increase in Beef Tax

Mike Callicrate

Mike Callicrate owner of Callicrate Cattle Co. was recently interviewed by George Sholtz with Big Country 99 The Rooster (KUNQ) Assumed by its name to be an advocate for the cattle industry, the NCBA is actually the independent cattlemen’s worst nightmare and now want to increase the Missouri Beef Checkoff to $2. With its control of the Beef Checkoff Program, the NCBA is: Undermining every effort to restore competition to U.S. livestock markets. Facilitating trade agreements that are Read More …

Sen. Dierks says “NO” to destroying Nebraska livestock markets. Vote “NO” on LB176.

Mike Callicrate

Attached is the letter Sen. Dierks (retired) has asked me to circulate to you on LB176. It is useful to understand that scope and size the price “meltdown” in the hog sector. From 1997 to 2000, 2,500 hog producers were forced out of business. It was a time of deeply and widely felt financial and emotional crisis in our state. Out of the expectation that “somebody ought to do something”, the Legislature responded with the Competitive Livestock Markets Read More …

LB176 Letter to Senators – February 1, 2016

Mike Callicrate

February 1, 2016 Dear Senator: As president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, I sent the Agriculture Committee a strong letter of opposition to LB176 last year. On February 2, 1999, I testified before the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee in favor of LB832, LB833, LB834, and LB835 which were later merged into the Competitive Livestock Markets Act. I testified as the owner and manager of a large beef feedlot in Kansas, and on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Legal Fund, Read More …