Howdy, Where does the primary economic threat to production agriculture come from? From the agribusiness sector that seeks to replace our traditional system of independent family farm and ranch owned and operated agriculture with meat processor owned and controlled, vertically integrated agriculture. Sen. Kuehn voted to help the Chinese government owned and world’s largest pork…

Groups doubt Tyson’s no-abuse data By Claire Williams This article was originally published March 19, 2016 at 2:41 a.m. Updated March 19, 2016 at 2:41 a.m. Animal-welfare groups were not placated by Tyson Foods’ latest report on animal welfare that shared new details about the results of the company’s FarmCheck program. The report, the first…

USDA Upsets Pork Industry with Decision to Talk Settlement of Major Lawsuit with HSUS Mar7 The pork industry is not exactly “hog-wild” about the USDA right now. This follows the Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s decision to side with Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and enter into settlement talks with the animal…

Changing to non-GMO Soy Transformed the Health of my Pigs From the day that Danish pig farmer Ib Borup Pederson switched away from GM soy, his animals became healthier and more productive. Birth deformities reduced, sows became more fertile, medicine costs fell, and profits went up. The changes were linked to the reduction in the…

Congressional Appropriators Support a Level Playing Field for Contract Farmers March 18, 2016 Photo credit: USDA Yesterday, eight Congressional Appropriators signed on to a letter to United States Agriculture Department (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, thanking him for moving forward with rules to protect contract livestock and poultry producers from unfair and retaliatory practices. The letter,…

More Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: This Time, They’re Coming for Your Democracy Twelve years ago, John Perkins published his book, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” Today, he says “things have just gotten so much worse.” Sarah van Gelder posted Mar 18, 2016 Twelve years ago, John Perkins published his book, Confessions of…

Congressional Appropriators Support a Level Playing Field for Contract Farmers March 18, 2016

From the Archives of Tom Giessel

Trade and Globalization The New York Times—“Room for Debate”/Robert E. Scott Are Trade Agreements Good for Americans? See excerpt: It’s no surprise that voters on the right and the left are uneasy with U.S. trade policy—and they have every right to be. For years, the United States has consistently run much larger trade deficits than…

Our Four-Decade Antitrust Experiment Has Failed By Kevin Drum Tue Mar. 15, 2016 2:04 PM EDT David Dayen brings hope to my withered soul. A few days ago he described a Senate hearing that seemingly brought both liberals and conservatives together on a subject close to my heart: antitrust law. "The fact that both parties…