Ohio Farmers Union President Roger Wise asked OFU members last week to sign letters to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in support of funding the new Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) rule.
“For decades, a very small handful of giant meatpackers and processors has been underpaying and unfairly treating farmers and ranchers. However, funding for a new GIPSA rule is being considered by the US Senate subcommittee for Ag Appropriations (which Senator Sherrod Brown serves on) and we need to show support for it so the Senator stands strong with family farms,” Wise wrote.
The new GIPSA rule would:
- Stop packers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices to harm livestock producers.
- Allow farmers and contract holders to have open and fair contracts for their livestock and products.
- Allow a single farm to prove they had been harmed by the industry, instead of the current threshold which mandates a farmer must prove the entire market was harmed by industry malpractice.
- Break up large monopolies and price fixing which has become commonplace in the livestock industry.
This issue is vitally important to family farmers and small ranchers across Ohio and the country. The scales have been tipped for corporate mega farms and corporate meat packers for too long – driving family farmers out of business and hurting local economies. Please consider passing the documents linked above on to others who may not belong to OFU and ask them to send a signed letter to Sen. Brown or to add their name to the letter being sent directly from OFU. To particpate in the OFU letter, contact Linda Borton at 800-321-3671 or via email at lborton(AT)ohfarmersunion.org. If emailing, please include your name, the name of your farm if applicable and your town or city.
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