MN Livestock Producers Call for an End to Unfair Tactics of Giant Meatpackers

Over 90 Farmers Gather in Support of New USDA Rules Aimed at Bringing Greater Fairness & Transparency to Livestock Markets

CONTACT: Adam Warthesen, LSP, 612-722-6377

8/19/10
REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. — Over 90 hog, cattle, lamb and dairy producers from across the state met in Redwood Falls Aug. 17 in support of the recently proposed rules that strengthen and clarify the federal Packers and Stockyard Act. The rules being offered by the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) are designed to protect livestock producers from unfair, deceptive and discriminatory practices by giant meatpackers. Attendees used the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting to prepare for the upcoming Department of Justice/USDA Agriculture Competition Workshop Aug. 27 in Fort Collins, Colo.

This is the first time in decades farmers have seen action by GIPSA to rein in packers and ensure that farmers are paid a fair price for their livestock and have equal access to markets, according to Darwyn Bach, a southwest Minnesota hog and crop farmer.

“I am going to Fort Collins to tell the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture that the price discovery system for livestock is broken,” said Bach, who is an LSP member. “I think the GIPSA [proposal] is a necessary first step to take back our livelihoods and control of our markets.”

The Aug. 17 meeting featured presentations from: Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA; Lynn Hayes, attorney for Farmers’ Legal Action Group; Assistant Minnesota Attorney General James Canaday; and Rhonda Perry, program director at the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. 

Speakers addressed livestock industry trends and how the proposed GIPSA rules have the potential to improve competition and prices throughout the livestock supply chain, benefiting farmers at all levels of production. They also spoke about the opportunity to influence the proposed rule through the public comment period, which runs through Nov. 23.

“What has happened to our livestock markets is not a natural phenomenon,” said Bullard. “The lack of competition, which is harming all of rural America, has been the result of large packers’ market manipulation and the inattention of regulatory bodies to ensure functioning markets.  We’re at a breaking point and need action.”

Farm groups at the Aug. 17 meeting in support of strengthening livestock rules included Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota National Farmers Organization and the Western Organization of Resource Councils.

Farmers and agricultural leaders spoke to the importance of contacting members of Congress to support swift implementation of the GIPSA rule once the public comment period concludes.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan letter from 21 U.S. Senators was delivered to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to implement as expeditiously as possible USDA’s proposed rules to restore competitive markets and contract fairness to livestock and poultry markets.

Along with most Senators from the Upper Midwest, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) signed onto a letter while his colleagues, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), did not.

Livestock farmers at the Aug. 17 meeting made it clear their voices are not represented by commodity groups such as the National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, or D.C. lobbyists like the American Meat Institute. All of these groups have made it clear they oppose the proposed GIPSA rules.

Farmers also called for greater price discovery and commented on how they have fewer places and options for selling livestock, as well as a lack of confidence that the price received for slaughter-ready animals was a truly representative value.  

“Even though you are doing good work and raising good livestock, you have a lack of confidence in pricing, which is needed to make a living and support your family,” said Tom Nuessmeier, a Saint Peter, Minn., crop and livestock farmer and LSP member. “My question is, does the USDA daily market really provide a fair measure of the value of our hogs?”

A contingency of people representing farm organizations took detailed notes during the Aug. 17 meeting and committed to bringing the farmers’ input to the Aug. 27 workshop in Fort Collins. The workshop is expected to be a central showdown between family farmers and giant meatpacker interests around the proposed GIPSA rule.

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To read the Aug. 13 letter to Sec. Vilsack from 21 senators supporting the GIPSA proposal, go to www.agri-pulse.com/uploaded/Senate_GIPSA_Letter.pdf.

The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on June 22, 2010 (vol. 75, p. 35338): www.gipsa.usda.gov.