R-CALF USA Pleased with USDA Rule on Enforcing Packers & Stockyards Act

A new rule recently released by USDA regarding the enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act marks a significant development. R-CALF United stock Growers of America CEO, Bill Bullard says that his organization has dedicated over a decade to advocating for this change and discusses how this development can impact the cattle industry.

“So the Packers and Stockyards Act is just a little over 100 years old. And the US Department of Agriculture has never written rules to implement and enforce the provisions in the act that make it unlawful for meat packers to engage in unfair, deceptive or unjustly discriminatory practices or to grant undue or unreasonable preferences or advantages for some cattle producers and not to others. And so now, USDA has finalized the first rule, and it addresses three things that addresses deception, that addresses retaliation, and it addresses unjustly discriminatory practices. And so this is the first step we're waiting for a second rule that we think is going to be even more important than what this one is.”

Bullard says these important provisions that have now been added will add clarity to the rules finally adding certainty and helping rebalance the despair of power between cattle producers and a handful of multinational meat packers.