USDA Takes Steps to Promote Fairness and Transparency in Livestock Marketing

USDA proposed a rule, “Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems,” to address abuses that have occurred in grower-ranking payment systems and additional capital investment requirements that poultry companies commonly ask of their contract growers. The proposed rule would, if finalized, prohibit deductions from the base price in contracts for broiler chicken growers, permitting only bonuses for performance. It would also provide critical tools to enable growers to better identify risks that may arise on capital improvement practices and enhance the ability for USDA to enforce existing prohibitions on unfair capital improvement practices. The rule would also establish a duty of fair comparison to ensure grower comparisons (tournaments) are conducted in a reasonable and equitable way that does not disadvantage specific growers. The proposed rule is posted on the AMS website in advance of formal publication in the Federal Register when it will be available for public comment. USDA also announced new publicly available cattle market transparency tools intended to enhance transparency, stop retaliation and discrimination, reduce costs, and support market fairness.