Media

OIG Reconfirms Commitment to Produce Beef Checkoff Audit Documents

Mike Callicrate

October 15, 2015 For Immediate Release: OIG Reconfirms Commitment to Produce Audit Documents Today, before a federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, and the attorneys for OCM, OIG reconfirmed their commitment to produce thousands of documents related to the 2013-2014 audit report. This assurance was issued today during a status hearing a little more than a year after the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) filed a complaint for injunctive relief in U. S. District Read More …

Failed Promises

Mike Callicrate

By J. Dudley Butler When Obama made grandiose promises about protecting farmers’ rights Many farmers were hopeful and saw a glimmer of light They turned out and supported Obama in his time of need Obama appointed Vilsack and Holder and told them his words to heed They gave grand speeches and promised big change But in the long run it was just more of the same Vilsack appointed Butler who knew the law and the facts But Vilsack Read More …

August 22, 2015: 17th Annual Food and Ag Conference

Mike Callicrate

Saturday, August 22, 2015 Conference and Membership Meeting 9:00AM-5:00PM AGENDA (Tentative) OCM 2015 REGISTRATION FORM 07:00 Registration 08:10 Welcome Mike Callicrate 08:30 Conference Purpose Fred Stokes 08:45 Case for Alliances & Coalitions Bill Bullard, Diana Moss 09:45 Coalition Report, HSUS on our side, OIG FOIA Issue Joe Maxwell, Angela Huffman, Matt Penzer</td 10:30 BREAK 10:45 Beef Tax Report Fred Stokes 11:00 Contract Poultry Producers Mike Weaver 11:15 Action Plan Mike Callicrate 12:00 LUNCH (Buffet available @ $25) 1:00 Read More …

Eleven years ago a few good cattlemen stood up for justice in an Alabama courtroom.

Mike Callicrate

Eleven years ago a few cattlemen stood up for justice in an Alabama courtroom. The jury awarded the cattlemen $1.28 billion in damages for Tyson/IBP’s manipulation of the cattle market. Before the court could consider injunctive relief, Judge Lyle B. Strom reversed the jury verdict and ordered the cattlemen to pay Tyson/IBP’s court costs of $80,000. The Supreme Court refused to hear the cattlemen’s case for fair markets in favor of the Anna Nicole Smith family feud case. Read More …

Vilsack Drops Huge Bomb: Approving Beef Imports from FMD-Infected Brazil & Agentina

Mike Callicrate

USDA Approval of Brazilian Beef Imports Coming Soon?? by Jim Eichstadt | The Milkweed – Dairy’s best information and insights | Issue No. 431 • June 2015 Foot & Mouth Disease Threat Alert! USDA appears to be gearing up to do the unthinkable: allowing fresh beef imports from Brazil, a country contaminated with highly contagious Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD). No sane person would dare risk this “nuclear option.” Exposing U.S. livestock herds to an FMD outbreak could devastate millions Read More …

OCM Repeats Call For U.S. Withdrawal From The WTO

Mike Callicrate

For Immediate Release July 3, 2015 OCM Repeats Call For U.S. Withdrawal From the WTO An Independence Day Press Re-Release: The OCM press release of four years ago that follows, reflects our frustration with the WTO decision made at that time, relative to the U.S. ability to implement its own mandatory COOL. The press release reflected concern for the conflict of special interest ridden WTO dispute resolution processes, and how they could adversely impact the U.S. in the Read More …

OCM Opposes Monsanto Purchase of Syngenta

Mike Callicrate

For Immediate Release Media Contacts: OCM President Mike Callicrate, 785-332-8218 John Hansen, OCM Vice President, 402-476-8815 OCM Opposes Monsanto Purchase of Syngenta (June 30, 2015) –The Organization for Competitive Markets Board of Directors passed a resolution opposing Monsanto’s purchase of Syngenta. The buyout would allow the world’s largest seed company to acquire the world’s largest agricultural chemical company and merge them into one company. “Farmers in the U.S. and around the world are facing unprecedented marketplace concentration in Read More …