Category: Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 23, 2018 Media Contacts: Chelsea Davis, 573-808-3553, chelsea@farmaction.us Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552, ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Farm Groups Call on Missouri Lawmakers to Make Changes Following Report on Struggle of Family Farmers and Rural Communities Jefferson City, MO – Today at a legislative briefing at the Missouri State Capitol, the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) released a report outlining the dire state of Missouri family farmers and rural communities. Pointing to Missouri’s rural poverty rate which is now Read More …

Ahead of President Trump’s speech to the American Farm Bureau, farmers suing the Administration for rolling back critical protections for family farms issued the following statement: “President Trump’s administration has turned its back on the very farmers and rural communities that helped elect him president. Instead of upholding his promise to be our champion, the administration sided with multinational corporations to roll back rules designed to prevent corporations from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices against family farms,” said Read More …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 14, 2017 Farm Group Challenges Trump Administration’s Unlawful Rollback of Rules Protecting Farmers, Ranchers from Abuses by Big Agriculture Lawsuit Follows USDA’s Decision to Side with Major Meat Producers, Making It Harder for Farmers to Seek Relief from Abusive Big Ag Practices Washington, D.C.— On behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and independent farmers from Alabama and Nebraska, Democracy Forward challenged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for illegal rollback of Read More …

One week after GAO urges transparency, USDA continues to conceal checkoff information LINCOLN, NE – On November 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was required to submit to the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) additional information related to an audit initiated in 2011 of the federal Beef Checkoff Program. USDA confirmed that it has in its possession more than 10,000 pages of additional beef checkoff spending records, but refuses to disclose them. This revelation comes just Read More …

Following on the heels of his withdrawal of the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Farmer Fair Practices Rules, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has now announced the elimination of GIPSA as a standalone agency. In a memo released on November 14, 2017, Perdue stated, “The Packers and Stockyards Program formerly part of GIPSA and the Warehouse Act functions formerly part of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be transferred to [Agricultural Marketing Service] and included in Read More …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 14, 2017 Expert contacts: Tiffany Finck-Haynes, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0715, tfinckhaynes@foe.org Bill Bullard, R-CALF-USA, (406) 670-8157 billbullard@r-calfusa.com Communications contacts: Patrick Davis, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0744, pdavis@foe.org Angela Huffman, (614) 390-7552, ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Paul Towers, (916) 216-1082, ptowers@panna.org 1 Million+ Consumers Call on DOJ to Block Bayer-Monsanto Merger New reports reveal devastating impacts on consumers and farmers Washington, D.C. – Over 1 million petition signatures were delivered today by farming, consumer and Read More …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 9, 2017 Media Contacts: Bill Bullard, 406-252-2516, billbullard@r-calfusa.com Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552, ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Today Oklahoma farmers and ranchers won a great victory against the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) and their corporate out of state interests.  In an announcement today, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry (DAFF) announced in a vote of 1998 to 2506 the Oklahoma Beef Checkoff Referendum had been defeated. The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and R-CALF USA Read More …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2017 Media Contact: Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552 ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Farm Groups Urge President Trump to Implement GIPSA Protections WASHINGTON, D.C. – In denouncing Secretary Perdue’s withdrawal of the two Farmer Fair Practices Rules on October 17, 2017, Organization for Competitive Markets stated it would call on President Trump to do by executive order what the Secretary was unwilling to do: implement the proposed GIPSA rules. Today, a coalition of more than 80 agricultural organizations including Read More …