MINNEAPOLIS – Open Markets Food Program Manager Claire Kelloway released the following statement concerning the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture’s newly-proposed Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets rule under the Packers and Stockyards Act: 

 “For decades, courts have grossly misinterpreted the plain text and congressional intent of the Packers and Stockyards Act. This has left farmers exposed to a variety of unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices by meatpackers, and worse, fear of retaliation when they speak out,” said Claire Kelloway, Food Program Manager for the Open Markets Institute.   

“Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a framework, based on decades of case law, to clarify Packers and Stockyards enforcement and hopefully lower burdens for farmers to seek justice as Congress intended over 100 years ago. The USDA’s statement of purpose is clear and strong. We’ll just have to wait and see if judges will respect this framework in court.” 

 Open Markets has been calling on the USDA to stand up to judicial overreach and curb meatpackers’ abusive tactics, including in a March 2020 comment to the USDA urging the agency to revive the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). Since the Biden Administration created its executive order to improve competition in 2021, Open Markets has partnered with the organization Farm Action to publish an annual Report Card on agency progress – and at times, lack thereof. 

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