USDA proposes fairness-in-marketing livestock rule

Re-entering a battle that dates from the Obama era, the USDA said on Tuesday it would modify its livestock marketing regulations to make it easier for producers to win complaints that they were treated unfairly by meatpackers. At present, producers must show a harm to the market in general. The revision would allow harm to one producer to be sufficient proof of an unfair practice.

“Today’s proposed rule stands for clear, transparent standards so markets function fairly and competitively for consumers and producers alike,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The meat industry said the proposed rule would encourage lawsuits and interfere with marketing agreements and bonuses offered to producers who produce animals with speciific attributes, such as grass-fed or no-antibiotics. “Secretary Vilsack has tried these changes before,” said the Meat Institute, a trade group, referring to Vilsack’s tenure as Obama’s USDA chief. The Trump administration killed that proposal in 2017.

“Family farmers and ranchers continue to face unfair practices at the hands of monopolistic meatpackers, and they need P&S [Packers and Stockyards] Act rules that are clear, durable, and enforceable,” said the National Farmers Union in welcoming the proposal.

The proposal was the fourth from the Biden administration to modify fair-play rules in livestock marketing. Two have been finalized.

A USDA fact sheet on the proposal is available here.

A pre-publication version of the proposed rule is available here.