NFU Calls On Trump To Implements Farmer Fair Practices Rules

On Tuesday, the National Farmers Union joined a coalition of 82 farm, rural and consumers groups in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to implement the Farmer Fair Practices Rules via executive order.  NFU President Rodger Johnson says the rules would provide the most basic of protections to American family farmers and ranchers.  Johnson said family farmers and ranchers, have virtually no market power any more.

“Multinational and foreign meatpackers control our market prices and are dictating much of what happens on our farms and ranches. We’re urging the President to take the first step in addressing the most abusive and unfair practices that happen as a result of our highly concentrated markets."

The Farmer Fair Practices Rules, Johnson added, are a necessary clarification of the Packers and Stockyards Act, which was passed to ensure competition and integrity in livestock and poultry markets. The rules were first proposed in 2016, but they are the product of law written into the 2008 Farm Bill, hundreds of field hearings conducted by the USDA, and six years of rulemaking.

According to NFU, massive consolidation in the meatpacking industry over the past forty years placed just four companies in control of 85% of the beef market, 74% of the pork market and more than half of the poultry market. In that time, 90% of hog farmers and 41% of cattle producers have gone out of business, and 71% of poultry growers now live below the federal poverty level.

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