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August 27, 2010, will be the most important day in the history of our U.S. cattle industry. Register: Make your voice count! Register with R-CALF USA. **Please register with USDA/DOJ if you plan on attending.** Answers by USDA/DOJ to Common Questions. Promote:
Two-pages
handout
Travel/Lodging Information:
Shuttles from Denver Airport to Ft. Collins: Find a hotel near Colorado State University. Other travel information, provided by Colorado State University. Aug. 26th Events: This event occurs at the Ft. Collins Marriott (350 E. Horsetooth Rd.) 7:00 p.m. - Public Event: If you're coming in the night before, join us at the for this public meeting. There will be a short panel, then time for general discussion. Location:
Colorado State University Here's a campus map of Colorado State University. Open Letter to the U.S. Cattle Industry Action: Be at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado at 8:00 a.m. MDT on August 27th, 2010. On August 27, 2010, the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture will jointly hold a public hearing on competition in the U.S. cattle industry in Fort Collins, Colorado. Every cattle producer in the United States should begin making plans to travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 27, 2010, so they can participate in what will be the most important eight-hour day in the history of our industry. It will not matter what the powerful meatpackers, their allied trade associations, or their prestigious economists say during the 8-hour hearing on August 27 when 25,000 U.S. cattle producers show up and quietly and respectfully hold up a simple sign that reads, “Restore Competition to our U.S. Cattle Industry.” This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have the greatest impact on the future direction of our U.S. cattle industry and all we have to do is to be there! The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. MDT, and we are asking attendees to arrive at Colorado State University Campus by 8:00 a.m. MDT. Preparations: R-CALF USA already has submitted volumes of information to the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture that documents how the highly concentrated beef packers have severely reduced competition in our U.S. cattle industry; as well as how this reduced competition has caused the ongoing contraction of our industry. Thus, the federal government already knows there is a serious problem in our U.S. cattle industry. THE FOUNDATION NEEDED TO ESTABLISH THAT THE U.S. CATTLE INDUSTRY SUFFERS FROM A LACK OF COMPETITION HAS ALREADY BEEN BUILT (indeed, this is why the hearing has been scheduled in the first place). The only real question before the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture will be whether they have sufficient support from within the U.S. cattle industry to fix the problem. This is why it is so absolutely critical that every U.S. cattle producer who wants competition restored to the U.S. cattle industry must be in Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 27. This also is why the mere act of being at the Fort Collins, Colorado, hearing will have such a profound impact. When the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture see that 25,000 U.S. cattle producers have taken the time from their busy schedules to show up at their public hearing to demand that competition be restored to the U.S. cattle industry, the presence of these 25,000 cattle producers will immediately: *trump everything the meatpackers are telling Congress, the Administration, and the public regarding how their control over our industry benefits cattle producers and consumers; *trump everything the other meatpacker-aligned trade associations are telling Congress, the Administration, and the public regarding how the U.S. cattle industry is doing just fine under the ever-growing control of the meatpackers; *trump everything the economists who are funded by the meatpackers are telling Congress, the Administration, and the public regarding how the meatpacker-dominance in the cattle industry benefits our U.S. economy; and *impress upon the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture that they must begin immediately to follow through with their promise to restore for U.S. cattle producers a viable, competitive marketplace that will provide every independent U.S. cattle producer the opportunity to maintain profitable, independent cattle operations in the United States of America. This upcoming opportunity is not just big, it is HUGE! And, it is HISTORICAL! Your attendance at the August 27 Fort Collins, Colorado, hearing will have an impact far beyond what you could achieve if you were to expend the financial resources to participate in a dozen fly-ins to Washington, D.C. THIS IS OUR SINGLE OPPORTUNITY TO JUMPSTART GENUINE IMPROVEMENTS FOR OUR CATTLE INDUSTRY AND WE MUST RISE TO THIS OCCASION. We urge all our members and our affiliated organizations to begin scheduling special meetings with their county, regional, and state cattle associations in mid- to late-July and early August to begin coordinating travel plans for cattle producers, cattle truckers, feed store operators, livestock equipment manufacturers and other main street businesses so everyone that has a stake in the future of our U.S. cattle industry can get to Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 27. There likely will be a need to charter busses and organize carpools from many states and regions and now is the time to begin planning for this incredibly important event. NEVER BEFORE IN HISTORY, AND PROBABLY NEVER AGAIN WILL WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE WILL HAVE ON AUGUST 27 TO MAKE SUCH A HUGE AND POSITIVE DIFFERENCE FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR U.S. CATTLE INDUSTRY, AND ALL WE ALL HAVE TO DO IS BE THERE! Background: Until now, never in our history have the United States Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture scheduled a joint hearing in the center of the United States for the sole purpose of determining whether or not to take action to restore competition to the entire U.S. cattle industry. Until now, never in our history has every major, national news media planned to focus their attention on a cattle-industry hearing to be held in the center of the United States. Until now, never in our history have U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers and other cattle-industry businesses been given the opportunity to send an undeniably clear and resounding message that will be indelibly burned into the minds of the Administration, Congress, the media, and the American public during a one-day event to be held in the center of the United States. Until now, never in our history has our federal government given us the opportunity to demonstrate to the entire world that our U.S. cattle market is seriously broken and that it must be immediately fixed in order for the U.S. is to maintain a viable U.S. cattle industry and restore economic viability to Rural America.
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