WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the third installment in a series of regulatory reforms under the Packers and Stockyards Act that, in combination with other updates finalized under the Biden-Harris Administration, is intended to level the playing field for ranchers and farmers raising cattle, hogs, sheep, chicken and turkeys under contract or for sale to meat and poultry processing companies.
Specifically, the rule announced today will give ranchers and farmers stronger leverage when companies do not adhere to the rules.
“During my time as Secretary of Agriculture, time and again USDA has been confronted with the stories of ranchers and farmers who lost their life’s savings or went bankrupt because of an unfair system they entered into when they agreed to raise animals for a major meat conglomerate.
“It is USDA’s job to advocate for ranchers farmers, and these regulatory improvements give us the strongest tools we’ve ever had to meet our obligations under the Packers & Stockyards Act,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “While there is still work to be done, I am immensely proud that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to level the playing field for ranchers and farmers.
“This complements other ways we’ve worked to enhance competition across the agriculture sector, from investing in independent processing capacity, to shoring up domestic fertilizer production, to promoting transparency around seed technology and markets. As the bedrock of so much that our society depends on, and the pillar of rural economies, farmers deserve honesty, certainty and options when it comes to their hard work.”
