Tom Vilsack Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Official Website
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced proposed steps to address competition issues in agricultural markets and create a fairer playing field for poultry growers and farmers. USDA is proposing the rule "Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems" to tackle abuses related to grower ranking payment systems and additional capital investment requirements commonly imposed on contract growers for broiler chicken.
This rule is the third in a series of Packers and Stockyards Act rules that USDA has undertaken to create fairer markets, potentially leading to lower grocery prices. Additionally, USDA is announcing new publicly available cattle market transparency tools. These actions aim to enhance transparency, prevent retaliation and discrimination, reduce costs, and support market fairness as part of President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.
“Under the direction of President Biden, USDA has sought to utilize every tool at its disposal to uphold fair competition, protect producers, lower costs for consumers, and combat unfair, deceptive, and discriminatory practices,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “As part of this effort, USDA committed to issuing new, stronger rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act to provide greater clarity and strengthen enforcement under the Act.”
"Poultry growers deserve a fair shake and consumers deserve fair prices," said USDA Senior Advisor for Fair and Competitive Markets Andy Green. "This proposed rule is intended to provide growers with a clear base price in contracts."
The proposed rule would prohibit deductions from the base price in contracts for broiler chicken growers while permitting bonuses for performance. It aims to provide tools for growers to identify risks related to capital improvement practices and enhance USDA's ability to enforce prohibitions on unfair practices. The rule would also establish a duty of fair comparison for grower tournaments.
The proposed rule is posted on the AMS website ahead of formal publication in the Federal Register when it will be open for public comment. Stakeholders have 60 days from publication in the Federal Register to submit comments via Regulations.gov.
USDA's actions are part of broader efforts under President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America’s Economy. These include enhancing meat processing capacity, expanding fertilizer production, creating fairer markets for seeds and other inputs, investing in State Attorney General enforcement capacity, and supporting more resilient supply chains.
To complement these regulatory actions, USDA is launching a data visualization tool called the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Live Cattle Data Dashboard. This tool aims to make LMR live cattle market information more accessible. AMS will also begin publishing additional information on net premiums and discounts paid by packers under formula marketing arrangements.
In summary, USDA continues its commitment under the Biden-Harris Administration towards transforming America's food system with an emphasis on resilient local food production, fairer markets for all producers, access to nutritious food across communities, building new income streams using climate-smart practices, making historic infrastructure investments in rural America, removing systemic barriers within the Department itself.
For more information about these initiatives or other programs offered by USDA visit www.usda.gov.
