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USDA issues guidance for Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement
USDA has issued new guidance on how the department will enforce the regulation of livestock markets through the Packers and Stockyards Act.
USDA has created a frequently asked questions webpage until more detailed rules are developed to outline how it would handle situations under the 2020 Undue Preferences rule.
The release says USDA is using ‘every weapon in its arsenal’ to protect producers from harm while the department develops its rulemaking process.
Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee Glenn “GT” Thompson tells Brownfield President Biden’s executive order that retools the Packers and Stockyards Act was a “great start.” “I can support that. I think it’s a good idea,” Thompson says. “I also don’t think we should be a country ruled by executive orders so that’s where we have to go back to do some good legislating and codify that type of support.”
He says increasing competition for cattle producers will be priority for lawmakers. “I think what you’re going to see us do in the House Agriculture Committee would be looking at what can we do to help small processors and producers grow to become medium sized and medium size become large.”
And, Nebraska Congressman Adrian Smith says, “The current situation that so many cattle producers are facing isn’t sustainable so whether it’s transparency or getting more buyers out there for our products, we need to work hard on that,” he says.
Brownfield interviewed Thompson and Smith last week in Clay Center, NE after he and Congressman Adrian Smith toured the United States Meat Animal Research Center.
