ORGANIZATION FOR COMPETITIVE MARKETS

P.O. Box 6486

Lincoln, NE 68506

Date: September 21, 2001 For immediate release

Contact: Fred Stokes: 662.476.5568

Keith Mudd: 573.735.2742

OCM Says Farm Bill Should Serve All Farmers/Consumers Through Competition Policy

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) reiterated today that the next Farm Bill should broaden its focus to benefit all farmers and consumers in the food system through a focus on competition. The statement was in response to a newly released USDA document which called for a reorientation of farm programs to benefit more than just big corn or wheat farmers, though it failed to include domestic competition. Additionally, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee released a two page position paper outlining a similar reorientation which does include competitive markets at the domestic and international levels.

“We think the recognition that more stakeholders should benefit from the Farm Bill is sound,” said Fred Stokes, President of OCM. “The best way to provide the most benefit for farmers and consumers without significant budget outlays is for the Farm Bill to include a Competition Title. The Competition Title should promote fairness, access, transparency and competition in the agricultural marketplace.”

The USDA “Food and Agriculture Policy” report focused on conservation and international trade as the means to avoid concentrating the benefits of a Farm Bill in the hands of a few. “Farmers don’t trade, countries don’t trade, global agribusinesses trade,” said Keith Mudd, vice president of OCM. “Farmers trade with grain processors and meat packers. We need to focus on free and competitive markets at the the farm gate level within the U.S. in order to provide the most benefits to farmers.”

The Senate Democratic Policy Committee went further in stating, in a September 19, 2001 Fact Sheet, that “we should ensure the proper functioning of domestic markets to maximize consumer choice in food purchases, farmer opportunities to market products, and meaningful price competition. We support provisions to address the impact of rapid consolidation in agriculture and to check anti-competitive behavior that harms family farmers and the rural communities in which they live.”

“Support for a Competition Policy in the Farm Bill is widespread. Seventy four organizations including farm, rural, faith, environmental, sustainable agriculture and consumer groups have requested both the House and the Senate to include a Competition Title,” continued Stokes. “I would be very surprised if Congress did not respond to this broad constituency which has recognized that the food and agriculture system is currently dysfunctional due to concentration and anticompetitive practices.”

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