Comments submitted to USDA revealed sharp divisions over the department’s proposed rule aimed at improving transparency in poultry contracts and the tournament payment system used in the industry.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service published the proposed rule in June after years of back-and-forth between the department, industry and other stakeholders, including a 2016 proposed rule that was withdrawn last year.
Comments in support of the proposal advocated for a complete overhaul – or even elimination – of the tournament system. Opposition to the recommendations coalesced around a belief that the use of the tournament system and grower contracts are fair and reward successful producers.
This proposal and another published the same day, with a focus on fairness in the system, come in the context of the Biden administration’s declaration of a whole-of-government commitment to transparency and fairness in a competitive economy. AMS says the rules are necessary to bring the Packers and Stockyards Act into alignment with the realities of the modern broiler industry. Chicken is widely seen as the most affordable meat protein and the broiler industry as an accessible way into animal agriculture.
“The Packers and Stockyards Act is crucial for protecting farmers and ranchers from excessive concentration and unfair, deceptive practices in the poultry, hog, and cattle markets. But after 100 years, it needs to take modern market dynamics into account,” said…
