Public Forum to Save Rural America and Family Ranching on the Eve of Historic USDA/DOJ Hearing on Competition in Livestock Industry

WHAT: The USDA and the Department of Justice will hold the fourth in a series of historic workshops on corporate concentration and lack of competition in agriculture. This workshop will examine the livestock industry. Meet independent ranchers and farmers, meatpacking workers, consumers, urban farmers, and food justice activists the day before the workshop for a public forum. The events will focus on how corporate consolidation has led to an imbalance of power in the food system, with unfair practices putting farmers and ranchers, workers, and consumers at a disadvantage and why government action, like the proposed GIPSA rule, is long overdue.

Did you know:

• Since 1980 over half a million ranching operations have been eliminated from the U.S. – a 41% decline.
• 4 firms slaughter more than 4 out of every 5 beef cattle.
• The beef packing industry has also expanded beyond slaughter and processing and now large packers own their own cattle and operate feedlots, controlling supply through all stages of production. This allows meatpackers to drive down cattle prices while keeping consumer beef prices high.
• Over the past decade, real consumer prices for ground beef have increased by 24%. Over the same period, prices for beef cattle rose by 8.5%, only a third as fast as retail prices increased.
• Over the past two decades, the number of hog farms declined by 70 percent from more than 240,000 in 1992 to fewer than 70,000 in 2007. Now, the four largest pork processors slaughter 2 out of every 3 hogs in the U.S.

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 26, 7p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Marriott Hotel of Fort Collins, 350 East Horsetooth Road

WHO: The dinner and public forum are sponsored by Food & Water Watch, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and R-CALF. Speakers include:
- Gailmarie Kimmel, Be Local Northern Colorado
- John Stencel, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
- Rhonda Perry, Missouri Rural Crisis Center
- Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF
- Gilles Stockton, Western Organization of Resource Councils
- Mark Lauritsen United Food and Commercial Workers
- Patty Lovera, Food & Water Watch

More Information on the USDA/DOJ Workshop:

WHEN: Friday, Aug. 27, 2010 at 9 a.m. (USDA & DOJ workshop: “Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in Our 21st Century Economy: Livestock.” Register for the free workshop

WHERE: Colorado State University, Lory Student Center,
1101 Centre Avenue Mall, Fort Collins, CO 80523

WHO: USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division Christine Varney, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will participate in the USDA/DOJ workshop.

* Can’t make it to Fort Collins but still want to cover this important issue? Please contact Anna Ghosh, aghosh(at)FWWatch(dot)org, for an interview with public forum speakers.