Based on testimonies and information gathered during the 2010 competition workshops, 85 organizations confirm the urgent need for USDA-GIPSA to exercise its preexisting authority under the Packers and Stockyards Act to address a disastrous loss of competition.
Joint Letter to House Agriculture Committee Supporting USDA-GIPSA Proposed Rule – July 23, 2010
We urge all Members of the House Agriculture Committee and the Congress as a whole to protect a just, transparent, and robustly competitive marketplace for livestock and poultry producers and the rural communities they support. The USDA-GIPSA rulemaking process is critical to the achievement of that goal.
Dairy Farmers Press for Emergency Action
America’s dairy farmers confront economic ruin as they face another year of 1970s prices for their milk. In the past year alone, thousands of dairy farmers have gone out of business and thousands more are on the brink of economic collapse as projections for 2010 show continued low prices. These losses hurt not just dairy farmers and their families but the thousands of farm-related jobs, including feed mills, fuel suppliers, and veterinarians along with the tax base of our communities.
Concentration in Seed Industry – Less Choice, Higher Prices
American farmers are feeling the effects of a concentrated seed industry. Seed options are diminishing while prices increase at historic rates. A new report, Out of hand: Farmers face the consequences of a consolidated seed industry, examines these troubling trends, substantiating the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into alleged anticompetitive conduct in the seed industry.
2009 Newsletters
From the President by Ben Burkett: I was one of 130 guests invited by President Obama to participate in the forum on jobs and economic growth at the White House on December 3. Along with Rhonda Perry from Missouri Rural Crisis Center, I represented NFFC and the Rural Coalition. We broke up into session groups of 25 and I was the only person representing agriculture in the entrepreneurial business session. On the issue of credit we discussed banks not lending to small businesses and farmers despite the millions of dollars in stimulus funds dispersed, something noted by everyone in the room. President Obama called on Rhonda to speak during the Q&A, and she said, “Many times and many places around this country, in rural communities, independent family farmers are the biggest bang for our buck in terms of creating jobs, with independent businesses that depend on farmers, from the people we buy our seed from, to the people we use to process
our meat, to the transportation system to haul our grain.” I presented to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
a report by Jerry Pennick (Land Assistance Fund) on credit issues describing how credit unions can support rural economies; Secretary Geithner promised to follow up with us later. Despite the fact that there
were only two of us there on behalf of family farmers I felt we did a good job representing our organizations and the agricultural community.
Obama’s Change Mandate in Question
With Copenhagen around the corner and failure of this week’s WTO negotiations, the Obama administration’s international agenda and leadership style are coming under scrutiny. The potential confirmation of controversial former pesticide lobbyist Islam Siddiqui as the U.S. trade representative for agriculture threatens to further undermine this administration’s credibility in international forums by privileging U.S. corporate interests over the global public interest and common good.
Siddiqui Fails to Answer for Record
NFFC and Pesticide Action Network North America expressed disappointment today with Islam Siddiqui’s testimony and answers during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to become the next USTR Chief Agriculture Negotiator.
Thousands Unite Against Siddiqui Nomination
In an unprecedented effort to block a USTR agriculture nominee, over 80 groups sent a letter today to Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee urging the rejection of Islam Siddiqui as Chief Agriculture Negotiator at the office of the United States Trade Representative.
Family Farmers Denounce Senate Ag Hearing
NFFC denounced today’s Senate Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on the dairy crisis for failing to spotlight the voices of real family dairy farmers and instead relying on the same corporate processors and giant dairy cooperatives who have created the current economic disaster.
Broad Coalition Decry Siddiqui Nomination
Sustainable agriculture advocates from around the country today expressed deep disappointment with the Obama Administration’s defense of nominating Islam Siddiqui, a former pesticide lobbyist as our chief agriculture trade representative at the office of the United States Trade Representative.
NFFC Press Teleconference Urges Direct Payments
NFFC held a press teleconference today to thank Congress for $350 million in emergency appropriations for dairy farmers. However, NFFC warned that unless a broken pricing system is replaced and antitrust measures are taken to address the lack of competitive markets for farmers’ milk, thousands of dairy farms will still be lost this year.