Other Ag News: Release: NSAC Applauds Final Rule to Bring Fairness to Poultry Tournament System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

lzaks@sustainableagriculture.net 

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: NSAC Applauds Final Rule to Bring Fairness to Poultry Tournament System

Washington, DC, January 14, 2025 – The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) applauded Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for today’s announcement of a new final rule under the Packers and Stockyards Act: Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems. 

“The latest rule is a long-anticipated and necessary step toward completion of a congressional directive from the 2008 Farm Bill to strengthen the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act,” said Billy Hackett, NSAC Policy Specialist. “The rule introduces guardrails and transparency to an otherwise opaque payment system that is commonly manipulated to unfairly benefit individual growers and punish others.”  

Specifically, the measures announced in the final rule:

• require poultry companies to provide contract broiler growers with a clear base pay rate in their contracts and prohibit any deductions from the base price, while allowing  performance bonuses to be paid above the base price;
• limit variability in grower payments to provide more financial certainty and stability; 
• ensure poultry companies comply with a “duty of fair comparison” to ensure that when growers receive different payment rates based on performance, those comparisons take into account factors including the quality of inputs provided by the company; and
• require disclosures to growers regarding the financial risks and rewards of making expensive capital improvements to their poultry operations.  

The final rule incorporated feedback from public comments submitted by stakeholders, including both industry and advocacy groups, in response to a notice of proposed rulemaking published in June 2022.

“NSAC looks forward to working with the incoming Administration to continue development and implementation of rules to protect fair trade, financial integrity, and competitive markets for meat and poultry, per the intent of the Packers and Stockyards Act,” concluded Hackett.

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more: https://sustainableagriculture.net/

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