Date:  July 18, 2006
Lincoln, Nebraska

            Lincoln ~ The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), a market based agricultural policy research institution, is set to hold their annual convention on “Agricultural Economics, Law, and Policy” in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, July 21.  The convention is an all day event and will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Omaha at 1616 Dodge Street. 

            This year’s convention will focus on three issue areas of importance to independent farmers, ranchers, and rural communities including: global competition, the next farm bill, and recent court decisions. 

            OCM’s mission involves advocating for an economic system in agriculture that is fair, open, honest, and accessible for all citizens, which leads to a system where the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few can not restrict the opportunities of the many. 

            Keeping this in mind, OCM has put together a diverse panel of experts to address the above topics.  According to executive director Fred Stokes “our program will be hard hitting as usual, and is guaranteed to include some of the brightest minds in the country on Agricultural economics, law, and policy.”

            The convention program will include two panels of nationally renowned experts, including Dr. Daryll Ray of the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, Dr. William Heffernan, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri and David Domina, of Domina Law and lead counsel in the Pickett v. Tyson price fixing case achieving a $1.3 billion verdict in February 2003.

            These panels will examine the relationship between globalization and the necessities for the next farm bill, and the impact of recent court decisions on the role of the USDA and the family farm.  Concluding the program will be Fred Stokes, who will make the case for holding a series of conferences on the impacts, shortfalls, and alternatives to globalization and free trade. 

            The day’s activities will end with a dinner banquet with Iowa State University Law professor, Dr. Roger McEowen as the keynote speaker.  Professor McEowen will address integration and concentration in all agricultural sectors, trade regulation and enforcement, and farm bill policy.

Program

Panel 1 – “Global Competition and the Next Farm Bill”

• Dr. Daryll Ray – Director, University of Tennessee Agricultural Policy Analysis Center
• Dr. Bill Heffernan – Professor Emeritus (Rural Sociology), University of Missouri
• John Dittrich – Former Vice-President and Senior Policy Analyst for the American Corn Growers Association, Grain Producer

Panel 2 – “The Courts, USDA, and the Future of the Family Farm”

• David Domina, J.D. – Distinguished agricultural anti-trust attorney, Lead counsel in the Pickett v. Tyson price fixing case achieving a $1.3 billion verdict in February 2003
• Roger McEowen, J.D. – Leonard Dolezar Professor of Agricultural Law at Iowa State University, Author of numerous articles and books on Agricultural Law
• Cap Dierks – Former state senator from Lincoln, Nebraska, and chair of the Nebraska Legislature's Agriculture Committee, Expert on Nebraska’s Ban on Corporate Farming

“The Case for a Conference on Globalization and Free Trade”

• Fred Stokes, OCM Executive Director

Dinner Banquet