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Feds Say Cattlemen Bilked Uncle Sam

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Anonymous

Guest
Time to end all these government programs/subsidies...When folks can abuse them to this extent... And most of the bucks go to corporate Ag and don't help the ones they were originally set up to...

Lock them up- throw away the keys.....

Feds Say Cattlemen Bilked Uncle Sam



By JOE HARRIS | Courthouse News Service | June 18, 2010



KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CN) - Two men abused a federal drought relief program by exporting and selling the 28 million lbs. of free cattle feed they received, federal prosecutors say. Uncle Sam spent more than $1 million to ship the men the free nonfat dry milk, and they allegedly made more than $5 million from it before the ruse was discovered.



The United States claims Richard Carter and Jerry Goodwin, through their companies Carter Livestock and R&J Feed, received 19.9 million lbs. of free feed through the 2002 Cattle Feed Program. The USDA spent $810,000 to ship the feed, according to the complaint.



In 2003, the defendants received more than 8 million lbs. of free feed - nonfat dry milk (NDM) - through a similar program, the complaint states. This time it cost the government $238,000 in shipping.



An investigation in 2004 showed that the defendants did not use the feed as the programs required, but exported it for profit. They had made more than $5 million through their illegal exports by the time of the investigation, prosecutors say.



"On the basis of the January 2004 R&J warehouse examination and the information provided to him by Smith, [USDA warehouse examiner Rod] Prather determined that at the time of the warehouse examination, R&J had an inventory of 9,311,225 pounds of 2002 NDM and 990,000 pounds of 2003 NDM, for a total inventory of 10,301,225 pounds of USDA drought relief program NDM," the complaint states.



"The information provided by Smith indicated that R&J had exported or participated in the exportation of 14,838,059 pounds of NDM between November 4, 2003 and January 23, 2004."



Richard Carter and Carter Livestock operate out of Ten Sleep, Wyo. Carter is a partner with Jerry Goodwin in R&J Feed Co., of Ogden, Utah, according to the complaint.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I agree. Lock'em up. Next, let's get the government out of agriculture. Let them worry about trade policy with the products we raise. I wish they would abolish all of the subsidies they now have. Let agriculture and all businesses go back to a "Survival of the Fittest" standard of operation. I have a neighbor who gets a check for not farming a piece of ground in a nonfarming area. That's ridiculous and I'm tired of my taxes going to support bums like this. Government subsidies sure haven't helped the dairy industry either. Let the smart operaters stay in business and let the weak ones fail, and it would amaze people how our economy improves.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
BAR BAR 2 said:
I agree. Lock'em up. Next, let's get the government out of agriculture. Let them worry about trade policy with the products we raise. I wish they would abolish all of the subsidies they now have. Let agriculture and all businesses go back to a "Survival of the Fittest" standard of operation. I have a neighbor who gets a check for not farming a piece of ground in a nonfarming area. That's ridiculous and I'm tired of my taxes going to support bums like this. Government subsidies sure haven't helped the dairy industry either. Let the smart operaters stay in business and let the weak ones fail, and it would amaze people how our economy improves.

How about the big ranchs selling out to conservation easements- or profitable corporate land swaps with the Fish and Game ( on land that doesn't have a house in 20 miles- and would never see a house in 50-100 years)- that then in return for millions- give you millions in federal (EQUIP) money to improve the land/water quality?
 
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Anonymous

Guest
LOL, that's almost a trick question OT. In certain situations I am for conservation easements and landswaps, other times I am not. There is a controversy here in Wyoming having to do with an absentee landowner and swapping state land that he wants. The property in question would square up his land and make it worth more. The trouble is the land he wants is used heavily for recreation. In this case I am against it. We will never get the government completely out of our business, and I don't really think it would be wise to. We do need laws and regulation or we would have chaos. I just think we need a more limited government. Personally, I don't think the government can take better care of the land than the people that work and sweat on it. Sweat makes the best fertilizer. To justify this point let's look at AZ. Isn't it part of a national park that is shut down because the government can't keep out dangerous drug smugglers that are here illegally? I am not in favor of taking productive land out of production. I think wildlife and agriculture can co-exist in most instances. There are exceptions of course. In some cases conservation easements are better than the alternatives. I know I hate seeing those housing developements pop up on some of these old ranches. However, seeing the bunny hugger groups lease BLM range so honest ranchers can't utilize it really ticks me off. One of these days Americans are going to wake up hungry and the cupboard is gonna be empty
 
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Anonymous

Guest
YEP-- I agree Bar Bar 2-- it is a complicated area...Especially when you follow the post of FH on ranchtalk were part of a large multi corporate/multi state ranch operation was placed in a nature conservancy ( probably to keep from going broke over the money lost in past investments)-claiming it as pristine land- but other posters (including myself) on this site screaming because the private resources of the Greenie Weenies- and the Federal government are looking at tying up/gaining control of some of the same (land adjoining) for the same reason- pristine land...
And one of the reasons the Greenie weenies are all in making offers is that some of the landowners/ranchers getting in their 50's- 60's-70's are looking for a way out- and know that the conservationist folks (be it private or government) have much more to offer than anyone can thinking to use it for agricultural/ranch land-- and have been approaching these groups ( altho most aren't making it public :wink: )-.....

Too bad several years ago they quit following the Taylor Grazing Act (again bought out by big bucks)- and its too bad the majority of the US producers cannot make a decent living to the point they have to fall back on outside income- federal disaster payments/subsidies/conservation easements/outfitting/EQUIP/etal.....
But its happening with some of the even bigger outfits I see over the past 20 + years....


Thornsberry said the inability to enforce the PSA has contributed to the exodus of about 150,000 cattle operations since the mid-1990s, which has, consequently, caused the hollowing out of rural communities all across America.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Its a damn shame is what it is. I can't think of one rancher that wouldn't like to expand. The trouble is a rancher doesn't have the deep pockets and can't compete with outside interests to buy more land. Look in the real estate magazines. When they have a ranch to sell, they don't advertise carrying capacity or the state of improvements. All they want to talk about are the hunting and fishing oppurtunities. I've seen some of the land the "Rich and Ridiculous" have bought. In a few years of lying fallow, its not even able to support the wildlife. Like it or not, ranchers are better for the wildlife than the bunny huggers. The enviros are literally loving the wildlife to death.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
If the government really wants to help, here's an idea. Quit worrying about playing nice and importing an inferior product. Instead let's worry about exporting our products. The US has one of the safest food supplies in the world. Next, let's figure out a way to keep the beef market in step with other products bought and sold. The market is pretty good now, but I remember getting the same prices in 1991. I wish fuel was still at that price. And hay, and a new truck. The list goes on. We don't need subsidies. We need a fair market.
 

Brad S

Well-known member
States or even counties must claim the decision to convert private land public. The nature conservancy and turner and anyone else that wants to convert private land into public holdings should be required to have approval from the state where the land exists.
 

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