The New Meat Monopoly: The Humane Society’s New Alliance with Family Farmers

A generation ago, the business of raising animals for food in America looked much like it had at the Founding – family farms, open and competitive markets, high standards, and a self sustaining national economy. Today, vast corporations rule almost every corner of the animal agriculture landscape, and these giants are increasingly controlled from foreign capitals. Some economists argue in favor of this new order of things, mainly claiming it is more “efficient.” But there’s also growing evidence Read More …

The New Meat Monopoly: How Consolidation Affects the ANIMAL

A generation ago, the business of raising animals for food in America looked much like it had at the Founding – family farms, open and competitive markets, high standards, and a self sustaining national economy. Today, vast corporations rule almost every corner of the animal agriculture landscape, and these giants are increasingly controlled from foreign capitals. Some economists argue in favor of this new order of things, mainly claiming it is more “efficient.” But there’s also growing evidence Read More …

SURVEY: Beef producers: do you support the $1 checkoff program?

By Peggy Lowe | Mar. 18, 2014 Cattle business from the producers’ eyes Allen and Lynda Berry own a cow-calf operation in central Missouri. (Peggy Lowe/Harvest Public Media) The beginning for most cows starts on a family farm where cow-calf operators raise cattle the old-school way. But some worry that the industry is moving towards consolidation, like the hog and poultry industries. Click here to read about what life is like as a cow-calf operator. We’ve all heard Read More …

Book Hour: The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business

Family farms and ranches are disappearing at rate of over 10,000 per year. Those who survive are being squeezed by the four powerful multi-national agri-business corporations that control 85% of the meat markets. Their control is eliminating fair markets for food, crushing rural economies, leading to record prices and profits, and creating ungodly conditions for animals with additives, steroids, antibiotics, and genetic engineering that distorts animal physiology. The power of the meat industry and their lobbyists neuter politicians, Read More …

No legislative riders to limit or restrict the Secretary’s rulemaking and enforcement authority under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921

Testimony Submitted by Bill Bullard CEO, R-CALF USA to the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee March 20, 2014 Contact Name and Email: Bill Bullard, billbullard@r-calfusa.com AGENCY: USDA-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Request: No legislative riders to limit or restrict the Secretary’s rulemaking and enforcement authority under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 On behalf of the members of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), I am submitting this testimony to urge Read More …

The New Meat Monopoly: The Animal, The Farmer, and You in the New Age of Global Giants

A generation ago, the business of raising animals for food in America looked much like it had at the Founding – family farms, open and competitive markets, high standards, and a self sustaining national economy. Today, vast corporations rule almost every corner of the animal agriculture landscape, and these giants are increasingly controlled from foreign capitals. Some economists argue in favor of this new order of things, mainly claiming it is more “efficient.” But there’s also growing evidence Read More …

The Least of Your Problems

Farm & Food File | A syndicated column by Alan Guebert Early February was not a good time to be an American carnivore. First, on Saturday, Feb. 8, Rancho Feeding Co. of Petaluma, CA, announced it was recalling 8.7 million pounds of beef carcasses and cuts. That’s virtually every pound of the company’s 2013 throughput. The reason for the recall, explained the Feb. 11 Los Angeles Times, was that federal regulators “said (the) plant ‘processed diseased and unsound Read More …