Cattlemen are invited to attend a rally in Omaha on Wednesday, Oct. 2, to protest the relatively low prices of cattle, compared to the high prices of retail beef.
During the week of Sept. 23-27, cattle producers were losing more than $200 per head while meat packers were making more than $400 per head, based on USDA price information.
The cattle producers’ share of the retail price of beef has been as high as 70% in the past, but based on USDA price reports of live cattle and retail beef, today the cattle producer’s share is just 38.5%.
Farmers and ranchers own and care for cattle 365 days a year and are going broke, while the “Big Four” packers/processors own the cattle for about a week and get rich.
The Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska and the Organization for Competitive Markets call on President Donald Trump and USDA Sec. Sonny Perdue to take charge and take action. They recommend six points of action, emphasizing the importance of “Buying American” and shielding U.S. farmers and ranchers from what has become a global meatpacking monopoly.
The goal of the rally is to pressure Perdue and Trump to redress some of the wrongs. A large turnout in Omaha will help apply that pressure.
“Packer concentration and price manipulation are gutting rural Nebraska’s farm and ranch families,” ICON President Jim Dinklage said. “Farm foreclosures are at their highest in decades and calls to the Farm Crisis Hotline are higher than they have been since the 1980s. We’re hoping a large crowd in Omaha will send the message to D.C. that rural America is in crisis and intervention is urgently needed.”
OCM is hosting a rally and meeting called Stop the Stealin’ in Omaha from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Oct. 2 at the Ramada Inn at 3321 South 72nd.
Among the slated speakers are OCM vice-president Vaughn Meyer, former Nebraska state senator Al Davis of Hyannis, cattle market analyst Corbitt Wall and Bill Bullard of R-CALF.
For more information, see the OCM website, https://competitivemarkets.com/stopthestealin/