Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Federal officials released the schedule for a workshop later this week on competition in the livestock industries, and only one Iowa pork producer has been asked for formal testimony.
Competition in the seed, poultry and dairy industries have already been discussed as part of a series of workshops jointly hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice. The fourth in the series is slated for this Friday in Colorado and will focus on livestock industries that have not already been discussed such as beef cattle, hogs and sheep. Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the U.S. and the top state for pork exports.
Based on an official agenda released late Friday, however, the workshop will predominately focus on the beef industry. A panel billed as an opportunity for producers and feeders to give a presentation of issues facing the industry contains four ranchers, one feedlot owner, one sheep producer and one pork producer. In fact, Chris Petersen, the one hog producer on the schedule, appears to be the only Iowan formally included on the agenda — unless U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is included.
Petersen, who serves as president of the Iowa Farmers Union, has been involved in agriculture for nearly four decades. When he was called before Congress in 2008 to offer testimony on the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007, Petersen noted that he and his wife maintain a 30-sow Birkshire herd, and that the 400 pigs produced a year by his farm are sold locally or to niche pork companies.
Throughout this process federal officials have been simultaneously praised for pursuing more information on possible anti-trust violations with agriculture and criticized for not allowing adequate time for everyday producers and consumers to provide insights. In Iowa, for instance, a coalition of groups organized a pre-workshop town hall meeting because they did not feel that there was sufficient time for public grievances at the seed workshop held in Ankeny. In Alabama, the site of the poultry workshop, producers expressed a fear of retaliation for speaking openly about problems within the industry. And, prior to the most recent workshop focusing on the dairy industry, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., pressed federal officials to provide more time for the general public to comment.
At the Colorado workshop, two sessions have been devoted to gathering public comment. One hour has been set aside immediately following a 45-minute lunch break, and a two-hour session takes place at the end of the day. Two round-table discussions and two panel discussions have been planned.
The workshop will be held in the ballroom of the Lory Student Center at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. There is no charge to attend, and members of the public can register by visiting the Colorado State website.
The full agenda is as follows:
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