Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • Past LSP Projects
    • LSP Publications
  • The Latest
    • 40th Anniversary Events
    • Tell us an LSP Story
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams Workshop
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Regional Food Systems
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
      • Federal Policy
      • State Policy
      • Developing Leadership
      • Caucus for Land Stewardship
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
    • Building People Power
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Volunteer
      • Shop
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

LSP: Executive Order on Promoting Economic Competition Important Step for Addressing Corporate Control of Ag

August 2, 2021

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • email

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauded the White House’s recent signing of an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, and sees it is an important step toward addressing a legacy of corporate control in our food and farm system.

The executive order, which was issued July 9, directs the USDA  to consider issuing  new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act to provide additional protections to livestock farmers. It also encourages the USDA to develop a plan to  increase opportunities for farmers to access markets and receive a fair return, and calls on the Department to consider issuing new rules that close current loopholes allowing meat that was born, raised and slaughtered in another country to be labeled as a “Product of the USA” if it was processed in the United States.  The Packers and Stockyards Act, a 100-year-old law, was originally designed to protect poultry and hog farmers and cattle ranchers from unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive practices in meat markets.

Beth Slocum, an LSP member who raises livestock in Goodhue County, Minn., said the Biden Administration needs to address the fact that corporate consolidation in the meat sector has negative impacts on packing plant workers and consumers, as well as farmers.

“Increased line speeds in the packing plants and an unwillingness to immediately protect workers from the pandemic brought this corporate system to a halt and shut out contract producers who were in line to have their animals slaughtered and processed, causing thousands of animals to be euthanized, shorting our food supply and raising consumer prices,” she said. “On top of that, many small, local processing plants have gone out of business because of corporate consolidation in the food system. This ends up costing us, the local independent livestock producers, more.”

Kristin Tombers, owner of Clancey’s Meats in Minneapolis, said consolidation in the food system never has positive implications for small and midsized farmers.

“For a brief period during the pandemic, people realized the fragility of a corporate-controlled food supply chain,” she said. “As a small retail meat shop, we talked to farmers that had nowhere to go with their animals, and we heard from small processors about the pressure and barriers they faced having to turn away customers with no alternatives. Small and midsized farmers provide stewardship of the land for our own health and the health of the planet, and their critical role should be acknowledged and supported.”

Excessive corporate control in our food system jeopardizes the viability of thriving rural communities and the opportunity to build resilient and equitable food systems, said Bonnie Haugen, an LSP member and dairy farmer from Fillmore County, Minn. Mega-dairies often receive volume discounts from processors, flooding the market and sending milk prices plummeting while leaving fewer opportunities for small and midsized dairies to get a fair price for their milk.

“Corporate control of the food system negatively affects our farm by making us a price taker instead of having  the opportunity to be a price maker,” she said. “We milk 150 cows and do have a cooperative willing to buy our milk this year, but we wonder about security. Some farms have not gotten much notice before they were dropped off the milk pick-up route.  If that  happened to us, we  may be forced to quit  milking, and the timing could be financially disastrous.”

The executive order also “encourages” the Federal Trade Commission to  limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs, which could have a major impact on farmers’ ability to affordably maintain their equipment.

LSP is committed to supporting a food system where diversified small- and medium-sized farms can thrive, and the health of all rural people is a priority, said LSP organizer Sarah Goldman, adding that the organization’s members and staff will be monitoring the implementation of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.

“The interconnected problems plaguing small and midsized farms and rural communities for years, including fragile supply chains, underpaid and unprotected food chain workers, and untenable economic conditions for independent family farms, are rooted in a system that values corporate profits over people,” she said.

 -30- 

The Land Stewardship Project is a 39-year-old membership organization that works to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture and to develop healthy communities. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston, Montevideo and south Minneapolis. 

Category: News Releases
Tags: competition • corporate control • Federal Trade Commission • market concentration • meatpacking • mega-dairies • Packers and Stockyards Act • regional food systems • USDA

Contact

Sarah Goldman, LSP policy organizer, e-mail, 612-400-6341

Upcoming Events

×

June 2022

Tuesday June 28

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
'Farms, Not Factories' Webinar
'Farms, Not Factories' Webinar
Tuesday June 28
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

How we build a system that stops factory farms and supports small and mid-sized farmers will be the focus of a webinar the Land Stewardship Project will be participating in on Tuesday, June 28, from 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. CT. The webinar is being hosted by the HEAL Food Alliance, an LSP partner.

We hope you can join us for a conversation about how corporate power influences our current farm system, how LSP and others have taken on these battles and won, and what our vision for a farm system without mega-factory farms looks like.  

To register, click here.

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
LSP Monthly Virtual Policy Organizing Meeting
LSP Monthly Virtual Policy Organizing Meeting
Tuesday June 28
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Join LSP as we launch our first of many Monthly Virtual Policy Organizing Meetings! On the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. we will gather to learn about what is happening at the state, local, and federal level; take collective action together; dive into an issue campaign of your choice; and break out into regional groups to build relationships with other LSPers in your area. For more information, see https://secure.everyaction.com/yguSa_Wy8EukCc13XRjVmQ2.

Wednesday June 29

10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Volunteer Johnson-Su Bioreactor Construction Event
Volunteer Johnson-Su Bioreactor Construction Event
Wednesday June 29
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

T

This is the second year of a two-year research project through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture looking into creating on-farm compost recipes using the Johnson-Su Bioreactor design. Land Stewardship Project staff are working with five farms to build a total of 10 bioreactors in the month of June. We are looking for 3 to 5 member-volunteers for the days of June 7, 9, 15, 17, and 29. Details are here.

E-mail Shona Snater at ssnater@landstewardshipproject.org for more information and to sign-up as a volunteer.

July 2022

Wednesday July 6

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Farming in Karst Country
Farming in Karst Country
Wednesday July 6
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm

A special LSP workshop called “Farming in Karst Country” will highlight the intersection of soil-building farming practices, water movement, and karst geology. Local farmer presenters and karst geologists will share how practices like no-till, cover crops and intensive, rotational grazing can improve the health of the soil and underground streams. The Bishop family will host the event at Niagara Cave. The cost to attend is $20 for adults, $10 fo runder 16, and includes a cave tour and dinner. Space is limited to 75 participants. For details and to register, click here.

Tuesday July 12

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP Deep Canvassing Training
LSP Deep Canvassing Training
Tuesday July 12
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Deep canvassing is a candid, non-judgmental, two-way conversation where canvassers ask voters to share their relevant, emotionally significant experiences and reflect on them aloud. It is one of the most durable and proven forms of persuasion when talking to people who might hold differing beliefs than you and is going to be critical in creating the world we want and need.

Join the Land Stewardship Action Fund to learn about deep canvassing, what it is and why it’s important, and get trained on how to deep canvass so you’re able to powerfully participate in LSAF’s upcoming deep canvasses and put these important skills to use in your community. Register at https://secure.everyaction.com/f4vV9QoSbUWMe4UVzQFrVg2.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Small Grains, Cover Cropping, Organic Weed Control Featured at 2 Freeborn County Soil Health Field Days June 23, 2022
  • Land Line: Tillage’s Toll, Conservation & Leases, Soil Health & Nutrient Density, Emerging Farmer Help June 22, 2022
  •  ‘Farming in Karst Country’ Workshop July 6 at Niagara Cave in Harmony June 16, 2022
  • LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk to Feature Grazing of Summer Annuals July 19 Near Zumbrota  June 16, 2022
  • Beginning Farmer Program for MN, WI & IA Accepting Applications for 2022-2023 Course June 10, 2022

Montevideo

117 South First Street
Montevideo, MN 56265

(320) 269-2105

Lewiston

180 E. Main Street
Lewiston, MN 55952

(507) 523-3366

Minneapolis

821 E. 35th Street #200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

(612) 722-6377

Copyright © 2022 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/lsp-executive-order-on-promoting-economic-competition-important-step-for-addressing-corporate-control-of-ag