Media

Checkoff Reform Amendment Withdrawn Amidst Failing House Farm Bill

OCM Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 18, 2018 Checkoff Reform Amendment Withdrawn Amidst Failing House Farm Bill Today, U.S. Representatives Brat (R-VA) and Blumenauer (D-OR) withdrew from debate their checkoff reform amendment on the House floor, avoiding it getting tangled up in the broader political battle which led to the defeat of the 2018 House Farm Bill. Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and other advocates for checkoff program reform will now take the issue to the Senate as it begins Read More …

Des Moines Register | Merged Bayer-Monsanto will corner the market on farm data and software

OCM Staff

Des Moines Register Angela Huffman, Register Opinion contributor Published 11:11 a.m. CT May 14, 2018 (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register) The Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to approve the merger between Bayer and Monsanto. If that happens, the world’s newest and largest seed and chemical company will have more in common with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica than meets the eye. In recent years, large agrochemical companies, including Bayer and Monsanto, have been heavily investing in digital agriculture. This Read More …

Top 10 Most Egregious Checkoff Program Abuses

OCM Staff

Checkoff programs have been instrumental in the history of agricultural advertising. Famous campaigns such as “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.” have been paid for using family farmers’ checkoff tax dollars. However, checkoff programs have fallen under the control of big agribusiness interests, and oftentimes the billions of dollars paid into checkoff programs by hard working family farmers and ranchers end up being used to lobby for policies that hurt them. This could change in the 2018 Farm Bill Read More …

OCM Applauds Brat-Blumenauer Checkoff Reform Amendment to Farm Bill

OCM Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2018 OCM Applauds Brat-Blumenauer Checkoff Reform Amendment to Farm Bill Today, U.S. Representatives Brat (R-VA) and Blumenauer (D-OR) filed an amendment to the Farm Bill that would provide much-needed government accountability and transparency for the Commodity Research and Promotion Programs (checkoffs). The bipartisan amendment would ensure the authorizing checkoff laws prevent conflicts of interest, anticompetitive activities that harm other commodities, and governing boards of the checkoff programs from contracting with organizations that engage Read More …

Atlanta Journal-Constitution | As ag chief, Perdue takes ax to regulation, becomes point man on trade

OCM Staff

Atlanta Journal-Constitution By Tamar Hallerman – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ALEX WONG U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue sees himself as “the bilateral interpreter between the White House and the agricultural community.” (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) LIMA, Ohio —It was clear U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was in his element as a brown and tan RV whisked him through this frigid slice of the Great Lakes region on a recent government road trip. The former Georgia governor had spent the Read More …

The Flawed European Remedy to Bayer-Monsanto Deal

OCM Staff

By Allen Grunes and Maurice Stucke Farmers in the United States have been battered for years by the rising costs of seeds and chemicals. It looks like things are only going to get worse. There were news reports last week that the U.S. Justice Department has reached an “agreement in principle” to give the green light to Bayer AG’s acquisition of rival Monsanto Co. Bayer is the second largest supplier of pesticides worldwide, and is an important global seed company. Monsanto is Read More …

Farm Tax Dollars Used Illegally to Influence Ohio’s Governor Race

OCM Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2018 Media Contact: Angela Huffman, 614-390-7552 ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Farm Tax Dollars Used Illegally to Influence Ohio’s Governor Race Farm Groups Call on Governor Kasich to Stop the Illicit Expenditure of Farmers’ Tax Dollars on Lobbying and Electioneering Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio Beef Council, a state agency of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, illegally used government property to promote a fundraiser for the Mike DeWine gubernatorial campaign. On April 6, 2018, the Ohio Beef Read More …

Organizing Farm Communities to Stop Rep. King’s Attack

OCM Staff

By Laura Kington As a seasonal farm employee and food system advocate, my post-grad years have consistently revolved around three seasons: planting, harvesting, and conference-ing. The last two years, I’ve worked at a flower farm on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, the city where I grew up and where I remained after graduating from the Ohio State University’s College of Food and Ag., and the year prior to that I had my first season farming on a mixed Read More …