ORGANIZATION FOR COMPETITIVE MARKETS

P.O. Box 6486

Lincoln, NE 68506

Web site: www.competitivemarkets.com 

ocm@competitivemarkets.com

 

Date:  May 17, 2001                            For Immediate Release

 

Contact:            Fred Stokes: 662-476-5568

                        Michael C. Stumo: 860-379-6199

 

OCM Asks for a Competition Title in the next Farm Bill

 

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) asked the Senate Subcommittee on Agricultural Appropriations today to take decisive action addressing industry consolidation in agriculture.  Fred Stokes, president of OCM, recommended that Congress include a new section in the next farm bill, a Competition Title, to reclaim a competitive market system in agriculture.  The subcommittee received testimony from farm groups, government personnel, and industry representatives.

 

“The present concentrated and non-competitive marketplace systematically and increasingly shortchanges farmers and ranchers who receive an ever-decreasing share of the food dollar,” Stokes told the subcommittee, “while those with the power to slice the pie continue to exact more than they have earned.”

 

Stokes noted that over 65 groups have signed a letter to Sen. Richard Lugar (R. IN), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, calling for a Competition Title in the next farm bill.  OCM has been pressing for a Competition Title since last year.  “The number and diversity of the groups signing on to the Competition Title letter shows that Congress needs to act now before we ‘chickenize’ the industry,” said Stokes.

 

The full text of OCM’s oral and written testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Agricultural Appropriations is available in full text on the OCM website on the “What’s New” page.  (www.competitivemarkets.com/whats_new).

 

The Organization for Competitive Markets is a multidisciplinary, nonprofit group of farmers, ranchers, academics, attorneys, business persons and policy makers dedicated to reclaiming the agricultural marketplace for independent farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

 

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