Great OCM Conference
and Annual Meeting

The 2007 OCM Conference and Membership Meeting were held at the Downtown Double Tree Hotel in Omaha, August 3-4. If you weren’t there, you missed a good one!

It was here in this very hotel during the spring of 1998 that a group of people gathered for two days and discussed how the marketplace seemed to consistently and systematically shortchanged farmers and ranchers. They had come to Omaha, determined to do something!

The meeting was attended by many who were already at the forefront of reform efforts and have since distinguished themselves as advocates for fair play in agricultural markets. This key meeting was facilitated by Marty Strange, a Nebraskan of some renown who founded the Center for Rural Affairs and was a significant player in bringing about that state’s precedent-setting Initiative 300.
Marty led this group of desperate folks through the painstaking process of working out the many details for forming a new organization. It was this meeting that laid the foundation for the Organization for Competitive Markets, which was officially founded in October of that year at a meeting in Kansas City. We owe Marty Strange and those attending this Omaha meeting a deep debt of gratitude.

In the intervening years, we have had several annual meetings in this Double Tree Hotel and Conference Center. They have always provided us excellent accommodations; this year was no exception.

As has become our custom, the OCM Annual Conference, which was held on August 3rd, was action-packed. The program included a detailed update on the farm bill, a panel of five state legislators from Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska discussing important issues and expressing their sympathy and support of our efforts, an excellent lecture on hog marketing and a report by Robert Dumont of Michigan on the rapidly developing Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA).
The Luncheon Speaker was Brian O’Shaunessey, CEO of Revere Copper (oldest corporation in America-founded by Paul Revere) with an insightful talk on international trade. Brian made a compelling case that American manufactures confront grossly unfair competition in the global marketplace.

The Banquet Keynote speaker this year was Pat Choate, noted economist, radio talk show host and 1996 Reform Party Vice Presidential Candidate, running with Ross Perot (remember the warnings about the “giant sucking sound”). Pat presented a most informative, insightful and historical perspective on United States foreign trade.
It says something about the standing of our organization that we are able to get speakers of the caliber of Brian O’Shaunessey and Pat Choate for our events.

The most memorable happening at our banquet was a medley of patriotic songs, sung by Carol Mudd, wife of OCM President Keith Mudd. Included was the most beautiful rendition of America the Beautiful that I’ve ever heard. I had to choke back emotions as she made us all more fully understand how great it is to be an American. A misty-eyed crowd expressed their appreciation with applause and glowing words.

The annual business session was held the morning of August 4th. Two new board members were elected. These were Richard Oswald of Missouri and Sally Herrin of Nebraska. They replaced Joaquin Contente of California, whose dairy business and Presidency of California Farmers Union limited his availability and John Dittrich of Nebraska who served on five different boards and asked to be replaced. He continues to ably serve on the Coalition for a Prosperous America Board. We thank Joaquin and John for their service to our organization and expect that they will continue to be strongly involved in OCM’s work.

We welcome Richard and Sally and are sure they will contribute much to our organization. Richard is a spectacular writer and Sally has policy experience and is an excellent grant writer.
I came away from this year’s meeting feeling especially good about things. Keith Mudd, a proven leader continues to serve as our President; ---- and we have a super board. Since last fall, we have reacquired the considerable talents of Michael Stumo after a year’s absence while he pursued his law practice. Pat Craycraft continues to serve as our secretary and treasurer. She is that indispensable part of the operation that sees that things happen correctly and on time.
So OCM is in good hands. With your continued support, we can look forward to an exceptionally productive year ahead. FS