MINNEAPOLIS – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released its final rule on improvements to Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement against discrimination, retaliation and deception in the meatpacking industry. In reaction to the changes, for which Open Markets has long advocated, Open Markets Food Program Manager Claire Kelloway released the following statement: 

“Farmers are at the mercy of dominant meatpackers to get their animals to market, and for too long packers have abused this power to intimidate and retaliate against farmers that try to organize together, dispute contract violations, or otherwise stand up to mistreatment,” says Claire Kelloway, food program manager at the Open Markets Institute.  

“Today, USDA has finalized a rule to protect farmers from such retaliation. This essential update to the Packers & Stockyards Act will defend farmers’ right to form cooperatives and stop packers from canceling contracts under false pretenses. It also makes clear that packers cannot discriminate against farmers and ranchers based on their race, religion, gender, or disability. We applaud USDA for finishing this rule and await further Packers & Stockyards reforms to restore the law’s full protections for livestock farmers and ranchers.”   

###