American Meat Institute Requests a ‘Stalling Tactic’

amipressrelease The American Meat Institute has requested more time to comment on proposed USDA Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration rules. OCM urges denial of the request. AMI is a lobbying organization of the major meat processing corporations of the United States. OCM is a nonprofit organization devoted to market fairness for agriculture and consumer food products.

OCM Applauds USDA GIPSA Poultry Rule

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration (USDA GIPSA) released its final rule regarding contracts between poultry integrators and growers. OCM sees this rule as a significant and badly needed step forward in reforming an industry that has a history of subjugating and otherwise dealing unjustly with contract poultry growers. The rule contains four important provisions: 1. The integrator must provide the grower a written contract prior to his commitment for facilities Read More …

OCM Applauds Joint USDA/DOJ Workshops

Lincoln, Nebraska – The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) expresses its pleasure at the announcement today by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder that they will hold the first ever joint workshops on agricultural market competition. The announcement states: “The workshops will address the dynamics of competition in agriculture markets including, among other issues, buyer power (also known as monopsony) and vertical integration.” This is the heart of OCM’s mission and we will cooperate Read More …

Butler Assumes Duties As GIPSA Administrator

LINCOLN, Neb. — May 14, 2009. This week, J. Dudley Butler was officially sworn into office and assumes his duties as administrator of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) at the USDA in Washington, D.C. OCM offers its hearty congratulations and full support for his daunting task ahead. Butler’s experience and personal qualities make him well suited to the task of putting this agency with its troubled past, back on the right path. GIPSA is an Read More …

OCM Applauds Fifth Circuit Packers and Stockyards Act Decision

Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com For Immediate Release: July 23, 2008 Contacts: Michael Stumo, 413-854-2580 Fred Stokes, 662-476-5568 or 601-527-2459 Lincoln, NE – The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) hailed a decision released Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Wheeler v. Pilgrim’s Pride) holding that a plaintiff need not prove an adverse effect on competition to prevail in a suit alleging a violation of the Packers and Read More …