OCM is the only national think tank focusing strictly on antitrust and trade policy in agriculture for the preservation of America’s independent family farmers and ranchers. We initiate an extensive research and communications program to distribute knowledge and information about true free market principles in the American tradition.
Ohio cattle producers are mandated by both state and federal laws to pay a fee to the government for every head of cattle they sell. Known as the Beef Checkoff Program, these mandatory fees are intended to be used for research and promotion of beef. The Ohio Beef Council, an agency of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, collects, administers, and expends these tax dollars. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear that checkoff programs are activities and speech of Read More …
In the late 1970s, Walter Goldschmidt hypothesized that rural communities are undermined by the presence of industrial farm operations, which lead to rural communities that are less likely to have a strong middle class, quality public services, and robust community participation. Increased concentration in agribusiness and farms supports the Goldschmidt Hypothesis, as many rural communities across Missouri struggle to support their local economies. Missouri’s rural poverty rate is 30.9% higher than its urban poverty rate. Agribusiness firms that Read More …
Consolidation and globalization in the food industry have reached a point where the top four firms in almost every sector have acquired abusive levels of power. This corporate control has allowed the top firms to reap record profits, paying lower prices to the farmers who produce our food and charging higher prices to consumers on the retail side. The U.S. is losing farmers at an alarming rate, agricultural jobs and wages are drying up, and rural communities are Read More …
There is a strong misconception among policymakers that checkoffs are producer dollars and that the producers should decide how those funds should be spent. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that checkoff activities and speech are those of the federal government.
Following is OCM’s policy position on restoring the Packers and Stockyards Act to its original intent. 1. Implement federal legislation that amends Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921(P&S Act) to provide that the use of a ranking system for ranking poultry growers for settlement purposes is unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive and a strict violation of section 202(a) of the P&S Act regardless of whether it harms or is likely to harm competition. 2. Implement federal legislation that is Read More …
AAI Working Paper No. 13-05: by Author: C. Robert Taylor and Diana L. Moss Fertilizers are a critical input in the agricultural sector where industrial farming is heavily dependent on external inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium or potash. A history of supra-competitive pricing by the few, large global producers of fertilizer inputs – coupled with characteristics that make the market conducive to anticompetitive coordination (i.e., collusion) – raise significant competitive concerns. This working paper qualitatively and quantitatively Read More …
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.
Please read the most recent briefing paper from OCM regarding the struggles of a particular chicken farmer. Click below to download the paper. pluckingofpoultry