TELL USDA: Ensure Farmers and Ranchers Have Fair and Competitive Livestock Markets
U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA recently released a proposed rule, the “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets” rule – also known as the “unfair practices” rule – under the Packers & Stockyards Act (P&S Act).
The P&S Act has been in place for more than a century to protect family livestock and poultry producers from unfair, deceptive, and monopolistic practices in the marketplace. However, enforcement of the law has not kept up with rampant corporate consolidation and reduced market transparency in the livestock and poultry industries in recent decades.
The “unfair practices” rule is needed to clarify what is meant by “unfair” under the P&S Act and to ensure a workable standard is in place that USDA can apply to protect family livestock producers from harm.
USDA’s proposed rule will protect family livestock producers for years to come, but we need to make sure USDA has the support to finalize it.
Sign this petition to urge USDA to adopt a strong “unfair practices” rule that protects family livestock producers. After you sign, you can also submit a comment to USDA in the Federal Register telling them to finalize the rule.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture
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National Farmers Union (NFU) supports USDA finalizing a strong “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets" rule, that protects family farmers and ranchers in the livestock marketplace.
Family farmers should have access to fair and competitive livestock, meat, and poultry markets and should receive the full value for their products and services. Heavy corporate consolidation among meatpackers and poultry companies means they wield immense market power. When these companies use unfair practices that harm family farmers and ranchers, USDA should be able to hold these companies accountable.
The Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921 (P&S Act) prohibits “any unfair practice or device” but does not specify what those practices and devices are. This rule is needed to establish a workable standard for USDA to consistently apply in its investigations and enforcement actions.
The P&S Act is a foundational law that was not only written to protect the market from harm but was written to protect individual market participants from harm. NFU urges USDA to finalize a rule that creates a framework that ensures when individual family farmers and ranchers in the marketplace are harmed, they are protected by the P&S Act.