WASHINGTON, May 25, 2016 - The nation’s
biggest livestock groups are concerned about what a potential rule from the
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration might do to the
marketplace and used a House Subcommittee hearing to say as much.
Tuesday’s hearing was the last in a series
intended to study the current state of the farm economy, but much of the
discussion revolved around the groups’ respective policy priorities,
particularly concerns about a GIPSA rule intended to address anti-competitive
practices. However, the groups say the rule under consideration would amount to
USDA interference in markets.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
President Tracy Brunner said it would make USDA “the ultimate arbiter of how
cattle are marketed.” John Zimmerman, a board member with the National Turkey
Federation, said the rule could lead to increased costs, lower productivity,
and is “threatening to fundamentally change the rules by which our members
operate.” David Herring with the National Pork Producers Council also said the
NPPC was being forced to divert “valuable resources” from its main priority –
getting approval for TPP – to the GIPSA issue.
David Rouzer, the North Carolina Republican
who chairs the Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee that convened the
hearing, pointed out that appropriations riders in the past had blocked the
rule, but not last year, “with the understanding and commitment that the USDA
had no intention of revisiting these bad ideas.”
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
