Feed ingredients association comments on GIPSA rule

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), proposed rules about contracts between the meat processing industry and farmers and ranchers, will distort traditional economic relationships and far exceeds the intent of Congress, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) said Monday in comments filed on the Grain Inspection Packers & Stockyards Act (GIPSA).

AFIA president and CEO Joel G. Newman went on to say that the new rules would force more producers into the volatile cash market where it will be more difficult to secure financing. Because many producers cannot survive in an unstable market, many rural jobs face elimination, concentrating power in the hands of packers. Read more...