The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced further steps to make the domestic chicken market “more competitive, affordable and transparent.”
The report said the proposed rules under the Meat Processing and Livestock Act “will support market fairness for contract poultry farmers and further improve beef market transparency through expanded data tools.”
The measures announced yesterday (June 3) are the Biden administration's latest attempt to address what it sees as inequalities in the poultry industry and the meat industry in general, which has been hit by price-fixing scandals in recent years.
In September 2022, the company announced the initiative related to concerns that the animal protein industry is concentrated in the hands of a few companies and that practices by industry players are fueling inflation and hurting consumers' wallets.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reiterated those concerns in yesterday's announcement, saying, “Under President Biden's direction, USDA has sought to use every tool at our disposal to maintain fair competition, protect producers, lower costs for consumers, and combat unfair, deceptive, and discriminatory practices.”
The newly announced proposed measures include using the Growers Payment System and Capital Improvement System to “address various irregularities that have arisen” in connection with the Growers Payment System and additional capital investment requirements that poultry companies typically require from broiler contract growers.
Access the most comprehensive company profiles on the market from GlobalData. Save time on research and gain a competitive advantage.
Company Profile – Free Sample
You will receive a download email shortly
We are confident in the unique quality of our company profiles, but because we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, we are offering free samples that you can download by submitting the form below.
From GlobalData
“Poultry producers deserve fair treatment and consumers deserve a fair price,” said Andy Green, USDA's senior advisor for fair and competitive markets. “This proposed rule is intended to give poultry producers clear base prices in their contracts, contracting partners who can design and administer comparisons fairly, and access to the information poultry producers and USDA need to identify and stop coercive investment requirements before growers incur significant debt.”
USDA also announced a new publicly available beef market transparency tool.
The agency is launching a new data visualization tool, the Livestock Mandate Reporting (LMR) Live Cattle Data Dashboard, which will allow users to view and access LMR live cattle market information “in an easy-to-use and understandable manner,” the agency said.
USDA also wants to boost independent meat and poultry processing capacity, expand domestic fertilizer production, and create fairer markets for seeds and other agricultural inputs to support stronger, more resilient supply chains.
“These investments will create better economic opportunities, resulting in greater affordability and choice in grocery stores for consumers, and more opportunities and incomes for producers,” the company said.
Just food We reached out to the American Poultry and Egg Association, an industry group, for a response to the measures announced by the USDA outside of U.S. business hours.
