FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 31, 2018 Farmers Caught in Trump Administration Trade War File New Brief in Suit Challenging Rollback of Protections from Big Ag Abuse Washington, D.C. — On behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets and individual farmers, Democracy Forward replied to the Trump Administration’s attempt to keep independent farmers out of court…

by ALAN GUEBERT | July 29, 2018 Sometimes it’s even hard for me to believe what I read in the newspaper. The latest “someone-really-said-that?” moment arrived courtesy of The Milkweed, the sharp-penned, monthly dairy newspaper owned and edited by Peter Hardin in Brooklyn, Wis. In its July issue, Milkweed writer Jan Shepel highlighted the controversy…

by Russell Nemetz – Montana Ag Network | July 26, 2018 BILLINGS – A federal judge has granted summary judgment to the USDA that could reinstate Country of Origin Labeling for ranchers and the beef they raise. “Now that we have a court established finding that lack of country of origin labeling harms cattle producers…

by Sara Brown | July 25, 2018 Policy news grabbed the headlines yesterday, with Trump’s visit to Kansas City and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announcing a $12 billion relief package for farmers impacted by recent tariffs. “NCBA looks forward to reviewing the details of the Trump Administration’s trade retaliation relief package,” says Kent Bacus, Director…

by Renée Alexander | July 24th, 2018 How NAFTA subsidized American farmers, disrupted Mexican agriculture, and paved the way for today’s immigration debate. In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law. It marked the first time a trade agreement had been negotiated between two developed nations—the United States…

CPA Supports New Remedies for US Farmers and Ranchers July 24, 2018 USDA announcement a good first step. More strategy needed. Washington, DC. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) expressed support for today’s US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement of aid for US farmers and ranchers. After the Trump administration’s recent imposition of tariffs…

by Cat Modlin-Jackson | July 23, 2018 Attorney, farmer, and activist Judith McGeary and the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance support small and sustainable farmers in the Lone Star State. Judith McGeary wanted answers that the State of Texas wasn’t willing to give, so the lawyer-turned-farmer fought the law—and won. When McGeary learned she needed…

We could employ rural veterinarians as meat inspectors under the Talmadge-Aiken Act. This would save USDA a lot of money and provide far better inspection by professionals that live in the communities where full-time, and especially less than full-time inspection is needed. There is dire need to rebuild our local/regional foods systems, especially around meat…

July 20, 2018 The National Pork Producers Council, the main lobbying group for the pork industry, will not get its hands on two $3 million payouts from a mandatory checkoff fund that pork producers, including small family farmers, are forced to pay into each year. The Trump administration had aggressively tried to bypass an injunction…

July 19, 2018 | Get your own copy by subscribing here. Since roughly 2009, Americans may have been paying too much for their pork chops, barbeque, hams, and trotters. That’s the claim of two law firms that filed separate class action suits on behalf of consumers and food distributors charging eight major pork packers and…