MEAT+POULTRY - November 2024 - 12

WASHINGTON
Competition intervention
The US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) announced steps the agency
plans to take in promoting competition
among US farmers and ranchers, in line
with President Joe Biden's Executive
Order on Promoting Competition in the
American Economy.
During a Farmers and Ranchers
in Action event hosted at the White
House, Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack announced three main steps the
USDA will take:
1. Through a multipart framework,
USDA is leveraging its funding
and research capacity, as well as
interagency partnerships, to increase
transparency and improve researcher
access to seed germplasm, the
starting materials plant breeders
need to create diverse, resilient, and
competitive seed varieties.
2. USDA published an interim report
on Oct. 8 that assesses competitive
conditions in the meat retail
industry. The report draws on over
1,600 comments received from
the public in response to USDA
requests for information and
interviews with small, medium, and
large meatpackers, distributors,
retailers, academics, and farmer or
advocacy organizations.
3. USDA is issuing an Advanced
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(ANPR) to seek comment on several
possible interventions to develop
new benchmarks as Alternative
Marketing Agreement (AMA) base
prices and approaches to
trading when using
benchmarks. This
announcement is
part of the agency's
rulemaking effort
under the Packers
& Stockyards
(P&S) Act.
" Over these last four
years, the Biden-Harris
administration has made historic
investments in agriculture to help
farmers, small businesses and rural
communities get a fair shake, " Vilsack
said. " Our work on competition is
about opening up new markets for
farmers and delivering fairer, more
competitive choices. Today's actions
will help to deliver on more choice and
lower costs for seeds used by farmers,
more choice and lower food costs for
consumers, and a fairer marketplace
for ranchers. "
Soon after the announcement,
Julie Anna Potts, president and chief
executive officer of the Meat Institute,
issued a statement pointed at the
USDA's continuation of rulemaking
under the P&S Act. She declared the
agency's actions to be an attempt to
" assert government control over the
free market to the detriment of cattle
USDA
strives
to promote
competition, but
industry disagrees
with the agency's
approach.
producers, packers and consumers. "
" When USDA says it wants to
'enhance fairness' in cattle markets,
they mean pick winners and losers, "
Potts said. " They want to end the
use of Alternative Marketing
Arrangements and force
producers and packers into
the cash market. "
Potts stressed the
importance of AMAs,
which she explains as a
producer-driven innovation to
incentivize raising livestock with
value-added traits, such as improved
genetics, quality or sustainability.
" Despite the administration's
belief otherwise, cattle production
operations are not all the same and the
cattle they produce are not one-size-fits
all, " Potts added. " Moving back in
time to a commodity cattle market
will reduce competition, innovation
and quality, ultimately hurting the
entire industry. "
She argued that AMAs provide
the same benefits USDA is looking
to support - choice, flexibility,
transparency and higher prices.
" The Meat Institute remains
opposed to all of the Biden
administration's proposed and final
rules changes under the Packers &
Stockyards Act because they are
outside the scope of USDA's authority, "
she concluded in her statement.
RACHAEL OATMAN | roatman@sos land.com
" Our work on competition is about opening
up new markets for farmers and delivering
fairer, more competitive choices. "
- TOM VILSACK
12 MEAT+POULTRY | 11.24 | www.meatpoultry.com
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http://www.meatpoultry.com
MEAT+POULTRY - November 2024

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