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“The money and political power of Wall Street has stolen America’s food system, bankrupted our farmers and ranchers, mined our soils, polluted our environment, wasted our precious water, and left us with expensive industrially produced food that makes us sick.” – Occupy Wall Street Food Day, December 2011 -
Industrial Agriculture and Urban Sprawl – A model of growth that’s made to fail. -
Ranching Reboot Episode 4, Mike Callicrate “It’s time for a third revolution against monopolies”
Above: Ranching Reboot – Episode 4 – Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct, sat down with us to talk about all manner of things from cattle markets, to public food spaces, the Bander, his feedlot and the pathway he built to market.
He shares valuable lessons learned from fighting against the commodity production system and how he’s built his own pathway to the consumer.
We talk about small community slaughter plants and public meat spaces and what that could look like going in to the future. We discuss environmental challenges, the food police and what it means when a Dollar General comes to town.
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- This Cattleman's Got A Beef
Photo: Sean Cayton - 2003People producing good food from happy animals, while improving the environment, shouldn’t have to fear the government.
Photo above featured in a 2003 article: This cattleman's got a beef, Mike Callicrate and Ranch Foods Direct take on the big meat packersby Kathryn Eastburn
Author Archives: Mike Callicrate
Let’s Feed People Instead of Corporate Interests
How can an industrial livestock operation transition from feeding corporations to feeding people? Downsize, diversify, and sell direct. Just east of the Colorado-Kansas border in the Republican River Valley watershed, annual precipitation is around 17 inches per year. Winters can … Continue reading
What Doesn’t Kill You Podcast – Biden takes aim at Consolidation and Monopolies
Listen to podcast.
How much income has the cattle producer lost to the meatpacking and Big Food cartel?
The USDA retail beef price report from July 13, 2021 quotes the average Choice beef price at $7.46 per pound with the average live cattle price at $120/cwt. A finished cattle weight of 1,400 lbs. x 42% retail yield = … Continue reading
What’s the Beef? How the Beef Packing Cartel Hurts Producers and Consumers and How Independent Cattle Producers and Processors Can Help Restore Competition and Choice
Podcasts What’s the Beef? How the Beef Packing Cartel Hurts Producers and Consumers and How Independent Cattle Producers and Processors Can Help Restore Competition and Choice July 13, 2021 | Diana L. Moss , Mike Callicrate , Patrick Robinette Food … Continue reading
1996 South Dakota Governor’s Cattle Conference Fails to Prevent Industry Decline
In December of 1996, Governor William Janklow held a cattle conference in Pierre, South Dakota. Seven presenters were invited to discuss the state of the cattle industry before a crowd of around 1,000 people, from farm and ranch families to … Continue reading
