broken_markets Vested interests in animal slaughter have mounted a campaign against reinvigoration of laws designed to protect the market for producers’ market-weight animals, and for retail use by consumers, too. The facts are no barrier to what is said from time to time. This OCM Briefing Paper declares that it is time for a meaningful discussion on how to fix cattle markets and restore profitability to beef cattle production in the United States. Read OCM’s Briefing Paper above.
Category: GIPSA Rule
The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s agency that facilitates the marketing of livestock, poultry, meat, cereals, oilseeds, and related agricultural products, and promotes fair and competitive trading practices for the overall benefit of consumers and American agriculture.
GIPSA is part of USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs, which are working to ensure a productive and competitive global marketplace for U.S. agricultural products.
The Agency’s Packers and Stockyards Program (P&SP) promotes fair business practices and competitive environments to market livestock, meat, and poultry. Through its oversight activities, including monitoring programs, reviews, and investigations, P&SP fosters fair competition, provides payment protection, and guards against deceptive and fraudulent trade practices that affect the movement and price of meat animals and their products. P&SP’s work protects consumers and members of the livestock, meat, and poultry industries.
The Agency’s Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) facilitates the marketing of U.S. grain and related agricultural products by establishing standards for quality assessments, regulating handling practices, and managing a network of Federal, State, and private laboratories that provide impartial, user fee funded official inspection and weighing services.
GIPSA Head Restoring Fair Markets
ocmgipsanew Many political organizations closely affiliated with major beef, pork and poultry integrators attacked J. Dudley Butler, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s GIPSA for his attempts to update GIPSA regulations of meatpackers. David Domina, general counsel for the Organization for Competitive Markets, notes the packer-friendly gropus have these accusations backwards. Download the complete press release above:
Common Sense is Where You find It
by Randy Stevenson, President When people engage in debate about the market, there is frequently an almost mediate division based on the left-right political spectrum. This remains true even though we can see many examples of error from both sides. On the other hand, those who engage in detailed conversation about what the markets should look like and what role government should have in the marketplace ultimately find a great deal of agreement. The disagreement, it seems, comes mostly Read More …
The Comstock Report
David Kruse President, Comstock Investments Copyright 2010@ CommStock Investments, Inc., David Kruse Whenever corn prices rise, we need to hand another dry crying towel to the NPPC, NCBA and AMI as their tears will flow freely as they decry the injustices of ethanol, portrayed as the source of all livestock industry ills. Actually, they will claim to support ethanol, just not ethanol subsidies. If ethanol was not subsidized, they claim their opposition would relent. That means that the Read More …
One Sick Puppy
Published in The Stevenson Report by Randy Stevenson Rumor has it that some vet techs will write the abbreviation A.D.G. as the diagnosis of an animal they have briefly looked at and admitted into their care. Further inquiry enlightens us that A.D.G. simply stands for “Ain’t Doing Good.” There is scarcely a real cattleman that can’t look at a pen full of cattle and pick out the weak and sick ones. In both of these cases, the person Read More …
America Needs a Real Life Mr. Smith to Help Us Climb Out of the Hole We’re In.
by Richard Oswald They used to make miracles come true. I walked in the door, home from harvest for the evening, and came face to face with a 76 year old Hollywood miracle. I know, the wonders they create are only dreams, but every time Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on the living room TV set I have to stop and think. Most of us know the story of Smith, the naïve young leader of a group known Read More …
Continue the March; No Time for a Unilateral Truce!
by Thomas F. “Fred” Stokes Over the past 30 or so years, there has developed a meek acquiescence to agricultural market concentration and anticompetitive practices and the resultant harm to family farms and ranches, rural America and our national food security. Government has seemingly been indifferent. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been captive to those it was supposed to regulate and the U. S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) rubber stamped every merger that came down Read More …
OCM Briefing Paper: The Plucking of a Poultry Grower
Please read the most recent briefing paper from OCM regarding the struggles of a particular chicken farmer. Click below to download the paper. pluckingofpoultry