FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana KovalcikNational Sustainable Agriculture CoalitionP: 202-547-5754, E: rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net New Fair Competition Rules for Livestock and Poultry Industry Advanced USDA takes small step forward in decades long rules debate Washington, DC, January 10, 2020 – For years, American livestock and poultry producers have spoken out about the unfair and abusive practices of contract […]
GIPSA
Farmers are Shouting; USDA Should Listen
Consolidation of the livestock sector has severely damaged competitive markets, livestock producer livelihoods, and rural qualities of life. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and our allies have long fought against this trend, and secured many significant victories for family farmers; ensuring, for example, that the 2008 Farm Bill require the Packers and Stockyards Act […]
USDA to Tackle Corporate Concentration in Livestock Sector
Rising consolidation among meatpacking and processing companies over the past few decades has steadily eroded fair competition within the poultry and livestock industries. Despite years of clamoring from producers and advocacy organizations like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) for legislation and regulations needed to address this problem, progress has so far been painfully slow […]
COMMENT: Administration Chooses Corporate Profit Over Family Farmers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik, 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Administration Chooses Corporate Profit Over Family Farmers This is truly a sad day for American farmers. Without the Farmer Fair Practices Interim Final Rule on competitive injury, it will be virtually impossible for family farmers to defend themselves against unfair, deceptive, and discriminatory practices by packers and poultry dealers. […]
Trump Administration Undertaking Historic Reorganizing of USDA, But to What End?
Back in May, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a USDA reorganization plan that eliminated its Rural Development Mission Area and downgraded the status of what was the Under Secretary for Rural Development to an Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development, closing the Office of the Under Secretary in the process. […]
Support the Farmer Fair Practices Rules, Comments Due Monday!
The deadline to submit your individual or organization’s comments in support of the Farmer Fair Practices Interim Final Rule (aka the “competitive injury rule”) is Monday, June 12. The Farmer Fair Practices Rules are a critical set of changes that would bring more fairness and equity to the contract agriculture system by allowing the US […]
A Late Start Doesn’t Have to Mean a Slow Start: 10 Things Secretary Perdue Can Do Now to Support Family Farmers
On his first day on the job, Sonny Perdue – a former two-term governor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) long-awaited new Secretary – addressed two very important audiences. The first, a formal introduction to USDA staff, was an opportunity for the Secretary to lay out his general vision for the department’s next four […]
If Trump Stands with Rural America, He Will Expedite the Farmer Fair Practices Rules
Editors Note: On April 13, 2017 USDA delayed the effective date for the interim final rule on “competitive injury” until October of 2017. A separate Federal Register Notice requests comments by June 12, 2017 on the disposition of the interim final rule including whether it should be delayed further, withdrawn, suspended, or allowed to go […]
PRESS RELEASE: Executive Order Delays All Pending Final Rules
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik, 202-547-5754, RKovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Greg Fogel, 202-547-5754, GFogel@sustainableagriculture.net Executive Order Delays All Pending Final Rules Farmer Fair Practices Rules, designed to protect rights of contract farmers, included among those delayed Washington, DC, January 23, 2017 – On Friday, January 21, the Trump Administration directed agencies to delay by 60 days […]
USDA Publishes Farmer Fair Practices Rules to Help American Farmers and Ranchers
USDA has taken the historic step of issuing three rules that will begin to bring some fairness and order to the poultry and livestock industries, with a particular focus on farmers growing under contracts with the big meat and poultry processing corporations. These three rules, when finalized, will prevent unfair and anti-competitive practices by meat […]
RELEASE: Farmer Fair Practices Rules Will Bring Fairness to Contract Poultry and Livestock Industry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik, 202-547-5754, RKovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Paul Wolfe, 202-547-5754, PWolfe@sustainableagriculture.net Farmer Fair Practices Rules Will Bring Fairness to Contract Poultry and Livestock Industry National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition praises USDA for moving forward on rules to protect contract farmers Washington, DC, December 14, 2016 – Nearly 100 years after the passage of the […]
Farmer Fair Practices Rules Could Be an Easy Win for Trump Administration
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently reviewing a set of three rules from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that, if finalized, could easily be an early win for the Trump Administration. USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has been working on the “Farmer Fair Practices” rules with the support of […]
Press Release: Representative Chellie Pingree Hosts Poultry Farmers and Advocates for a Capitol Hill Discussion on Contract Agriculture
For Immediate Release: Contact: Michael Pauker, michael.pauker@berlinrosen.com, 646-335-0330 United States Representative Chellie Pingree Hosts Poultry Farmers and Advocates for a Capitol Hill Discussion on Contract Agriculture Attendants will view “Under Contract”, a new documentary on abusive practices in the industry Washington, DC, November 15, 2016 – Contract poultry farmers raise 97% of all chicken consumed in […]
COMMENT: NSAC Applauds USDA for Moving Forward with Farmer Fair Practices Rules
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Paul Wolfe, 202-547-574, pwolfe@sustainableagriculture.net Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-574, fhoefner@sustainableagriculture.net NSAC Applauds USDA for Moving Forward with Farmer Fair Practices Rules Washington, DC, Oct 14, 2016 – We thank Secretary Vilsack for moving forward on the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) “Farmer Fair Practices Rules”, which were sent today by USDA to the […]
Livestock and Poultry Industry Groups Continue Efforts to Stall USDA Protections for Farmers
Six years ago, powerful corporate livestock and poultry industry groups released a report claiming that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2010 Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule would harm family poultry and livestock producers. In fact, what they were really worried about was interrupting the anti-competitive, vertically integrated livestock and poultry systems that they […]
Farmers Push for Action on Agriculture Funding Bill
If you want to gain some real insight into agricultural policies, your first stop should be one of America’s 2.1 million farms – a majority of which are small and medium-sized family farms. Though we can’t always get Congress to the farm, we can bring the farm to Congress. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) regularly […]
PRESS COMMENT: Poultry Industry Reforms Must Consider Farmer Welfare, Too
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik, 202-547-5754, Rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Poultry Industry Reforms Must Consider Farmer Welfare, Too In any conversation about chicken farming, there ought to be concern equally for the welfare of the chickens and for the farmers who raise them. We at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) welcome the recent news of proposed animal welfare upgrades from […]
A Breakdown of the Senate’s Annual Food and Farm Spending Bill
Each year, Congress debates and makes key decisions about federal funding priorities for all government agencies, programs, and initiatives – including programs and resources that support our nation’s farmers and ranchers. This week marks an important step in that process (known as appropriations), as the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill to fund the U.S. […]
House Committee Votes to Strip Protections for Contract Farmers
On April 19, the House Appropriations Committee convened to debate and pass the House Agriculture … Read More →
RELEASE: NSAC Comment on Harris Rider (“GIPSA Rider”)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 FHoefner@sustainableagriculture.net NSAC Press Statement on Passage of Harris Amendment We are deeply disturbed by the passage of the Harris amendment to prohibit USDA from protecting farmers as provided by the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 against anticompetitive, deceptive, fraudulent, retaliatory and other abusive business practices by […]
RELEASE: Proposed GIPSA Rider Aims to Silence America’s Contract Farmers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Paul Wolfe, 202-547-5754, PWolfe@sustainableagriculture.net Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 FHoefner@sustainableagriculture.net Proposed GIPSA Rider Aims to Silence America’s Contract Farmers National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Speaks Out Against Anti-Farmer Maneuver Washington, DC, April 18, 2016 – Family farmers in the contract poultry industry thought their time had finally come. After years of struggling to eke […]
Congressional Appropriators Support a Level Playing Field for Contract Farmers
Yesterday, eight Congressional Appropriators signed on to a letter to United States Agriculture Department (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, thanking him for moving forward with rules to protect contract livestock and poultry producers from unfair and retaliatory practices. The letter, signed by four Senate and four House agriculture appropriators, comes on the heels of Secretary Vilsack’s […]
What is the “GIPSA Rider” and why is the House once again attacking farmers’ rights?
A legislative rider tacked onto the 2015 agriculture funding bill will strip USDA’s ability to protect farmers rights… Read More →
National Agricultural Law Center to Host Webinar on Proposed GIPSA Rules
On Thursday, October 14, the National Agricultural Law Center (NALC) will host a webinar from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. EST on the rules proposed by USDA’s Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). NALC staff attorneys will provide an overview of GIPSA’s proposed rule changes for poultry and livestock, review the rulemaking process, explain […]