The average dairy farmer managed to turn an annual profit just twice between 2000 and 2021 driving two-thirds of family-scale farms out of business, a new report finds. Export-oriented dairy policies have failed to secure fair prices for farmers.
Read MoreLast week, nearly 500 cattle producers from 14 states rallied in Omaha, Nebraska to denounce corporate control over cattle markets and to demand that the Trump administration do something to fix it.
Read MoreVirginia State Senator A. Benton Chafin last week introduced a bill that would significantly hike “checkoff” taxes that cattle growers in the state must pay. The move follows efforts in other states—including recently in Oklahoma—to increase or introduce state-level checkoff taxes, which are charged in addition to the $1 per head tax collected at the federal level. Many local ranchers oppose both the tax and the idea that it will be imposed by the legislature, saying the process effectively shuts independent cattle producers out of having a say in this sector specific levy.
Read MoreAfter months of debate, Congress in early July established a national standard for the labeling of foods that contain ingredients that have been genetically modified (GMOs). President Obama is expected to sign the bill, officially called the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.
Read MoreThere’s a battle happening in organic farming, and it’s not about labeling or the setting of standards. In May, the Organic Trade Association submitted a revised proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to impose a special tax on organic farming. Called a “checkoff,” this tax would apply to all organic farmers, handlers of organic goods, and food processors with sales over a certain threshold. According to the proposal, money collected through the tax would be used for the promotion of organic products.
Read MoreImagine if the federal government mandated that a portion of all federal gas taxes go directly to the oil industry’s trade association, the American Petroleum Institute. Imagine further that API used this public money to finance ad campaigns encouraging people to drive more and turn up their thermostats, all while lobbying to discredit oil industry critics—from environmentalists to those calling for better safety regulations or alternative energy sources.That’s a deal not even Exxon could pull off, yet the nation’s largest meat-packers now enjoy something quite like it. Today, when you buy a Big Mac or a T-bone, a portion of the cost is a tax on beef, the proceeds from which the government hands over to a private trade group called the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. How did this system come into being? And what is the NCBA doing with all that money?
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