WASHINGTON — Editor’s note: The USDA recently announced the finalization of the Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act. “This rule establishes clearer, more effective standards to govern the modern marketplace, and they are another example of how USDA is focused on building new, fairer, more resilient and more competitive markets for our farmers, ranchers, and producers,” stated Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a recent release.
National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Rural Advancement Foundation International have released statements, below, concerning this most recent Packers and Stockyards Act Rule.
National Farmers Union
NFU Welcomes Further Packers and Stockyards Act Rulemakings from USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued its second final rule in a series of updates to revitalize the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act). Today’s rule establishes clearer standards for prohibited practices under the P&S Act, including discrimination, retaliation and deception in contracting.
“Family farmers and ranchers deserve the right to stand up for themselves when they’re the victims of unfair practices,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of work from NFU and supporters of equitable livestock markets. I’d like to thank Secretary Vilsack and USDA for making this a priority and bringing fairness to markets that are in dire need of it.”
This final rule comes on the heels of a successful effort by NFU and allied organizations to keep a harmful policy rider out of the FY 2024 appropriations agreement. Such a rider would have thrown out existing rules, prevented future rulemakings and blocked USDA from making similar progress on the P&S Act. NFU has long advocated against such harmful language and supports USDA’s efforts to make needed updates to the law.
In further defense of the P&S Act, NFU Vice President Jeff Kippley penned an op-ed for the publication Agri-Pulse that highlighted the importance of the P&S Act for family farmers and ranchers. In the letter, Kippley stated, “Given the abundant evidence of price fixing and unfair practices in the livestock industry, it’s clear that maintaining the status quo won’t foster innovation, competition, or robust market oversight. It’s time to acknowledge the heavily consolidated and vertically integrated nature of the industry and enact rules that level the playing field for family farmers and ranchers.”
American Farm Bureau Federation
New Rule Provides More Transparency for Farmers and Ranchers
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act final rule.
“AFBF appreciates Secretary Vilsack and USDA’s finalization of another rule that helps bring transparency and fairness for farmers and ranchers who raise livestock and poultry under contracts with companies. This rule provides additional clarity regarding retaliation and deceptive practices in business dealings. It is a welcome complement to USDA’s Transparency Disclosures for Contract Poultry Growers rule implemented in February. Farm Bureau will continue to work with USDA to ensure a level playing field for the farmers and ranchers who keep America’s kitchens stocked.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
NCBA Statement on Latest Packers and Stockyards Rule
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane issued a statement following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest Packers and Stockyards rule:
“NCBA’s concern with this regulation has always been based in the rule’s unforeseen impacts to standard business practices. We have remained consistently opposed to any discriminatory practices in the marketplace. While we still have concerns about the unintended consequences of the rule, we are pleased that USDA has addressed most of our significant concerns between the proposed and final rules. We continue to urge USDA to ensure this rule remains focused on its stated objective—with which we wholeheartedly agree—and does not stray into extraneous, unrelated subject matter discussed in the proposal’s preamble.”
Rural Advancement Foundation International
RAFI Commends the Finalization of USDA’s Packers and Stockyards New Rule
Years of advocacy by RAFI and contract growers pays off
RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) commends the finalization of USDA’s Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The second of USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Act rules to be finalized this year, this rule will strengthen the act’s protections against discrimination, retaliation, and deception in livestock and poultry markets. The rule makes explicit what should be obvious — that basic integrity is a prerequisite to fairness in the market, and that any market in which discrimination, deception, or retaliation is allowed is fundamentally broken.
USDA’s Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity rule bolsters key protections under the Packers and Stockyards Act in response to concerns that growers have been expressing for decades. Under the new rule, corporations are prohibited from discriminating against livestock producers and poultry growers based on protected class (including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, and gender identity, disability, marital status, or age), as well as based on any producer’s involvement in a cooperative.
As ProPublica exposed in 2019, these protections have been badly needed given the poultry industry’s history of discrimination against growers of color. The rule also strengthens protections against deception on the part of meatpacking and poultry corporations in their recruiting and contracting; RAFI has long documented the need for greater scrutiny over integrator claims made during grower recruitment. Finally, the act strengthens protections against retaliatory abuse by corporations against their contract growers for engaging in activities including lawful communications, assertion of their rights under their contracts and the Packers and Stockyards Act, participation in associations and cooperatives, and exploring or entering into a business relationship with a competing integrator.
RAFI Policy Co-Director Aaron Johnson, who has engaged extensively in advocacy for this and other strong rules to advance market fairness in livestock and poultry markets, notes,
USDA’s Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity rule will be a vital companion to its transparency rule for the poultry industry that has just gone into effect. Growers now have more transparent access to information about the quality of inputs they and their competition are receiving, and if that information indicates that they may be experiencing retaliation, this rule will ensure that they have strengthened protections against such abuse. We deeply appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s commitment to see this important work through, and are very grateful for the hard work of everyone involved at the Packers and Stockyards Division and throughout the department.
For more information, please review this December 2023 press release detailing a letter sent to President Biden by 62 organizations.
