February Brings Success for American Family Farmers on Capitol Hill

Earlier this month the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA), saw great success in Washington, D.C., at our 3rd Farm Bill Summit and Fly-In held February 4-8 with around 30 attendees who discussed sustainable agriculture issues in 90 Congressional meetings on Capitol Hill. We spoke about the vast opposition to the terrible EATS Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019; and our support for the enactment of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act that would reform USDA’s scandal-ridden checkoff programs American family farmers are forced to pay into.

Every single meeting we had went great and it was most certainly the best fly-in we’ve had to date. Despite the constant attacks from Berman Co., owner Jack Hubbard, and the co-called National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), that represents less than 5% of all beef producers, we were warmly received by many staff and the actual Members of Congress. I’m beginning to see that the more these demonic forces at NCBA and Berman attack us, the more God protects us and gives us a greater platform and resources to continue our work for His Glory. Perhaps instead of calling the Berman folks "Dr. Evil," as they've been deemed in the past, "Satan's Soldiers" might be a better fit.

We had the good fortune to bring a slew of new members and attendees to Capitol Hill this trip from Niman Ranch, Heritage Foods, and the President and Founder of Latino Farmers and Ranchers International as well as farmers and ranchers from Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, California, Missouri, Iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma, and even the U.S. Territory of Guam.

OCM and CMA jointly announced and presented our first annual Congressional Competitive Markets Awards during the fly-in at the Capitol Hill Club during our two receptions and dinners. We announced 11 Leadership Award recipients and our Legislator of the Year Award recipient, U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-WV.

We measured recognition by three actions in the U.S. House: Leaders of a letter to the House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Ranking Member with staunch opposition to EATS, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, that would nullify more than a thousand state and local laws that provide certainty and security in the marketplace for independent family farmers and ranchers. Those who received the Leadership Award on this issue include Reps. Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, David Valadao, R-CA, Nancy Mace, R-SC, and Michael Waltz, R-FL. We also saw a huge boost in our campaign to defeat EATS with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Moms for America joining our efforts to stop this assault on states' rights.

We also presented Leadership Awards to our champions of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, H.R. 1249/S. 557, that would reform the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s scandal-ridden commodity checkoff programs that have been plagued by unethical and illegal activities for decades. Recipients include Reps. Nancy Mace, R-SC, and Dina Titus, D-NV, in the House; and Sens. Mike Lee, R-UT, Rand Paul, R-KY, Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, in the Senate.

The third metric and category we presented Leadership Awards was to those who led a House Appropriations Amendment in September of 2023 that would temporarily halt the corruption within USDA’s Commodity Checkoff Programs by cutting off funding until a USDA OIG Audit on the programs is completed: Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-IN, and Thomas Massie, R-KY, who are both cosponsors of the OFF Act, received the award in this category.

As I mentioned, Rep. Alex Mooney, R-WV, was selected as the Competitive Markets overall Legislator of the Year for 2023. Mooney was the only Member of Congress who supported each of the three legislative initiatives as a signor of the House letter against EATS, and a cosponsor of the OFF Act who voted in support of the Spartz-Massie checkoff amendment last year. While not a metric for the award, as the action occurred last month, Mooney also led a House letter to Agriculture Committee leaders against increasing crop reference prices in the upcoming Farm Bill in which he was joined by Reps. Andy Ogles, R-TN, Brian Mast, R-FL, Carol Miller, R-WV, Nancy Mace, R-SC, and Andy Biggs, R-AZ as well.

Here’s some encouraging quotes from Members of Congress and our Officers at OCM:

“I’m honored to be named the Competitive Markets Legislator of the Year in Congress. I am committed to keeping West Virginia family farms in the hands of our hard-working American producers,” said Rep. Alex X. Mooney, R-WV, who was named Legislator of the Year for 2023. “Keeping our food supply safe from a Communist Chinese takeover is one of the most critical issues facing our country.”

“American farmers and their families demand leaders with the courage to boldly defy the status quo. We stand resolute, unwavering in our refusal to be swayed by the immense power wielded by industrial agribusiness and corporate giants,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC. “The time for unwavering conviction and decisive action is now.”

“I am grateful for this recognition by the Organization for Competitive Markets and Competitive Markets Action and am committed to ensuring American family farmers have a voice in Washington, D.C. that understands how the USDA’s Commodity Checkoff Programs have coopted producers and used their own money against them,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY. “The number of independent farmers and ranchers that feed our nation is swiftly dwindling due to lobbying activities the checkoff programs and multinational conglomerates engage in and we must bring reform in order to keep our food supply safe from a complete takeover by Chinese and Brazilian industrial agriculture interests.”

“I’m honored to be recognized by such a wide array of American family farmers who keep our country fed,” said Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-NY. “The EATS Act would directly harm producers who practice more humane, sustainable, and regenerative agriculture and to the safety and security of our food supply. House Agriculture Committee leadership should deliver a bipartisan Farm Bill that helps keep family farmers in business instead of shutting them down.”

“I’m proud to receive the Competitive Markets Leadership Award for my work to improve federal oversight of the agriculture industry,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-NV. “I am committed to promoting antitrust provisions in the Farm Bill that deter anti-competitive practices by Big Ag and keep independent producers in business. My legislation, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, would rein in the corruption we’ve seen consistently in checkoff programs. Although it has been an uphill battle since introducing the bill in 2017, we’ve never been closer to the finish line. I strongly urge House Agriculture Committee leadership to include my legislation in the upcoming Farm Bill to protect the interests of independent farmers, ranchers, and producers around the country.”

“It’s an honor to receive the Competitive Markets Leadership Award from Competitive Markets Action for promoting transparency around commodity checkoff programs,” said Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-IN. “As a farmer myself, I understand the challenges small farmers and ranchers face, and I am committed to advancing competition in agriculture.”

“We applaud each of these Members of Congress for their tireless work, tremendous leadership, and intestinal fortitude in standing up to Chinese interests and multinational conglomerates who continue to further consolidate American agriculture,” said Taylor Haynes, President of OCM, and Founder of the Wyoming Independent Cattlemen's Association. “If Agriculture Committee leaders want to get a Farm Bill done in 2024 they’d be wise to jettison any language that nullifies state and local agriculture laws and include a provision to reform USDA’s swampy checkoff slush funds.”

“As a proud American and lifelong producer, I proudly applaud these legislators that are committed to defeating Big Ag’s Chinese and Brazilian backers that threaten our food supply,” said Jonathan Buttram, Treasurer at OCM, and President of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association. “The industrial agriculture mafia is petrified of our work because they see the writing on the wall and we hope they soon meet the same fate as New York’s infamous ‘Five Families.’”

“Since the inception of the checkoff programs, illegal relationships between checkoff boards and lobbying organizations have continued and I’d bet they are illegally using our money to lobby for the enactment of EATS, the greatest threat we’ve seen in a decade,” said Mike Schultz, Vice-President at OCM, and Founder of the Kansas Cattlemen's Association. “Independent farmers in Kansas applaud these Congressional heroes and hope to see our U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall shift toward helping his constituents instead of pandering to China and the industrial ag interests that line his campaign coffers."

OCM and CMA have now conducted nearly 400 meetings in person on Capitol Hill since last July and have also secured Conaway-Graves Group, led by former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-TX, to join us in our lobbying efforts against the EATS Act through June of this year thanks to some grant funding we received. During the fly-in we also had more than an hour of time with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, thanks to our friends and supporters at the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association who brought 7 attendees from my home State of Alabama to our latest events.

Right now, we are sitting in the best position we’ve been in during the 7 years I’ve been involved with the Organization for Competitive Markets and I am personally grateful to each of the farmers and ranchers who took the time to come join us in Washington. We have been granted the funding and plan to hold our 4th and final Farm Bill Summit and Fly-In in the early part of the Summer in Washington, D.C, within about 6 weeks of our Annual Meeting in Biloxi, MS, in early May. In the meantime, we hope you'll join our efforts by clicking here on FreedomWorks' action alert and telling your Members of Congress to oppose the terrible NCBA/Berman-backed EATS Act that will hand over American food production to our foreign enemies in China.

Marty Irby is a board director and secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets and president of Competitive Markets Action who resides in Washington, D.C. Irby was named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023, and was honored by the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2020.