PHP and Partners Promote Competition in the New Farm Bill

Family farmers who are not producing commodities miss out on lucrative subsidies that have increased the wealth and land purchasing power of large agribusiness. Moreover, the cards are stacked against them when contracts are made and pricing is determined. A partner of PHP, the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, proposes these eight points to bring fairness into the Farm Bill. Abbreviated points for a Competition Title follow. [See explanations and action steps on the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture site]

1. Prohibition on Packer-Owned Livestock: A packer ban -- prohibiting direct ownership of livestock by major meatpackers -- addresses the problem of captive supply which packers use to manipulate markets. A packer ban would help increase market access for America's independent producers who currently experience great restrictions in market access due in part to packer ownership of livestock.

2. Producer Protection Act: This proposal is designed to set minimum standards for contract fairness in agriculture. It addresses the worst abuses contained in processor-drafted boilerplate contracts. It includes: (1) Clear disclosure of producer risks; (2) Prohibition on confidentiality clauses; (3) Prohibition on binding arbitration in contracts of adhesion; (4) Recapture of capital investment; and (5) A ban on unfair trade practices.

3. Captive Supply Reform Act: This legislation will bring secret, long-term contracts between packers and producers into the open and create a market for these contracts.

4. Clarification of "Undue Preferences" in the Packers & Stockyards Act: Additional legislative language is needed to strengthen the law and clarify that preferential pricing structures are justified only for real differences in product value or actual and quantifiable differences in acquisition and transaction costs.

5. Closing Poultry Loopholes in the Packers & Stockyards (P&S) Act: We seek to clarify that USDA's authority over poultry applies not only to broiler operations, but also to growers raising pullets or breeder hens. These loopholes should be closed.

6. Bargaining Rights for Contract Farmers: Loopholes should be closed in the Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 (AFPA). Additionally, processors should be required to bargain in good faith with producer organizations.

7. Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting: The Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 1999 requires packers, processors, and importers to provide price, contracting, supply and demand information to the USDA. This act should be effectively enforced and should benefit independent livestock producers.

8. Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling: The popular country of origin labeling (COOL) was passed as a provision of the 2002 Farm Bill, and allows consumers to determine where their food is produced while allowing producers to showcase their products for quality and safety. Congress should immediately implement COOL to benefit producers and consumers as intended in the law.

Contact PHP Farm Bill Organizer Fritz Gutwein or Andrew Kang Bartlett to get involved

Farm Bill Home

Items marked with are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.