P.O. Box 6486
Lincoln, NE 68506
Web site: www.competitivemarkets.com
Date: March 4, 2002 For Immediate Release
Contact: Fred Stokes: 662.476.5568
Michael C. Stumo: 860.379.6199
OCM Joined by 167 Organizations in Favor of Packer Ownership Prohibition
OCM has been joined by 167 organizations across the country in favor of the packer ownership prohibition (amendment) contained in the Senate version of the Farm Bill. (see full text below). The organizations send the letter to the members of the conference committee now negotiating the differences between the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill. “Enacting this bill will improve market performance, increase competition for livestock, and improve market access for farmers,” according to the signatory organizations.
“This letter shows the wide popularity of the packer ownership prohibition,” said Fred Stokes, president of OCM. “This is a common sense measure to increase competition in the agricultural marketplace which is supported by nearly all the nation’s farm organizations, environmental groups, faith-based organizations, sustainable and organic organizations, and hunger groups.”
OCM has long advocated that food and agriculture policy must address market power in order to fix the entrenched problems in the industry structure. USDA and the Department of Justice have proven unequal to the task.
“Every survey and poll which asked the question has found vast majorities of citizens in favor of preventing meat packers from owning livestock,” said Keith Mudd, vice president of OCM. “Packers can be packers, but we should let farmers and ranchers do the production.”
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.
*** The full text of the joint letter in favor of the packer ownership prohibition appears below ***
February 26, 2002
Dear Farm Bill Conferee,
We urge you to support the packer ownership portion of the Senate version of the Farm Bill. This provision will prevent the largest meat packers in the nation from owning or feeding livestock in competition with farmers. It will benefit family farmers, ranchers and the agricultural marketplace by lessening livestock market distortion, improving competition, and providing more access to packing plants for independent producers across the country. Improving competition and fairness in the livestock and meat markets is good for consumers and all Americans.
The Packer Ownership Amendment in the Senate version of the Farm Bill was passed on the Senate floor in December, came under attack by the meat packers, and was reaffirmed by a wider margin on February 12, 2002. This amendment will prohibit packers from owning livestock directly or through subsidiaries. It will also prevent arrangements where a producer has bare title to livestock, but the packer makes all management decisions to the degree that the producer does not materially participate in the management of the livestock operation. The amendment exempts the full range of contract arrangements between farmers and packers where the packer does not take over management of the farm operation. Also exempted are farmer-owned cooperatives and small packers with less than two percent of the national slaughter.
When meat packers own cattle, hogs and sheep, it reduces demand for livestock raised by our nation’s farmers. Packers can stay out of markets at strategic times to lower price. They prefer their company owned supplies over that of independent farmers giving farmers far less access to markets. There is precedent for this amendment. Auto manufacturers are legally prohibited from owning auto dealerships. In agriculture, some of the most important livestock producing and processing states have bans of packer ownership of livestock and/or livestock facilities. These states include Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. There is no evidence that those state laws have harmed producers, markets, product quality or international trade.
Enacting this bill will improve market performance, increase competition for livestock, and improve market access for farmers. It is good for the environment in that independent farmers are more responsive to the needs of the land and community than distant corporate offices. In essence, we hope you will agree that meat packers should stick to meat packing and processing and farmers and ranchers should produce the livestock.
Thank you for your support for America’s family farmers, ranchers, consumers and rural communities.
Sincerely,
National
Organizations
Agricultural
Missions, Inc.
American
Agriculture Movement, Inc.
American
Corn Growers Association
American
Livestock Breeds Conservancy
Cattlemen’s
Legal Fund
Center
for Rural Affairs
Comite
De Apoyo A Los Trabajadores Agricolas/Farmworker Support Committee
Community
Food Security Coalition
Consortium
for Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education
Defenders
of Wildlife
Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America
Family
Farm Defenders
Farm
Aid
Institute
for Rural America
Livestock
Marketing Association
National
Contract Poultry Growers Association
National
Family Farm Coalition
National
Farmers Organization
National
Farmers Union
National
Sludge Alliance
Natural
Resources Defense Council
Organization
for Competitive Markets
Public
Citizen
R-CALF
U.S.A.
Rural
Advancement Foundation International
Rural
Chaplains Association
Rural
Development Leadership Network
Sisters
of the Earth Community
Sisters
of the Holy Cross Congregation Justice Committee
Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition
United
Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society
Women
Involved in Farm Economics
State
and Regional Organizations
Alabama
Contract Poultry Growers Association
Alliance
for a Chemicalfree Environment (New Mexico)
Alliance
for Sustainable Communities (Maryland)
Alternative
Energy Resources Organization (Montana)
American
Agriculture Movement of Missouri, Inc.
American
Agriculture Movement of Oklahoma, Inc.
American
Agriculture Movement of Texas, Inc.
Appalachian
Sustainable Development (Virginia)
Arkansas
Farmers Union
C.A.R.E.
(Rock, Brown & Keya Paha Counties, Nebraska)
CASA
de Llano (Texas)
Center
for Sustainable Systems (Kentucky and Vermont)
Citizens
Action Coalition of Indiana
Coastal Enterprises
Incorporated / Maine Farms Project
Community
Farm Alliance (Kentucky)
Conference
on Corporate Responsibility of Indiana and Michigan
Dakota
Resource Council (North Dakota)
Eastern
Montana Angus Association
Endangered
Habitats League
Environmental
Awareness Committee of the Southeast Iowa Synod
Federation
of Southern Cooperatives, Land Assistance Fund
Finding
Island Stream History (Washington)
Florida
Organic Growers and Consumers
Foodshed
Alliance of the Ridge & Valley (New Jersey)
Friends
of the Independent Family Farmer Coalition
Future
Harvest—CASA (Maryland)
Georgia
Organics
Georgia
Poultry Justice Alliance
Green
Hills Farm Project (Missouri)
Idaho
Farmers Union
Idaho
Rural Council
Illinois
National Farmers Organization
Illinois
Stewardship Alliance
Kansas
Cattlemen’s Association
Kansas
Ecumenical Ministries
Kansas
Farmers Union
Kansas
Green Party
Kansas
National Farmers Organization
Landloss
Prevention Project
Land
Stewardship Project
Maine
Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Michael
Fields Agricultural Institute (Wisconsin)
Mid
Nebraska Pride
Minnesota
Cattlemen’s Association
Minnesota
Farmers Union
Minnesota
Food Association
Minnesota
Project
Mississippi
Engaging in Greener Agriculture
Missouri
Rural Crisis Center
Missouri
Stockgrowers Association
Montana
Association of Churches
Montana
Farmers Union
Nebraska
Wildlife Federation
Nebraska
Women Involved in Farm Economics
New
York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
North
Carolina Contract Poultry Growers Association
North
Dakota Catholic Conference
North
Dakota Cattlewomen’s Association
North
Dakota Farmers for Profitable Agriculture
North
Dakota Farmers Union
North
Dakota Stockmen’s Association
Northeast
Kansas Hereford Association
Northeast
Organic Farmers Association—New York
Northern
Plains Resource Council
North
Star Neighbors (Nebraska)
Northwest
Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
Ohio
Ecological Food and Farm Association
Ohio
Family Farm Coalition
Pennsylvania
Dairy Policy Development Committee of Family Farm Defenders
Powder
River Basin Resource Council (Wyoming)
Promised
Land Network
Rocky
Mountain Farmers Union
Rural
Resources (Tennessee)
Rural
Vermont
Rural
Virginia, Inc.
Southern
Colorado Livestock Association
South
Dakota Resources Coalition
South
Dakota Stockgrowers Association
Southern
Research & Development Corporation (Louisiana)
Southern
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Sustaining
People through Agriculture Network (Missouri)
Texas
Catholic Conference
Tri-State
Coalition for Responsible Investment (New Jersey, New York & Pennsylvania)
Virginia
Association for Biological Farming
Washington
Farmers Union
Washington
Sustainable Food and Farming Network
Way
Out West Rural Action Group (Idaho)
Western
Organization of Resource Councils
Western
Ranchers Beef Cooperative
Western
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Wisconsin
Farmers Union
Wisconsin
Fair Trade Campaign
Wyoming
Stockgrowers Association
Local
Organizations
Archdiocese
of Dubuque Catholic Rural Life (Iowa)
Baker
County Livestock Association (Oregon)
Bent
County Farm Bureau (Colorado)
Calveras
County Cattlemen’s Association (California)
Coalition
to Preserve Family Farms, Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa
Farmers
Cooperative, Gillette, Wyoming
F.H.
King Students of Sustainable Agriculture, University of Wisconsin—Madison
Genesis
Farm, New Jersey
Holy
Cross Cattlemen’s Association (Colorado)
Home
Camp/Tuledad Grazing Association (California)
Loy’s
Station Neighborhood Alliance (Maryland)
Just
Food (New York)
Malheur
County Cattlemen’s Association (Oregon)
Marianist
Environmental Education Center in Dayton, Ohio
McKenzie
County Energy & Taxation Association (North Dakota)
McPherson
County Farmers Union (Kansas)
Michaela
Farm, Indiana
Modoc
County Cattlemen’s Association, California
Morton
County Citizens for Responsible Government (Kansas)
Progressive
Agriculture Organization of Meshoppen, Pennsylvania
NorthEast
Neighborhood Alliance (Rochester, New York)
Rural
Life Ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota
Rural
Life Office, Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa
Rural
Life Office of the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, Minnesota
Salina
Diocese Catholic Rural Life, Kansas
Sisters
of Saint Francis (Oldenberg, Indiana)
Spokane
County Cattlemen’s Association (Washington)
Sustain
Dane of Madison, Wisconsin
Sustainable
Agriculture of Louisville (Kentucky)
United
Neighborhoods (New York)
Warner
Mountain Permittees Association (California)
Washoe/Modoc
Grazing Association (California)
Watauga
Stockyards Cooperative Association (South Dakota)