Organization for Competitive Markets

May 13, 2013 Action Alert from Nebraska Farmers Union! Many of you have at one time or another supported our efforts to get and keep clear and effective Country of Origin Labeling for U.S. food products.  Thanks to all our efforts, COOL is now the law.  That law was challenged by lawsuits from Mexico and Canada in the WTO.  USDA has responded in a fashion that we support that makes…

PRESS RELEASE Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com Contact: Mike Callicrate, OCM President 785-332-8128 callicrate@competitivemarkets.com April 11, 2013 Group Wants Answers to Questionable Audit Report The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) announced today a series of actions in furtherance of its efforts to bring transparency and integrity to the beef checkoff program. OCM has submitted a Freedom of Information Act demand for records relating to…

By Mike Callicrate & Fred Stokes Eating is one thing we all have in common. And, to millions of us, what we eat, how it’s produced, and where it comes from is important. OCM has worked for the last fourteen years to restore competition in the agricultural marketplace. We believe family farmers and ranchers make the best stewards of our land and livestock, and are the most reliable and trustworthy…

The best explanation I’ve heard for why the world did not end last month according to Mayan prophecy is that “every calendar has a beginning and end”–when the last page is torn off we simply start a new one. If it ain’t the end of the world then maybe its just time to turn the page. End of days came again, in November, when President Barack Obama was reelected to…

By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press A rancher vows to continue his legal challenge against the national Beef Checkoff even though his original attorneys have decided to exit the court battle. “We fully intend to pursue the case,” said Michael Callicrate, a Colorado rancher and plaintiff in the litigation. A federal judge recently allowed attorneys to withdraw from Callicrate’s lawsuit, which alleges that national Beef Checkoff dollars intended for promotions…

The untold story of how the administration tried to stand up to big agricultural companies on behalf of independent farmers, and lost. By Lina Khan | Print (PDF) In May 2010, Garry Staples left his chicken farm in Steele, Alabama, to take part in a historic hearing in Normal, an hour and a half away. The decision to go wasn’t easy. The big processing companies that farmers rely on for…

Chris Clayton, DTN Ag Policy Editor | Mon Oct 8, 2012 12:54 PM CDT OMAHA (DTN) — The Mississippi Farm Bureau\board of directors may vote to boot a director off its board because of his role in litigation involving the beef checkoff. Fred Stokes, a 77-year-old retired Army veteran who has run a small cattle operation in Mississippi, has spent much of his time over the past several years raising…

Farm and Food File for the week beginning Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012 by Alan Guebert Somewhere along the line it became acceptable to bend and break the record of public figures and firms without any consequence whatsoever. Shortly thereafter distortion and deception replaced discussion and debate and yelling and lying replaced compromise and progress. And that’s just in agriculture; in politics it’s even worse. The latest farm and food fight…