IN OUR VOICE Editorial: Transparency in agricultural checkoffs welcomed February 19, 2020 5 hrs ago Apiece of legislation has brought together liberal Congressman Mark Pocan and conservative Congressman Matt Gaetz. The same piece of legislation has brought together liberal U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and conservative U.S. Sen. Mike Lee. The same piece of legislation has…

Editorial: Michael Bloomberg has some fence-mending to do with America’s farmers · Editorial staff 2.18.20 Michael Bloomberg THE ASSOCIATED PRESS That was quite the statement former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg made about farmers. His description was behind the times by only about 3,000 years. In farming, he told an audience, you just dig…

Food and agribusiness giants have locked up the marketplace through a business model that contains key tools of control that – not unlike the tentacles of a vine – strangle the life out of others. These tentacles include vertical integration, whereby a corporation takes control of an entire supply chain; abuse of checkoff program funds…

Rural America Doesn’t Have to Starve to Death A predatory and extractive financial sector has hollowed out communities across the US. By Nick Shaxson February 18, 2020 Losing ground: US farm output has more than doubled since the 1850s, but farmers like Ray Martinmaas in Orient, South Dakota, aren’t benefiting. (Ricky Carioti / The Washington…

Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska (ICON) 432 N. 10th Ave, Broken Bow, NE 68822, (308) 880-1505 IndependentCattlemen www.IndependentCattlemen.com Feb. 5, 2020– NEWS RELEASE For more information, contact: ICON President: Jim Dinklage 402-340-6791 ICON Director: Al Davis 308-458-9948 ICON Communications Director: Maureen Cain 308-880-1505 ICON signs national letter to President Trump The Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska have…

Checkoff, Check-mate — Part I Published February 13, 2020 Category: Front Page Stories by Mayzie Purviance In recent years, producers have questioned the Beef Checkoff program. Is it worth it? What are my dollars going toward? Can you trust the individuals controlling the money? In a two-part series both sides of the great checkoff debate…

How a beloved organic grocery chain collapsed Nathaniel Meyersohn and Alicia Wallace In 2016, a homegrown grocery chain hit the big time. © Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel Lucky’s Market Kroger, America’s largest supermarket chain, took a majority stake in Lucky’s Market, a Boulder, Colorado, grocer known for its farmers-market-style stores that aimed to…

OFF THE CUFF: Taking a stand for values D.E. Smoot Off the Cuff Family farmers filed for protection from creditors in 2019 at an accelerated pace in bankruptcy courts across the nation. An analysis of federal court records conducted by American Farm Bureau found Chapter 12 filings this past year increased 20 percent from the…

Farm Bailout Paid to Brazilian Meat Processor Angers Lawmakers Lawmakers want to know why a Brazilian-owned company got payments from a program aimed to help American farmers weather President Trump’s trade war. A meat-processing center owned by JBS in Beardstown, Ill., in July. Credit…Whitney Curtis for The New York Times By Maggie Haberman and Alan…