Secretary Vilsack – Organization for Competitive Markets

Failed Promises

Mike Callicrate — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 15:50:30 +0000

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 ...

Merchants of Doubt Exposes the Bull

Mike Callicrate — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 15:18:37 +0000

Not believing doesn’t make it untrue In last week’s Atlantic article, Farmland Without Farmers, Wendell Berry describes how industrial agriculture has replaced men with machines, depriving the American landscape of its stewards and the culture they built. He discusses the value of living in a place for a long time and observing, in that place, what’s missing. Over the last 35 years, as Wendell Berry describes, corporations have assumed near total control of agriculture while family farmers have Read More ...

Vilsack Dropping Beef Checkoff Proposal; What was Vilsack thinking?

Mike Callicrate — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 17:42:27 +0000

By Chris Clayton With Congress blocking USDA from spending any funds to create a second beef checkoff, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he’s happy at least that people within the beef industry could at least find an area of agreement. In a phone interview Thursday, Vilsack said USDA won’t pursue efforts to create another checkoff under the 1996 commodity promotion law. A policy rider in the federal appropriations bill passed over the weekend prevents USDA from continuing to Read More ...

Reform the Beef Checkoff Program: Terminate the NCBA gravy train!

Fred Stokes — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 15:42:47 +0000

Secretary Vilsack has proposed a new Beef Checkoff Program, which is in addition to the current one which will remain as is. As I understand it, three years after the new program goes into effect there would be a referendum to see if Checkoff payers liked it. In the meantime, the present program would continue and NCBA would presumably continue its lock on the contracting process for the current (mandatory) program and thereby receive more than 80% of Read More ...

36 Groups Urge Ag Secretary to Enforce Beef Checkoff Program’s Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest; Urge Other Reforms

Mike Callicrate — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 19:13:30 +0000

Joint News Release For Immediate Release: Contact: Bill Bullard: (406-670-8157) Fred Stokes (601-527-2459) September 11, 2014 36 Groups Urge Ag Secretary to Enforce Beef Checkoff Program’s Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest; Urge Other Reforms Washington, DC – In the wake of this weekend’s announcement by the National Farmers Union (NFU) that it was withdrawing from the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group (working group), 36 organizations sent a joint letter today to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to Read More ...

Guideline for AMS Oversight of Commodity Research and Promotion Programs

Fred Stokes — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 05:01:25 +0000

Conflicts of Interest in Research and Promotion Programs As a general matter of policy, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) guidelines for oversight of all checkoff programs expressly require contracting procedures that “avoid any conflict of interest or a situation that could reasonably be perceived by a third party as a conflict of interest.”1 The Beef Order includes provisions that reflect these principles, as well. Before service on the board or as a Federation representative on the Beef Promotion Read More ...

Briefing for USDA AMS Administrator Anne Alonzo

Fred Stokes — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:48:44 +0000

Ms. Alonzo, I am Fred Stokes representing The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), a sixteen year old non-profit advocate for a fair marketplace for what farmers and ranchers buy and what they sell.In other words, we want the game to be straight. I thank you for giving us this opportunity to express our concerns regarding the Beef Promotion and Research Program, commonly known as the Beef Checkoff. OCM has associated itself with other like-minded groups, including the Humane Read More ...

The NCBA Beef Checkoff Contract: A Blatant, Fundamental and Egregious Conflict of Interest

Fred Stokes — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:40:18 +0000

To my bitter disappointment, the many efforts at reform of the cattle markets over the past 16 years have been frustrated by meatpackers and their minions. Chief minion has been the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). This organization is believed by many to be on the side of beef cattle producers. However, it has opposed every major market reform initiative; most notably the ban on packer ownership of cattle, Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and putting the teeth Read More ...