Organization for Competitive Markets

by Richard Oswald The Occupy Wall Street Movement has been called “a potent political and cultural conversation”. On the other hand Occupy movements in cities like Washington DC have been called over reported and under attended. That is definitely not the case here because Occupy Langdon has been completely off the radar screen, totally undiscussed, and one hundred percent unreported. Until now. I’m breaking this thing wide open. Here around…

Anita Poole-Endsley Executive Director In centuries past, Spanish Conquistadors searched for the famed city of El Dorado. El Dorado was rumored to be made of gold where riches abounded. El Dorado was never found, and may have never existed except in the minds of those hoping to satisfy their urges for financial security. Such is the quest for a farm bill in 2012. Agricultural producers are searching for an answer…

Updated: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 11:42 AM By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Ranchers risk losing their independence unless they keep pressing for stronger oversight of meat packers, according to a former USDA official who recently resigned after losing a battle over livestock industry reforms. Cattle producers are subject to the same forces as the packer-dominated hog and chicken industries, said Dudley Butler, who left his post as chief of the…

by Randy Stevenson, President We have listened for quite a long time to a number of experts expound on the virtues and flaws of the cattle market. We’ve seen surveys (some masquerading as “studies”) that purport to give us a picture of what is happening in the cattle market. But we have a couple of questions we would like to put out to the public to see what kind of…

by Randy Stevenson, President When people engage in debate about the market, there is frequently an almost mediate division based on the left-right political spectrum. This remains true even though we can see many examples of error from both sides. On the other hand, those who engage in detailed conversation about what the markets should look like and what role government should have in the marketplace ultimately find a great deal…

poultryrule Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration (USDA GIPSA) released its final rule regarding contracts between poultry integrators and growers. OCM sees this rule as a significant and badly needed step forward in reforming an industry that has a history of subjugating and otherwise dealing unjustly with contract poultry growers. The rule, which is available for download below, contains four important provisions: 1….

dominafinalpdfexecutivesummarypdf OCM has issued a Special Report entitled, The Debilitating Effects of Concentration in Markets Affecting Agriculture. This Report proves that market concentration for major raw food products hurts both producers and consumers. Read and download OCM’s Special Report below:

OCM_Post_Conference_ReleaseOCM’s annual conference focused on anit-competitive practices in agriculture and livestock industries. The conference featured many different speakers, including administration officials, antitrust experts and economists. The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) drew a record crowd of ranchers, farmers, feedlot operators, seed distributors and others for its annual conference held in St. Louis on August 7th. Attendees heard panel presentations concerning the ills of market concentration and anticompetitive practices and ongoing…