Author: jeff

Recent attention to the country’s meatpacking plants has illustrated that when the four dominant companies face disruptions to processing, smaller, independent operations don’t have adequate capacity to pick up the slack.

That’s part of the reason the federal government has decided to invest in upgrades to some of those local shops. Plus, when those smaller businesses are federally inspected, producers will be able to market their own branded meat products across state lines.

Still, it will be a tall order to compete in the marketplace, which several senators allege is already not operating in a transparent and consistently fair way.

The White House has put out a comprehensive plan to improve competition in the meat sector, specifically naming as priorities increasing and diversifying processing capacity, improving farmer and rancher income, and promoting state, tribal and private investment. USDA already has awarded $32 million from its Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant (MPIRG) program, intended to help meat and poultry processing businesses expand, improve or update their abilities.

“It’s big providing the dollars. It’s not a small action, it’s a big action,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told Agri-Pulse. “We also need to make sure that folks aren’t violating the antitrust laws that we have in this country.” Tester said industry consolidation that has led to the four large companies controlling about 85% of the beef market is devastating small farms and ranches. “I’ve got cow-calf operators that are going broke because of that consolidation.”

Tester, one of the few farmers in Congress, joined Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in sponsoring the Cattle Market Transparency Act with the goal of improving price discovery and ensuring transparency so the large companies are held accountable. That could mean better prices at…

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The Department of the Interior is now seeking public comment surrounding the word “squaw”

February 24, 2022 6:36 am

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Department of the Interior is now collecting name replacements for more than 660 geographic features that use the word squaw.

Leaders called it a historically “offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women,” in a new report by NPR.

They say it originated from the Algonquian word for “woman” but has been twisted by white people for centuries.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland adds, “Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. Consideration of these replacements is a big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue.”

Here in Nebraska we have several bodies of water that include the word squaw in addition to a mountain peak and a lodge.

You can weigh in right now by submitting a comment here.

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A representative of Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribal governments gave the annual State of the Tribes address to state lawmakers and the governor Tuesday at the State Capitol in Madison.

During the speech, tribal leader Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, challenged conservative efforts to change voting laws and limit teaching about racism.

The Stockbridge-Munsee have about 1,500 tribal members, and their reservation is between Green Bay and Wausau, Wisconsin.

Holsey delivered her remarks as some Republicans continue to falsely question whether President Joe Biden won the 2020 election in Wisconsin. But Holsey praised Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) for recently telling some rank and file conservatives that Biden’s electoral votes cannot be taken back.

“I applaud Speaker Vos, who upheld the integrity of this process in Wisconsin with the emphasis on the need to focus on the future,” Holsey said.

However, Vos and other Republican lawmakers are on the verge of passing a slew of bills that critics say would limit voting this year.

Holsey challenged the Legislature to instead expand access to the ballot box. “We should all do more to insure that all Americans, including Native Americans, can exercise this right easily,” she said.

Screen grab from Wisconsin Eye

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Leaders of Wisconsin’s other federally-recognized Native American tribes sit along the wall near the top of this photo. Members of the Wisconsin Legislature are in the foreground.

The Republican-controlled Legislature also recently tried to prohibit Wisconsin public schools from teaching students and training employees about concepts such as systemic racism and implicit bias.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the measure, and Holsey called on lawmakers to now take a different approach. “It is our view as tribal nations that perhaps what is needed is not critical theory, and more critical…

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