GIPSA – Organization for Competitive Markets

OCM Releases Report on Regulatory Capture

OCM Staff — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 18:26:02 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 24, 2020 Media Contact: Ben Gotschall bgotschall@competitivemarkets.com 402-540-1342 Organization for Competitive Markets Releases Report on Regulatory Capture White paper reveals ag industry and government are too close for comfort LINCOLN, NE: The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) has released a report on regulatory agency capture entitled “Captured: How Agribusiness Controls Regulatory Agencies and Harms Producers and Consumers.” The 25-page paper details the revolving door between major agribusiness firms and the regulatory agencies Read More ...

OCM Board Member Mike Callicrate on Cattle Markets

OCM Staff — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 19:08:56 +0000

by Mackenzie Johnston Source: Fair Cattle Markets

Heritage Radio Network | OCM Weighs in on Cattle

OCM Staff — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:54:47 +0000

The Interim Director of OCM, Ben Gotschall, talks about a moratorium on beef imports, consolidation in the industry, and improving the markets for American producers.

OCM Calls for Breakup of Big Four Meatpackers

OCM Staff — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 21:00:30 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2020 Media Contact: Ben Gotschall bgotschall@competitivemarkets.com 402-540-1342 OCM Calls for Breakup of Big Four Meatpackers Weak Links in Food Supply Chain Must Be Removed LINCOLN, NE: Today, Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is calling for the breakup of the “Big Four” meatpacking companies: Cargill, JBS, National Beef, and Tyson. Together, these four companies control over 85% of the United States beef supply. Recent packing plant closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have Read More ...

9 Actions We Can Take Now to Strengthen Our Agriculture and Food System

OCM Staff — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 18:51:21 +0000

The Covid-19 Pandemic has had many effects on the economy of the United States, and particularly hard-hit has been the agriculture and food sector. Not since the Depression have we seen such a disparity between retail and farmgate prices, empty grocery shelves while people clamor for food, and farmers going out of business. Like something straight out of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, farmers are euthanizing livestock, dumping milk, and allowing produce to rot in the fields, Read More ...

OCM Comments on Packers and Stockyards Fair Competition Rule

OCM Staff — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:55:28 +0000

Today, the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) submitted public comments on a rule that the Secretary of Agriculture would use to determine whether or not a corporate practice would hinder fair competition in agriculture and livestock markets. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed rule regarding enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) seeks to clarify how the PSA is interpreted and enforced. OCM disagrees with the proposed rule’s inadequate criteria, and Read More ...

Public Comments on the Proposed Rule: Undue and Unreasonable Preferences and Advantages Under the Packers and Stockyards Act

OCM Staff — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:48:18 +0000

Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) submitted public comments on a rule that the Secretary of Agriculture would use to determine whether or not a corporate practice would hinder fair competition in agriculture and livestock markets. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed rule regarding enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) seeks to clarify how the PSA is interpreted and enforced. Download: OCM Public Comments on the Proposed Rule: Undue and Unreasonable Read More ...

Voice from the Ranch: Nebraska Cattle Producer Screwed by JBS Speaks the Truth

OCM Staff — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:59:57 +0000

The world’s largest beef processing corporation, JBS, is underpaying family farmers and ranchers for their cattle. Even worse, our government is letting them get away with it. A recent announcement of yet another case where a JBS meatpacking plant failed to properly weigh and keep track of cattle delivered to its plant resulted in a paltry settlement between JBS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), highlighting how USDA is failing the American farmer and rancher. USDA Secretary Read More ...

New JBS Violations Highlight Weak Enforcement of Packers & Stockyards Act

OCM Staff — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:07:19 +0000

Today, Organization for Competitive Markets received information indicating that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will be releasing the terms of a settlement agreement with JBS Swift over its gross mishandling of beef carcasses at its Grand Island, Nebraska facility, its largest beef processing plant in the U.S. This unconscionable practice led to probable underpayments to cattle producers in violation of the Packers & Stockyards Act. In a soon to be released press statement, AMS Read More ...

GIPSA is Dead; the Fight for Producer Protections Continues

OCM Staff — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 13:29:38 +0000

In a move designed to take a thorn out of the side of the world’s largest meatpackers, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue put the final nail in the coffin of the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) by formalizing the elimination of the standalone agency and transferring its delegation to the historically big agribusiness-friendly Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Among its duties, the now defunct GIPSA agency was responsible for enforcement of antitrust law in Read More ...