GIPSA rule would protect basic rights of family farmers – and maintain choices for consumers
It’s rather unbelievable that an administration in Washington which talks every day about “fighting for the middle class” has delayed implementing the GIPSA rule. Please find below a clear explanation of the issue from the National Farmers Union. The Ohio Farmers Union is joining NFU in urging our members – and others who support us – to contact their elected representatives in Washington and tell them you want the GIPSA rule implemented now. Follow this link to find your member of Congress and U.S. Senators and use the contact forms on their websites to ask them to tell the Obama Administration that GIPSA should be implemented now.
From the National Farmers Union:
In June 2010, the U.S. government provided some simple clarifications to the law that governs the relationship between livestock producers and the meatpackers and processors who buy their animals. This proposed change, known as the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (or GIPSA) rule, would help to ensure fairness and bargaining rights for individual producers and restore competition to agricultural markets. Predictably, it prompted immediate and vigorous backlash from meat processors.
What does the GIPSA rule, so demonized by packers and processors, actually do?
It protects the basic rights of family farmers. It ensures farmers are able to have their contracts reviewed by an attorney or financial specialist so they know they’re not being cheated, and it protects farmers who speak out against unfair practices from retaliation from packers and processors. It allows a poultry farmer, previously denied the opportunity to watch his chickens being weighed after purchase, to make sure the weights recorded are accurate. Hog farmers who were kept in the dark about each others’ contracting agreements could compare their contracts and other vital documents to make sure they are being treated fairly.