From staff reports In June, the USDA proposed a rule to clarify unfair practices in the livestock, meat and poultry industries. Ethan Lane, vice president of governmental affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, believes the rule is unclear.
“When you read through the rule and the preamble, it is an incredibly vague rulemaking that essentially says anything that differentiates product for cattle producers based on price, on quality, on innovation, is unfair and uncompetitive and could be open for challenge under this new rule,” Lane said. “Without question, this is an attack on producer profitability. This is intended to do away with the idea of producers being able to seek additional premiums on their cows and seek profit on their cattle based on changes they make to their production practices, such as the investments they make in genetics. This seeks to do away with all of that to make a return to commodity cattle and uniform prices throughout the industry.”
Explaining the new idea of fairness emphasized by the Biden administration, Lane said the new rule looks to see everyone get the same price for their cattle, regardless of efforts to deliver quality.
“You have got a lot of folks out there, both Republicans and Democrats, who have really latched onto this idea of fairness,” Lane said. “They just hate the idea that somebody putting forth effort or investment in their operation might mean they, next door, make less on their cattle.”
Lane said the USDA has tried to pass rules similar to this but have failed in federal court each time.
“It is going to be a long road ahead of us to fight this rule on behalf of our members across the country who have made investments in their cattle and want to get premiums because of it,” Lane said. “Undercutting that, in the quest for some kind of undeserved fairness in the marketplace, is misguided. We are going to fight this every chance we can.”
The Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets Proposed Rule is still a preliminary measure, and the comment period, originally set to close in late August, is now open until Sept. 11. Once the comment period has closed, it will take months to incorporate those comments and responses into a final rule.
To submit comments regarding the Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets Proposed Rule, visit https://www.federalregister.gov/ documents/2024/06/28/2024-14042/ fair-and-competitive-livestock- and-poultry-markets#open-comment.
“The time is ticking away on this and any of the regulations pushed forward at this point in this administration depending on what happens in November,” Lane said.