Tag: Nebraska

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

OCM Staff

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 …

Corporate Farming Bill Threatens Nebraska’s Family Farms

Mike Callicrate

NEWS RELEASE February 1, 2016 Corporate Farming Bill Threatens Nebraska’s Family Farms The Organization for Competitive Markets is calling on farmers, ranchers and consumers across Nebraska to strongly oppose a bill in the state legislature that would reduce competition in the marketplace by allowing packer ownership of hogs. Nebraska is the only state that still prohibits packers from owning hogs more than five days prior to slaughter. “We can’t let this happen in Nebraska,” said OCM President Mike Read More …

Haythorn Ranch – NE. Great Ranches of the West

Mike Callicrate

“‘Boy, you brought this trouble on yourself,’ the captain shouted, shoving the teenaged stowaway into the arms of two sailors. ‘Take him below to shovel manure!’ It was 1876, and the two rough men hauled the struggling youth to the bowels of the ship. There was no turning back to port for this English cattle ship, so sixteen-year-old Harry Haythornthwaite of Lancaster, England, crossed the Atlantic cleaning the stalls of the bulls bound for Texas. He did his Read More …

Monahan Ranch – NE. Great Ranches of the West

Mike Callicrate

“James H. Monahan’s son, Earl, was born on the ranch in 1899. Again, ingenuity and determination reigned in that generation of Monahans. The winter of 1913 wreaked havoc on all the nearby ranches when a series of malicious blizzards buried the plains in so much snow that thousands of livestock froze to death. Earl and a high school friend hired out to the neighbors to uncover the frozen, dead cattle and collect the hides. They engineered a unique Read More …

Haythorn Ranch – NE. Great Ranches of the West

Mike Callicrate

“Craig and wife, Jody; sons Sage and Cord, and Craig’s mother, Bel, host the auction, where this year 343 quarter horses sell to registered buyers from across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The Haythorns run Longhorn, Black Angus, and Hereford cattle on their 75,000 deeded and leased acres, yet the horses are what the Haythorns are famous for. This ranch is one of the largest breeders of registered quarter horses in the U.S. The 500 horses branded with Read More …

Monahan Ranch – NE. Great Ranches of the West

Mike Callicrate

“While still a teenager, James H. bought a quarter-section of land in 1893 and raised a few cattle, selling beef to the railroad crews for five cents a pound. His boldest venture came when, as a 23-year-old, James rode to Wyoming, bought 600 head of cattle, and drove them himself back to his little ranch. The drive took an entire month. That determination soon saw James purchasing 1,000 acres of land, and in 1923 the Circle Dot brand Read More …