by H. Claire Brown | December 14th, 2017 The lawsuit aims to reinstate GIPSA rules, without which farmers have little legal recourse against unfair treatment by meat companies. On Wednesday, the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), a Nebraska-based think tank that focuses on agriculture and trust policy, announced it had filed a lawsuit to reinstate…

By DAVID PITT | December 14, 2017 DES MOINES, Iowa – Farmers in Alabama and Nebraska joined with a Nebraska-based fair trade group Thursday to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the agency’s cancellation of an Obama-era plan that would have made it easier for farmers to demand better treatment when they contract with…

For decades, federal laws protected family farmers from monopoly power in the food industry. In October 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture withdrew critical protections intended to shield family farmers and ranchers from abusive practices by big agribusiness corporations. In doing so, the Trump administration has thrown America’s farmers and ranchers to the wolves, telling…

By Christine Haughney | 12/14/2017 Farmers were so fearful of suing the USDA and risking retaliation from large meat and poultry producers that they declined to join Democracy Forward and the Organization for Competitive Markets’ lawsuit against the USDA for withdrawing GIPSA rules in October, the groups say. In an interview with POLITICO, employees with…

Nancy Matsumoto | December 14, 2017 An organization representing the interests of small farmers across rural America fired a legal salvo Thursday aimed at a Trump administration they feel has let them down. The lawsuit, filed by the Organization for Competitive Markets, a small farmers’ think tank based in Lincoln, Neb., and three farmer plaintiffs,…

December 11, 2017 Brazil police serving warrants linked to JBS tax probe Reuters Staff SAO PAULO, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal police are serving 14 search warrants on Monday in connection with a bribery probe implicating meatpacker JBS SA and tax authorities, they said in a statement. The raids are based on plea bargain…

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Get your own copy by subscribing here. Facing Public Opposition, Tyson Backs Away from Second Kansas Location Tyson, the largest poultry company in the U.S., has failed at its second attempt to find a location for a new meatpacking facility in Kansas. Last week, an economic development group in…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 14, 2017 Farm Group Challenges Trump Administration’s Unlawful Rollback of Rules Protecting Farmers, Ranchers from Abuses by Big Agriculture Lawsuit Follows USDA’s Decision to Side with Major Meat Producers, Making It Harder for Farmers to Seek Relief from Abusive Big Ag Practices Washington, D.C.- On behalf of the Organization for Competitive…

Food policy councils are making local changes that “trickle up.” And this is only the beginning. by Corie Brown | December 12th, 2017 In 2014, a group of four well-known food reformers—led by Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan—wrote a Washington Post op-ed in the form of a letter to the future president of the United…

http://www.hpj.com/content/tncms/live/ US beef should be for dinner Nov 27, 2017 Your article published online Oct. 26, “Oklahoma beef checkoff to be decided Nov. 1” by Jennifer M. Latzke seems a little one sided. Using the terms “radical activist” and stating ties to Humane Society of the United States seem to indicate which side of the…