Tag: Tyson

Tyson Foods bans using cattle with Zilmax growth hormone

Mike Callicrate

AirTalk with Larry Mantle for August 12, 2013 Listen to interview: [audio:http://media.scpr.org/audio/upload/2013/08/12/beef.mp3] Tyson foods said it will no longer buy cattle fed Zilmax, a growth-inducing drug. What was the company’s motivation for the decision? Last Thursday market traders noticed cattle prices rise sharply. It was in response to news that Tyson Foods – a major meatpacker – quietly had sent letters to cattle feedlots indicating Tyson would no longer buy cows fed Zilmax. That’s a supplement designed to Read More …

It’s Still Called Stealing

Mike Callicrate

Grade and yield buying used to be called “Grade and Steal” by most cattlemen. Today, it’s called Value-Based Marketing by the big packers and their cheerleaders, like Certified Angus Beef’s (CAB) Miranda Reiman. In her March 4th article, “Value-based cattle marketing dominates”, Reiman attempts to mentally condition Angus breeders and other cattlemen to accept their fate in Big Food’s supply chain where performance enhancing drugs, added flavorings, Pink Slime, various pre-digestion methods, and meat recalls, do more to Read More …

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

Mike Callicrate

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

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 …

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 …

Canada’s Beef Industry Now Foreign Owned

Mike Callicrate

For Immediate Release October 19, 2012 Mad Cow, E. coli and abusive market power broker the deal The world witnessed as Cargill and Tyson plundered the Canadian cattle and beef industries after the 2003 Mad Cow debacle. By 2008, there was little meat left on the industries’ bones, so Tyson sold to Nilsson Brothers Inc., an Alberta based cattle dealer, auction house operator, and owner of a 10,000 head per week Calgary meat plant, making Nilsson Canada’s largest Read More …