Today, farm groups including American Grassfed Association, Competitive Markets Action, the Organization for Competitive Markets, Farm Action Fund, Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming, and R-CALF USA applauded seven members of Congress for their new co-sponsorship of H.R.1249/S.557, the bipartisan Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, which would restore accountability and transparency to agricultural checkoff programs.

Today, Competitive Markets Action and the Organization for Competitive Markets released the following statement on the election of Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, as Speaker of the House. “We look forward to working with Speaker Johnson and his team on the upcoming Farm Bill and are elated to see he's already made it a top priority for 2023."

The Federal Crop Insurance Program is the most expensive program in the farm safety net, yet federal law prohibits the USDA from disclosing basic information about subsidy recipients. This week, while the House of Representatives searched for a Speaker, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, was working hard to legislate and joined as a cosponsor of the Crop Insurance Transparency Act, H.R. 5747.

Led by Reps. Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, David Valadao, R-CA, Mike Waltz, R-FL, and Nancy Mace, R-SC, 16 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives pushed back against the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, in a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-PA, and Ranking Member David Scott, R-GA, that Competitive Markets Action (CMA) and the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) worked to organize and execute.

A coalition of Attorney Generals, representing 16 states, have submitted a letter to House leaders, Speaker McCarthy, R-CA, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, and Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Mitch McConnel (R-KY), stating their firm opposition to the so-called Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R.4417/S.2019, a proposed federal bill that would undermine the rights of States to regulate agriculture within their jurisdictions and would nullify countless state and local laws.

Competitive Markets Action announced its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-Charles Town, in the Republican Primary race for U.S. Senate, against Gov. Jim Justice, a Democrat until 2017. The Senate seat, currently held by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-TOWN, is one of the last seats in the Southeastern U.S. with a sitting Democrat Senator.

The U.S. House of Representatives considered an amendment led by Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-IN, and Thomas Massie, R-KY, to H.R. 4368, the FY 2024 Agriculture Appropriations Act that brought great attention to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s scandal-ridden Commodity Checkoff Programs. These quasigovernmental organizations help fund much of the annual budget at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), Dairy Management, Inc., that continue to lobby for policies that have proven to be harmful to producers like the repeal of Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL).

The Organization for Competitive Markets, Competitive Markets Action, and Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association (ALCPGA), applauded U.S. Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-IN, and Thomas Massie, R-KY, for introducing an amendment (#76) to H.R. 4368, the FY24 Agriculture Appropriations Act that would fund the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) and other agencies. The amendment was ruled in order earlier this week and will be up for a vote before the full U.S. House later today.

As the current Farm Bill expiration date approaches Sept. 30, and Congress continues to stall in advancing a new one, American family farmers and ranchers, who have a direct stake in the outcome, mobilized to Washington D.C. Sept. 17-22 to assert their position on key bills during their second Farm Bill summit in two months.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ), Michael Kades, and Marty Irby, President and CEO of Competitive Markets Action, and Board Secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets, co-hosted a fireside chat on the need for more enforcement against anti-monopolistic practices throughout the agriculture sector.

In a sweeping show of solidarity, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), National Association of Counties (NACo), and the National League of Cities (NLC) have jointly written a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committees, stating their firm opposition to the federal bill, the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R.4417/S.2019).

The co-chairs of the National Governors Association have written a letter to Congressional leaders, urging them to consider key Farm Bill priorities for the next reauthorization of the bill. The Governors emphasized the importance of avoiding preempting state level laws regarding agriculture production, writing that “states succeed when the federal government avoids granting a private right of action against states that maintain their own production or manufacturing standard on agricultural products.”

Today, a bipartisan group of 30 U.S. Senators sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark expressing their opposition to the so-called Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, S.2019/H.R.4417, and its inclusion in the 2023 Farm Bill. The controversial EATS Act, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, would harm small farmers, threaten state laws, and infringe on states' rights to establish laws and regulations within their own borders.

Competitive Markets Action (CMA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Vinnie Trometter, as Director of Government Affairs. Trometter most recently worked at Cassidy and Associates, one of Washington, D.C.’s top lobbying firms, and is a native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, located in the 15th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, a seat held by U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-State College.

More than 150 Members of the U.S. House joined today in sending a letter to U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Pa., and Ranking Member David Scott, R-Ga., citing their opposition to the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas in the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, declared on RFDTV Saturday, “We’re getting the heck beat out of us,” on the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S/. 2019, led by Marshall and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa.

Members of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) met in the Heart of America for the group’s annual conference. Topics included concerns regarding the Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S.2019, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).

Farmers and Ranchers storm Capitol Hill, lobbying to stop the Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). The bill would marginalize American family farmers and open the floodgates to China’s takeover of American agriculture.

Radio campaign against the Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act launched in Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s district in Wisconsin. The EATS Act jeopardizes the ability of family farmers to work with their state elected officials, undermining their control over vital farm rules. The bill would also nullify hard-fought state laws and grant foreign corporations unchecked access to our agricultural lands.

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA) announced an expansion of its campaign against the Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA in the House and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS in the Senate.