Smithfield – Organization for Competitive Markets

The Family Farm

Fred Stokes — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 19:41:33 +0000

I am Fred Stokes from Porterville, Mississippi. I am happy and honored to be a participant in this conference. Ralph Nader is one of my heroes and the epitome of unselfish commitment to worthy causes. I was born on a small diversified family farm in Kemper County Mississippi, the home of the late Senator John C. Stennis. After spending some 20 years in the Army, I retired and returned to my home country to get rich in the Read More ...

LB176 Letter to Senators – February 1, 2016

Mike Callicrate — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:33:07 +0000

February 1, 2016 Dear Senator: As president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, I sent the Agriculture Committee a strong letter of opposition to LB176 last year. On February 2, 1999, I testified before the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee in favor of LB832, LB833, LB834, and LB835 which were later merged into the Competitive Livestock Markets Act. I testified as the owner and manager of a large beef feedlot in Kansas, and on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Legal Fund, Read More ...

Meat of the Matter: Bigger is not better

Mike Callicrate — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:15:48 +0000

Article By Dan Murphy November 17, 2015 Here’s a trend producers know all too well: Corporate consolidation goes forward in the name of “efficiency,” and the end result is bad news for everyone other than management and investors. Newsflash: The Kraft Heinz Co. just announced that the company is eliminating 2,600 jobs and closing seven processing plants. That’s on top of the previously announced elimination of 2,500 administrative jobs. According to a statement by Michael Mullen, the company’s Read More ...

Letter from Langdon: Playing Fetch

Richard Oswald — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 14:38:44 +0000

While farmers chase the next crop, the agriculture game has changed. International corporations have reduced their own risk by passing it along to farmers. “Free” trade (like the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership), seed patents, and contract farming for hogs and chickens are some of the ways Big Ag has standardized a once-diverse industry. Photo by Nate Kauffman Playing fetch at Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine State Forest. Playing fetch with a Labrador is a little like farming. I throw the 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 ...

Farmers in America have a saying: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”.

Richard Oswald — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:43:06 +0000

Mid-sized farmers are stuck in the middle – too conventional and “toxic” for the foodies, too small to matter to Big Ag corporations. How do you participate in the food debate without becoming part of the menu? Or, with friends like these, who needs aliens? By Richard Oswald Farmers in America have a saying. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” This reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode where extraterrestrials visiting from outer space Read More ...

The Politics & Economics of Food – A presentation at Lamar Community College March 2014

Mike Callicrate — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:26:46 +0000

click to enlarge I studied Animal Science at Lamar Community College in 1972 and 1973 prior to completing my Animal Science degree at Colorado State University. A lot has changed in agriculture as Land Grant institutions have taught students that agriculture is a business, not a way of life, steering us well off the path of a sustainable food system. Hopefully we can see a shift back from the destructive industrial model to an agriculture that includes good Read More ...

“They (BIG Ag) suck the wealth from our rural communities”

Mike Callicrate — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:40:37 +0000

In 1980 there were 62,000 hog farmers in Missouri, today in this country there are 67,000 left. Joe Maxwell discusses the power of BIG Ag and market concentration at the Local Foods Summit, on February 11th 2013, hosted by Mile High Business Alliance. Joe Maxwell a fourth generation Hog Farmer from Missouri and Vice President, Outreach and Engagement for The Humane Society of the United States, Maxwell works directly with family farmers, helping them organize into producer groups Read More ...

Freedom of Choice at the Supermarket: Not

Don Stull — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:50:12 +0000

Your supermarket is a cornucopia, overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables from around the world, no matter the season; counters full of meats, poultry, and fish; aisles stacked high with boxes and bags, cans and cartons of every kind of cereal, drink, dessert, and snack a body could want. Cornucopia, indeed. The typical American grocery store is stocked with 50,000 items, more than triple what it was 30 years ago. In 2010 alone, more than 15,000 new foods Read More ...