(Left to right) OCM & CMA Outreach Director Cameron Ring, and CMA President Marty Irby, present the award to Rep. Mace in Washington, D.C.
The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA), this week announced the recipient of their second annual Competitive Markets Legislator of the Year Award, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, for 2024. Mace follows former Rep. Alex Mooney, R-WV, who named as Legislator of the Year in 2023, the first time the award was presented.
The groups measured recognition by multiple actions in the U.S. House and Senate: Rep. Mace joined in leading a Congressional letter to the House Agriculture Committee leaders with staunch opposition to the terrible Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, now renamed the so-called Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act, H.R. 4693, in the 119th Congress. The measure would nullify hundreds of state and local laws that provide certainty and security in the marketplace for independent family farmers and ranchers across America. Mace was joined by Reps. David Valadao, R-CA, Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, and former Rep. Mike Waltz, R-FL, now President Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations in leading that effort.
Mace is also the leader of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, H.R. 1249, in the 118th Congress, she co-leads in bipartisan fashion with Rep. Dina Titus, D-NV. The measure would reform the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s scandal-ridden commodity checkoff programs that have been plagued by unethical and illegal activities for decades. OFF, now H.R. 3516, in the 119th Congress, has long-been backed by more than 200,000 farmers and ranchers across the country and groups like OCM, CMA, the American Grassfed Association, National Taxpayer’s Union, Farm Action, and the Heritage Foundation.
Mace’s campaign to reform the checkoff programs also brought more light to controversy surrounding former USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, D-IA, who has directly benefited from millions of checkoff dollars funneled into his own personal coffers, and a salary of nearly $1 million per year from Dairy Management, Inc., following his eight years as President Barack Obama's USDA Secretary, before being reappointed to the same post by Biden.
Mace was also selected as the Competitive Markets overall Legislator of the Year for 2024 for joining in co-leading a House letter to Agriculture Committee leaders, against increasing crop reference prices with Mooney, and Reps. Andy Ogles, R-TN, Brian Mast, R-FL, Carol Miller, R-WV, and Andy Biggs, R-AZ, that was supported by CMA and OCM, as well the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth, R-Street, the National Taxpayers Union, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.
In the 117th Congress, Mace also co-led the Pigs in Gestation Stalls (PIGS) Act, H.R. 7004, with Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-TX, that would have provided more space for breeding sows in pork production facilities across the U.S., a policy similar to many of the corporate pledges made by top retailers in the last several years who are working to eliminate the use of gestation crates in U.S. pork production.
“Our farmers work sunrise to sunset to feed this country, and for too long they’ve been undermined by foreign interests and multinational organizations,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, who was named Legislator of the Year for 2024. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are fighting to stop corrupt big-ag schemes which hurt family farmers and ranchers. Thank you to the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA) for this award and for your leadership fighting for independent farmers.”
“We applaud Rep. Mace for her tireless work, tremendous leadership, and intestinal fortitude in standing up to Chinese interests and multinational conglomerates who continue to further consolidate American agriculture,” said Taylor Haynes, president of the Organization for Competitive Markets and founder of the Wyoming Independent Cattlemen’s Association. “If Agriculture Committee leaders want to get a Farm Bill done in 2026 they’d be wise to jettison any language that nullifies state and local agriculture laws and include Rep. Mace’s OFF Act to reform USDA’s swampy checkoff slush funds.”
“We applaud Rep. Nancy Mace for going against the grain by pushing back against the leaders of EATS, the USDA’s scandal-ridden commodity checkoff programs, and China’s continuous attempts to takeover American agriculture,” said Marty Irby, president at Competitive Markets Action and board secretary of the Organization for Competitive Markets. “Industrial agribusiness interests and multinational conglomerates have turned far too many of our hard-working farmers into modern-day indentured servants and we’re amidst an uprising never seen before.”