KANSAS CITY, MO. — Lincoln, Neb.-based non-profit Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), which seeks to promote competition in agricultural markets, met July 28-29 in Kansas City, Mo., for its 25^th annual Food & Agriculture Conference & Membership Meeting. With a full itinerary, the group’s focus this year was the 2023 Farm Bill and the election of board members for the next term.

Members in attendance came from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, California, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.

During the general membership meeting, OCM reelected board directors Jonathan Buttram, Albertville, Ala.; Craig Vejraska, Omak, Wash.; Mike Weaver, Fort Seybert, W. Va.; and Mike Schultz, Brewster, Kan. The 2023 officers were also reelected in a unanimous vote.

Taylor Haynes, Laramie, Wyo., will continue to serve as president; Schultz as vice president; Marty Irby, Washington, as secretary; and Buttram as treasurer.

“I’m honored to be selected to serve as president of OCM for a second term and appreciate the membership’s confidence in our leadership,” Haynes said. “We’ve made great strides over the past year, and I’m especially encouraged by the launch of our latest campaign against the terrible Marshall-Hinson EATS Act.”

OCM welcomed several industry experts to speak at the conference, such as Andy Green, USDA senior advisor on competitive markets to Secretary Tom Vilsack, who offered an update on upcoming USDA regulations, and Mike Conaway (R-Texas), US House Agriculture committee chairman, who discussed the EATS Act. Other speakers included Chip Perrin of the Coastal Plains Meat Co.; Dave Carter, USDA; Todd Vowell of Vowell’s Markets; Lamar Steiger, consultant; and Todd Clemons of Okeechobee Livestock. 

Part of OCM’s agenda involved a movement to enable small processing plants to compete with the major four meat packers in the Southeastern United States.

The group also discussed the funding OCM raised to prevent the EATS ACT from being included in the upcoming Farm Bill.

In June, OCM vocalized its opposition to the EATS Act and launched a campaign against it.

“The EATS Act is nothing but a Trojan Horse designed to put family farmers out of business and give multinational conglomerates like JBS and Chinese-owned Smithfield an even greater advantage than they already have,” Schultz said.

Additionally, OCM is pushing for checkoff reform. At the meeting, OCM Board Director and former Cattlemen’s Beef Board Member Dave Wright, Neligh, Neb., noted his concern with “continued scandals” within the USDA’s Commodity Checkoff Programs. As a proposed solution, OCM is advocating for the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, which was first introduced in 2016.

“It’s time to end the corruption within the beef checkoff and others and I believe the OFF Act that would achieve that end continues to see more support than ever,” Wright said.