Tag: Tom Vilsack

This is so NOT COOL!

Mike Callicrate

Download the poster to print and share! Groups Criticize Ag Secretary for Allowing Checkoff-funded NCBA to Attack COOL Washington, D.C. – In a graphic issued today, R-CALF USA and the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) criticize Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for not doing his job to end the abuses to the national Beef Checkoff Program (Beef Checkoff) perpetrated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The NCBA receives over 80 percent of its funding from the Beef Checkoff Read More …

Ranchers take on the beef industry over mandatory checkoff payments

Mike Callicrate

By MIKE McGRAW and PEGGY LOWE | Harvest Public Media NEMAHA COUNTY, Kan. – From their small farms set in the rolling hills of northeast Kansas, two ranchers are raising a few cattle — and a lot of Cain. David Pfrang and Jim Dobbins turned themselves into activists, launched a mirror corporation, got hauled into federal court and had to hire a lawyer. All over $1. That buck, though, divides the beef industry. And it may influence what Read More …

Confronting The Lie: Open Letter to Steve Dittmer

Mike Callicrate

June 24, 2014 Dear Mr. Dittmer, After reading Mike Callicrate’s article about you in the OCM newsletter, I feel compelled to respond to your recent blog about me and the good hardworking employees at GIPSA that I was honored to lead. Two old sayings come to mind when dealing with you. First is “a wise man has something to say and a fool just has to say something”. The other is that “some people would rather climb a Read More …

OCM Says They’ll Take OIG To Court Over Beef Check Off Information

Mike Callicrate

Posted on August 13, 2013 | Tom Riter, WNAX Radio 570 Listen to interview: [audio:https://www.competitivemarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/mikecallicrateonocmconventionresultsandissues8-12-2013-3.mp3] Organization for Competitive Market members just wrapped up their convention in Kansas City and are pushing for getting NCBA removed as a contractor for the beef checkoff. OCM President Mike Callicrate says they’re also going after the cattlemen’s group for alleged misuse of check off funding. He says they’ll be taking the Office of Inspector General to Court in order to receive information Read More …

Obama’s Game of Chicken

Mike Callicrate

The untold story of how the administration tried to stand up to big agricultural companies on behalf of independent farmers, and lost. By Lina Khan | Print (PDF) In May 2010, Garry Staples left his chicken farm in Steele, Alabama, to take part in a historic hearing in Normal, an hour and a half away. The decision to go wasn’t easy. The big processing companies that farmers rely on for their livelihood had made it known that even Read More …

OCM 2012: Callicrate vs. USDA: Lawsuit claims beef checkoff paying for lobbying

Mike Callicrate

Daniel D. Owen – Polsinelli Shughart PC August 10, 2012 | Filing Date for Complaint for Permanent Injunction MICHAEL P. CALLICRATE, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (PDF) Mike Callicrate is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the CBB’s Beef Promotion Operating Committee. Callicrate is the owner of a meat packing facility and retail market called Ranch Direct Foods in Colorado Springs, Read More …