January 14, 2000 / News Release / Organization for Competitive Markets / Contact: Fred Stokes - (662) 476-5568
The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) reacted with disappointment to the failure of the delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in Houston to support a moratorium on agribusiness mergers. Yesterday, January 13, AFBF delegates voted against the interests of their producer members on the crucial issue of merger mania. Instead, they merely voted to "study" the issue.
"Studying means stalling. Farmers and ranchers don't need a study, we need action to stop these big mergers that are eliminating competition in agriculture, lowering farm prices and driving independent producers out of business," said OCM president Fred Stokes. "The delegates who were allowed to vote on the resolutions are not representing the interests of the grass roots membership."
Feedstuffs magazine, an agribusiness trade publication, recently editorialized, "American agriculture must now quickly consolidate all farmers into about 50 production systems." These production systems will eliminate virtually all farmers because Big Agribusiness will take their place. "Is this what Farm Bureau wants?" asked OCM general counsel Michael C. Stumo. "The Bureau leadership boldly continues to protect the interests of Cargill and other Big Agribusinesses while expressing mere 'concern' about hundreds of thousands of their producer members going broke."
In December, the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation voted unanimously to condemn the AFBF opposition to the merger moratorium. Stokes, a Farm Bureau member from Mississippi for over 20 years, said, "The message still hasn't gotten across to the national organization."
The AFBF opposition to a merger moratorium makes it more difficult to pass legislation that would temporarily halt mergers and assess the damage previous mergers have done to the market structure.
The Organization for Competitive Markets is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reclaiming competitive agricultural markets for farmers, ranchers and rural communities.:
