Media

Agriculture.com | SF Special: A Constant Battle for Beef Checkoff Transparency

OCM Staff

Agriculture.com By Anna McConnell 3/21/2017  It all started when former Kansas City Star investigative reporter Mike McGraw overheard a conversation at the 2012 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Five years later, he’s unsure exactly what he heard and can’t locate his notes from the convention, but it was enough that the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) started balling its fists and marching toward the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board (CBB), also known as the Read More …

March 28, 2017: Commodity Checkoff Programs: A Bad Deal for Taxpayers

OCM Staff

You’re invited to a bicameral staff briefing co-hosted by                                                 Commodity Checkoff Programs: A Bad Deal for Taxpayers Tuesday, March 28, 2017 2:00 PM Senate Visitor Center 201 In a rare consensus of left and right, economists of all stripes agree that the U.S. economy is suffering from a lack of competition and investment. Commodity checkoff programs Read More …

Refugees, Meatpacking, and Rural Communities

Don Stull

One week after taking office, President Trump signed the executive order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which suspended our nation’s refugee program for four months and would cut the number of refugees to be admitted this year by more than half. Among the many who voiced concerns over this edict were Barry Carpenter, president and CEO of the North American Meat Institute, and Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs for JBS, USA, Read More …

OCM sends letter to President Trump urging support for GIPSA’s Farmer Fair Practices Rules

OCM Staff

On Friday, March 9th, OCM sent the following letter to President Trump, urging him to support the new Farmer Fair Practices Rules to strengthen the Packers & Stockyards Act. These much-needed marketplace safeguards would help level the playing field for family farmers, ensuring they have the opportunity to feed us here at home and to compete in the global market. Enclosed with our letter to President Trump are copies of our comments in support of each of the three Read More …

Huffington Post | While Trump Was Dominating In Deep-Red Oklahoma, This Democrat Won A Landslide

OCM Staff

Huffington Post Now Joe Maxwell is urging his party not to give up on rural America. By Zach Carter MICHAEL CALI FOR THE HUFFINGTON POSTJoe Maxwell beat a right-to-farm initiative in a farming state. As precinct data rolled into his war room at the Aloft Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City last November, Joe Maxwell realized his team had a landslide on its hands. He saw no need to delay the victory speeches, having been up since before daybreak Read More …

The New York Times | Leashes Come Off Wall Street, Gun Sellers, Polluters and More

OCM Staff

The New York Times By ERIC LIPTON and BINYAMIN APPELBAUM WASHINGTON — Giants in telecommunications, like Verizon and AT&T, will not have to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers’ Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released. Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will not be punished, at least for now, for not collecting extra money from customers to cover potential losses from certain kinds Read More …

Organization for Competitive Markets v. Office of Inspector General (Checkoff Transparency Lawsuit)

OCM Staff

Issue In a six-year legal battle between family farmers and ranchers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), USDA refuses to release public audit and financial documents related to Beef Checkoff Program spending. By law, farmers and ranchers are mandated to pay into the government checkoff fund for research, promotion and development of markets for beef, but concerns arose after an audit found gross misuse of the program funds by the government’s primary contractor, a beef-industry lobbying group. Read More …

When were the words “United States beef” amended out of public law?

OCM Staff

By Vaughn Meyer, OCM Board of Directors U.S. cattle producers are rightly questioning why we are forced to promote foreign beef with our personal checkoff dollars. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) will tell you the number one reason the checkoff doesn’t specifically promote “United States beef” is because the Beef Act & Order – the enabling legislation under which our checkoff operates – also requires collection of a dollar per head on imported cattle. As a six-year former member Read More …