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Just four meatpackers control 85% of the market. Missouri cattlemen like me need a voice
In the last two decades, hundreds of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in the last two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent family farmers were put out of business because of corporate consolidation. This has […]
The elephant in the room is destroying family farms, rural communities and our democracy | Opinion
I love farming and have been doing it all my life, but I told my kids not to come back to the farm, because there’s no future in it. That’s the sad truth. Over the last year on Capitol Hill, there have been multiple hearings and bills and even an executive order to address what […]
Although forever optimists, family farmers are fighting for a future | Opinion
Even though the cards are often stacked against us, farmers are the ultimate optimists. I’m a 4th generation cattle and grain farmer, and, right now, I’m optimistic that, for the first time since Teddy Roosevelt with the Packer and Stockers Act of 1921, we have a president that is trying to take on corporate control […]
Corporate meat lobby claims they’re the scapegoat when they’re really the problem | Opinion
Recently, in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), a mouthpiece for the corporate meatpacking industry, complained that the Biden Administration’s work to combat concentration in the agriculture industry cannot ignore the “fundamental principles of supply and demand.” Let us look at some facts to counter their claims. […]
Will Joe Biden’s executive order spark real change in food production? | Opinion
President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order aimed at increasing competition across all sectors of the economy. This is a long time coming and a good first step in addressing a number of long term problems. One important point of interest for agriculture is the change to the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Act […]
President Biden, don’t make the same mistakes in rural America
On Feb. 23, Tom Vilsack was confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, again. In 2011, I helped write an op-ed called “What a good president would do — that would really help family farmers.” It stemmed from President Obama’s and then-Secretary Vilsack’s unsuccessful attempt to level the playing field and increase competition in agriculture. We […]