National Farmers Union applauds actions stated in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack. Eight legislators reiterated their support to move forward with implementation of the Grain Inspection and Stockyards Protection Administration (GIPSA) rule.
“Producers and consumers alike benefit from competitive and transparent markets… Deceptive, fraudulent, retaliatory, and anti-competitive practices have no place in a well-functioning market, and we need to have sound rules of the road to protect consumers, livestock producers and poultry growers in increasingly concentrated market environments,” the lawmakers stated in the letter.
The GIPSA rule was included in the 2008 Farm Bill to mitigate abusive contracting and marketing practices in the highly concentrated livestock and poultry sectors. However, lawmakers repeatedly blocked the USDA from actually implementing the law through an annual appropriations rider until late last year when that rider was omitted from the congressional appropriations omnibus bill.
USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Ed Avalos agreed to take “a very well-balanced approach” to finalizing the GIPSA rule during his testimony today before the House Agriculture Committee. Secretary Vilsack delivered a similar message at the NFU annual convention last week, when he said finishing work on the GIPSA rule would be a priority during the remainder of his tenure.
“We are pleased to see the progress and commitment towards implementation of the GIPSA regulations,” NFU President Roger Johnson said. “Our family farmers and ranchers are competing in an increasingly more concentrated market. These regulations will protect growers during contract disputes and help level the playing field.”
3 Comments on “NFU Pleased by Support for Finalizing GIPSA Rule”
Although I am happy about this rule FINALLY MAYBE getting finalized, I know that this victory means very little and is more hoopla than progress. Congress required GIPSA (the regulatory agency of the Packers and Stockyards Act) to write these rules in the 2008 Farm Bill. It is now almost 8 years after and no meaningful progress has been made on this issue. Federal Courts can still ignore these “rules” by this agency just as they did in my case (my case was mentioned in the initial rules in the justification). It is an empty “victory” because federal courts do not give “Chevron deference” –deference to the regulatory agency –in substantial cases against meat packers and their breaking of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
What I learned in this process is that meat packers are so well connected to the ruling political and judicial elite that when they break the law there is no recourse for family farmers under the Packers and Stockyards Act or other acts meant to protect market participants.
We quite simply have the best Congress and Judiciary that money can buy.
This is way too little and way too late. The “robber barons” of the day don’t have to follow the laws of the land and when they get caught, they simply influence the people they need to influence and hire the right Supreme Court Justice’s former clerks to get away with breaking the law. Where is the victory here? It is simply an illusion.
Although I am happy about this rule FINALLY MAYBE getting finalized, I know that this victory means very little and is more hoopla than progress. Congress required GIPSA (the regulatory agency of the Packers and Stockyards Act) to write these rules in the 2008 Farm Bill. It is now almost 8 years after and no meaningful progress has been made on this issue. Federal Courts can still ignore these “rules” by this agency just as they did in my case (my case was mentioned in the initial rules in the justification). It is an empty “victory” because federal courts do not give “Chevron deference” –deference to the regulatory agency –in substantial cases against meat packers and their breaking of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
What I learned in this process is that meat packers are so well connected to the ruling political and judicial elite that when they break the law there is no recourse for family farmers under the Packers and Stockyards Act or other acts meant to protect market participants.
We quite simply have the best Congress and Judiciary that money can buy.
This is way too little and way too late. The “robber barons” of the day don’t have to follow the laws of the land and when they get caught, they simply influence the people they need to influence and hire the right Supreme Court Justice’s former clerks to get away with breaking the law. Where is the victory here? It is simply an illusion.
Although I am happy about this rule FINALLY MAYBE getting finalized, I know that this victory means very little and is more hoopla than progress. Congress required GIPSA (the regulatory agency of the Packers and Stockyards Act) to write these rules in the 2008 Farm Bill. It is now almost 8 years after and no meaningful progress has been made on this issue. Federal Courts can still ignore these “rules” by this agency just as they did in my case (my case was mentioned in the initial rules in the justification). It is an empty “victory” because federal courts do not give “Chevron deference” –deference to the regulatory agency –in substantial cases against meat packers and their breaking of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
What I learned in this process is that meat packers are so well connected to the ruling political and judicial elite that when they break the law there is no recourse for family farmers under the Packers and Stockyards Act or other acts meant to protect market participants.
We quite simply have the best Congress and Judiciary that money can buy.
This is way too little and way too late. The “robber barons” of the day don’t have to follow the laws of the land and when they get caught, they simply influence the people they need to influence and hire the right Supreme Court Justice’s former clerks to get away with breaking the law. Where is the victory here? It is simply an illusion.