POLITICO By Christine Haughney THE FARMERS’ PERSPECTIVE HEARD IN D.C.: It may be one of the most inconvenient times of year for farmers to leave their ranches and fields behind to travel to Washington. But all this week, your host has been chatting with farmers who flocked to Capitol Hill to offer their personal views on the farm bill. “We probably should be in the fields or tending livestock,” said Jake Davis, a family farmer from Central Missouri who raises Read More …
Washington, D.C. – Today, the American Grassfed Association (AGA) and the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) filed a petition with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) demanding FSIS policy be changed to ensure only U.S. domestic meat products can be labeled “Product of U.S.A.” The current policy allows foreign meat to be imported into the United States and bear the label “Product of U.S.A.” if it simply passes through a USDA-inspected Read More …
Join us for the only national conference focused on breaking up corporate consolidation and monopoly power in agriculture. Marriott Kansas City Airport 775 Brasilia Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64153 Reserve your room at the OCM conference rate of $102 per night by booking online or calling (816) 464-2200. Rooms are available at the discounted rate until 7/25/18. REGISTER NOW >> Antitrust attorneys from Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll will be available to meet with farmers who have suffered marketplace abuses. Our Read More …
WHO: Wes Shoemyer, MO, Family Farm Action Chris Petersen, IA, Organization for Competitive Markets Kara Boyd, VA, Assoc. of American Indian Farmers John Boyd, VA, National Black Farmers Association Carrie Balkcom, CO, American Grassfed Association Lynn Wolff, ND, North Dakota Citizens Sustainability League Web Davis, MO, Missouri NAACP Dee Greene, MN, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Randy Duggar, IN, Indiana Farmers Union Marty Henderson, IL, Peace Garden & Farms WHAT: A fly-in to Washington D.C. to advocate for Read More …
POLITICO By Liz Crampton Beef importers have been able to take advantage of a loophole in regulations that allows them to use “Product of U.S.A.” labels if their goods pass through a USDA-inspected plant, beef groups say. Now, two groups are petitioning the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service to change its policy. The problem became especially acute in 2015, when country-of-origin labeling was repealed, say the American Grassfed Association and the Organization for Competitive Markets. And it is Read More …
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 31, 2018 Media Contact: Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552 ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Farm Groups Call for Disqualification of Ohio Beef Council from Checkoff Program Columbus, Ohio – A federally-recognized state agency has been utilizing farmers’ tax dollars to influence policy and elections, in violation of both state and federal law. Today, farm groups joined together to call for the disqualification of that agency, the Ohio Beef Council, from collecting and spending the federally-mandated tax assessments. The assessments, paid Read More …
The Washington Post By Brian Fung and Caitlin Dewey Federal antitrust regulators have granted agribusiness giants Bayer and Monsanto permission to merge after the two companies agreed to spin off $9 billion worth of assets, the largest such sale of corporate assets ever required by the Justice Department. Under the proposed settlement filed Tuesday, Bayer will sell its seed and herbicide businesses to a third party, the German chemical company BASF. It also will sell its emerging digital Read More …
PRESS STATEMENT Tuesday, May 29, 2018 DOJ Approval of Bayer-Monsanto Mega-Merger Hangs Farmers Out to Dry Today, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. The Organization for Competitive Markets, which has fought on behalf of U.S. family farmers to block the mega-merger, issued the following statement: “Today’s news makes it clear that our anti-monopoly laws and the U.S. Department of Justice merger review process are ineffective. Economists have well established that there Read More …