by Ken Root
Listen Here: Agribusiness Matters 12-19-16
New Rules designed to protect small growers who attempt to sell or contract with large buyers have fans and foes.
Livestock Organizations are opposed, but general farm organizations, both Farm Bureau and Farmers Union are in favor.
The poultry industry says it has the most to lose from the implementation of the new rules.
The poultry industry has weighed in on USDA?s last-minute GIPSA rules. National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super says the interim final Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration, or ?GIPSA? rules, will mean more government meddling in the poultry and livestock industries. “What this is, is a prime example of a government solution in search of a problem.?
Super says the new rules the administration plans to finalize before leaving office are a Christmas present for trial lawyers that will mean more producer lawsuits against packers, less competition, and higher consumer prices.
He says the National Chicken Council will join livestock groups to derail the rules in the next congress and administration. “The voters especially in rural America voted and they spoke loud and clear, especially out farmers. The last thing they want is the federal government or uncle same meddling on their farms anymore than they currently are. We hope to have those regulations and others get out of the marketplace and stop interring in private business.?
Super says the current system is working. However, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau support the rules, arguing the reforms are needed to level the playing field in the poultry and livestock industries.
AFB President and Georgia poultry farmer Zippy Duvall says America?s chicken farmers have long called for more transparency and fairness, and argues the proposed rules will ?better protect individual farmers from discriminatory agreements.?
