Opinion: Family farmers call on Trump to support protections for individual growers
By Roger
Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union.
From
this last election, the country was reminded that rural America has a voice. It
is time to make sure the voices of family farmers are heard as well.
Moments
after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a long-awaited regulation,
which aims to protect individual poultry growers and livestock producers from the
relentlessly unfair practices in the meat packing sector, those representing
the packing industry lashed out; even going so far as to suggest the rule was
the Obama Administration’s attempt to “stick it to” rural Americans for
electing President-elect Trump.
Ironically,
family farmers have been waiting for these protections since Congress included
them in the 2008 Farm Bill. This is a very targeted approach to the direction
from Congress to promulgate rules for the Packers and Stockyards Act, an act
that was passed specifically to address abuse by major poultry companies and meat
packers against farmers and consumers.
The Farmer
Fair Practices Rules, formerly known as the GIPSA rule (short for the Grain
Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration), that were released by USDA include
an interim final rule dealing with competitive injury disputes for contract
growers.
Currently,
contract poultry growers have to prove harm for the entire $48 billion chicken
industry rather than harm to themselves when seeking relief from poultry
companies for abusive contract practices. This is an outrageous interpretation
of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
This
rule will eliminate that burden so that farmers who have been wronged can sue
for harm only to themselves, rather than the entire industry. While this won’t
substantially change the industry, it will make sure that packers and poultry
companies who violate the law are held accountable for their actions by
providing greater clarity and desired consistency across the industry. Granting
family famers these legal rights is not designed to encourage lawsuits, in fact
it will likely result in a more transparent and business-like relationship
between farmers and the meat and poultry processing giants.
In 2015,
John Oliver famously drew attention to the burdens growers face on his HBO show
“Last Week Tonight.” Yet, the packing industry continues to play the victim.
Opponents
of the rule have subscribed to the idea that this regulation would increase
costs to packers and cause a trickle down impact to producers, who would see
their costs dramatically increase. I would challenge that the record profits touted
by large packers could offset any incurred costs of commonsense protection for
their growers.
Meanwhile,
more and more family farmers are losing their farms because the massively
concentrated livestock and poultry sectors have placed all of the power in the
hands of a few. The integrators can pick winners and losers every time they
deliver a flock or feed to individual growers.
And, if
growers choose to speak out about unfair practices, they’ll likely land
themselves on the losing end. There are always inferior chicks, but the facts
show some growers have been consistently targeted as the ones who will receive
the poor chicks, either because they chose to speak out about the industry or
refused to re-mortgage their farm (more deeply tying them to this industry) for
unnecessary capital investments.
These are
the instances when transparency and individual rights and protections for
growers are needed when reporting violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
By releasing these rules, USDA is simply reaffirming that the act is about
individual farmers. Far from the suggested attack on rural Americans, this effort
empowers rural Americans.
The
massive consolidation in the livestock and poultry industries has led to
consolidation among farms and rural America. Lack of competition doesn’t leave
poultry farmers with any other options.
Two
proposed rules that are included in the Farmer Fair Practice Rules are subject
to an open public comment period. We know the meat packing industry will invest
substantial resources towards opposing to these rules, but blocking these rules
would not be in the best interests of family farmers and rural America.
Just as
rural Americans came out full force for Trump on Election Day, they will be
expecting him to stand up for them throughout his administration. The
President-elect can start by supporting the Farmer Fair Practices Rules.
About
the Author: Roger Johnson is president of the nearly 200,000 family farmer and
rancher-led National Farmers Union.
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