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R-CALF Meets with USDA

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Anonymous

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R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America


“Fighting for the U.S. Cattle Producer”



For Immediate Release Contact: Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator
February 12, 2009 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: [email protected]



CEO Meets with Vilsack Staff to Advance

Members’ Competition-Related Priorities




Washington, D.C. – R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard this week joined with members of a broad-based livestock competition coalition to participate in a meeting with an official from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Bullard discussed the competition-related priorities of the organization’s members.



“Agriculture Secretary (Tom) Vilsack’s staff currently is reviewing USDA rules that were proposed but not finalized, and finalized but not put into effect by the Bush Administration,” Bullard said. “We learned that USDA is working to identify what rules are necessary to implement the 2008 Farm Bill provisions. We understand that USDA currently is operating with a very thin staff, though it hopes to begin filling vacant positions as quickly as possible.



“A positive note from the meeting is that USDA said it is committed to being more engaged with active enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act, as well as to be committed toward the aggressive and energetic improvement of competition in agricultural markets generally,” he added.



The following competition-related issues of importance to R-CALF USA members were presented during the meeting:



* The need to promulgate rules to define the prohibition against “undue preferences and advantage” in livestock contracts. Since 1921, the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) has prohibited unfair price preferences in livestock contracts, but USDA has never adequately defined what this means.



* The need to address captive supplies to eliminate the two separate tools that packers use to control prices: packer-owned cattle and unpriced formula contracts.



“We urged USDA to initiate a rulemaking to go as far as it can under the authority of the PSA to restrict captive supplies and then to support legislation in Congress that would completely eliminate these anticompetitive practices,” Bullard said.



* The need to modify the final country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rule to make the COOL program as accurate and inclusive as possible.



“We specifically asked USDA to close the loophole that allows the mislabeling of USA beef, to prohibit the use of a country’s name on ground beef when the processor stops sourcing meat from the country, to reduce the list of products excluded from labeling due to minor processing, as well as to prohibit a mixed-origin sign over a full service meat counter when products from more than one country are offered for sale,” he pointed out. “In addition, we asked USDA to make it the packers’ responsibility to visually inspect live cattle for evidence of import markings, thus eliminating the need for producers to pass affidavits on to the packer.”


* The need to promulgate rules to address the inconsistent court decisions regarding what a producer must prove to obtain protections from unfair and deceptive packer practices under the PSA. Some courts have gone well beyond the PSA by requiring producers to prove harm to competition as a whole, rather than to just themselves, and some courts have allowed packers to avoid enforcement if they could show they had a business justification for their otherwise unfair or deceptive practice.



“We asked USDA to write rules that are consistent with the PSA so as to nullify the court decisions that have made it nearly impossible to prevent unfair and deceptive practices,” said Bullard. “We are looking forward to working with incoming USDA officials to restore competition and transparence for the benefit of independent U.S. cattle producers.”



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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA directors and committee chairs are extremely active unpaid volunteers. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
 
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