USDA plan to axe livestock pricing rule divides meat producers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a filing on Tuesday said it will dismantle Obama-era rules for buying and selling livestock, a move that has divided the U.S. meat industry. While some of the biggest meat companies opposed the rule, smaller producers fought to keep the regulation in place. Some felt intimidated by the larger processors, who control large segments of the country’s meat industry. Ken Maschhoff, an Illinois hog farmer and National Pork Producers Council president said: ”We’re very pleased that the secretary will withdraw these bad regulations, which would have had a devastating impact on America’s pork producers.“Eliminating the need to prove injury to competition would have prompted an explosion in lawsuits by turning every contract dispute into a federal case subject to triple damages,” Maschhoff said.National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president for government affairs, Colin Woodall, called USDA’s decision to terminate its final rule a victory for the country’s cattle and beef producers.“The proposed rule would have crippled cattle producers’ ability to market their products through the value-added programs,” said Woodall.Conversely, Sally Lee, program director at Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, said USDA chose to “side with ‘Big Meat’” to the detriment of farmers. Bill Bullard, spokesman for U.S. cattle producers’ group R-CALF USA, said Perdue has now deprived producers of legal protections while helping corporate meatpackers to gain control over the cattle supply chain.“Secretary Perdue must not have received President Trump’s memo about draining the swamp,” in granting multinational meatpackers to “retaliate against cattle producers and engage in unfair and deceptive business practices with impunity.”