Agricultural News
Ag Groups Claim New GIPSA Rule Vilsack's Last Gut Punch to Producers on His Way Out the Door
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:03:11 CST
Yesterday, the US Department of Agriculture released what it is calling its Farm Fair Practices rules, aimed at protecting producers from retaliatory practices in the marketing of livestock within the industry. All the major livestock industry groups though are firing back, calling these rules simply a rerun of the widely disliked Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA rules, proposed in 2010. Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association told Farm Director Ron Hays that these rules are nothing but bad news for cattle producers.
"It is basically just a scaled down version of the original 2010 GIPSA rule, but what they did is they left in the most onerous provisions," Woodall said. "The ones that absolutely are going to have a direct impact on the value-added programs that we have worked so hard to put in place over the years."
Woodall says these rules, which include an interim final rule and two proposed rules, are just a government solution, looking for a problem, and leaves those in the meat chain vulnerable to lawsuits by any producer who feels disadvantaged because they are not enrolled in value added programs like their neighbor. He says this is causing packers and processors to not want to participate in the programs for fear of the liability implications.
"In a time of a downward market, it's the last thing we need is to lose opportunities, but this rule is going to put us in that scenario," Woodall said. "This is basically the government telling cattle producers how to market their cattle."
Listen to Ron Hays and Colin Woodall discuss the implications the new GIPSA rules will have on the cattle industry, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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