Oldtimer
Well-known member
January 29, 2007 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: [email protected]
Group Joins Coalition to Urge Market Competition Reform
Washington, D.C. – R-CALF USA has joined 200-plus members of a coalition of agricultural organizations to request that a top priority for the 110th U.S. Congress during Farm Bill discussions be addressing the issues of competition and concentration in the marketplace.
In a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Agriculture and Judiciary Committees, the coalition implored Congress to address the growing horizontal market consolidation that "effectively eliminates free market competition to the detriment of independent family farmers and consumers." To address these problems, the coalition urged committee members to champion a strong, comprehensive Competition Title in the 2007 Farm Bill.
"It is time for Congress to implement a strong Competition Title and make changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA)," said R-CALF USA Region II Director and Marketing Committee Chair Randy Stevenson. "The Act needs to be strengthened and enforced."
The PSA, established in 1921, was designed to ensure fair trade practices and competitive marketing conditions in livestock, meat and poultry markets, as well as to protect producers from the packers' anti-competitive practices.
"For too long, the U.S. cattle industry has faced excessive and illegal market manipulations," Stevenson continued. "Too many times, regulators, investigators and the courts have hidden behind the lack of clarity in the law, and therefore remains the perfect setting for price manipulation and other anti-competitive behaviors."
The coalition letter suggested that to increase fairness in the marketplace, the upcoming Farm Bill should include a captive-supply reform act, a prohibition on packer-owned livestock, mandatory livestock price reporting, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (M-COOL), as well as a clarification of "undue preferences" in the PSA.
Stevenson reiterated the importance of addressing these issues in the Farm Bill because USDA and its Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) have failed to address the concerns of independent cattle producers and consumers in the past.
"Even if GIPSA successfully implements all the recommendations made by OIE (Office of Inspector General) this last year, and by the GAO in 2000 (then the Government Accounting Office), the agency will still not be strong enough for adequate enforcement and regulation," Stevenson emphasized. "Essentially, what we are asking for is economic liberty. The 2007 Farm Bill must contain a remedy to the institutional atrophy that has plagued our market, or else independent U.S. cattle producers will continue to suffer."
R-CALF USA affiliate organizations that also signed on to the letter include: the Beartooth Stock Association, Mont.; Cattle Producers of Washington; Central Colorado Cattlemen's Association; Crowley-Kiowa-Lincoln Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Dakota Resource Council, N.D., S.D.; Eagle County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Harding County Stockgrowers Association, S.D.; Independent Beef Association of North Dakota; Independent Cattlemen of Iowa; Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska; Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas; Kansas Cattlemen's Association; Kit Carson County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Madera County Cattlemen's Association, Calif.; Merced-Mariposa Cattlemen's Association, Calif.; Mesa County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Mississippi Livestock Markets Association; Montana Cattlemen's Association; Nevada Live Stock Association; New York Beef Producers Association, Southern Tier Region; Oregon Livestock Producer Association; Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyo.; Producers Livestock, Neb.; South Dakota Stockgrowers Association; Southern Colorado Livestock Association; Spokane County Cattlemen's Association, Wash.; Stevens County Cattlemen's Association, Wash.; Washington Cattlemen's Association; Washington County Stockmen's Association, Colo.; West Carroll Cattleman Association, La.
To view the letter, visit: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/CompConc2007.php.
Group Joins Coalition to Urge Market Competition Reform
Washington, D.C. – R-CALF USA has joined 200-plus members of a coalition of agricultural organizations to request that a top priority for the 110th U.S. Congress during Farm Bill discussions be addressing the issues of competition and concentration in the marketplace.
In a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Agriculture and Judiciary Committees, the coalition implored Congress to address the growing horizontal market consolidation that "effectively eliminates free market competition to the detriment of independent family farmers and consumers." To address these problems, the coalition urged committee members to champion a strong, comprehensive Competition Title in the 2007 Farm Bill.
"It is time for Congress to implement a strong Competition Title and make changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA)," said R-CALF USA Region II Director and Marketing Committee Chair Randy Stevenson. "The Act needs to be strengthened and enforced."
The PSA, established in 1921, was designed to ensure fair trade practices and competitive marketing conditions in livestock, meat and poultry markets, as well as to protect producers from the packers' anti-competitive practices.
"For too long, the U.S. cattle industry has faced excessive and illegal market manipulations," Stevenson continued. "Too many times, regulators, investigators and the courts have hidden behind the lack of clarity in the law, and therefore remains the perfect setting for price manipulation and other anti-competitive behaviors."
The coalition letter suggested that to increase fairness in the marketplace, the upcoming Farm Bill should include a captive-supply reform act, a prohibition on packer-owned livestock, mandatory livestock price reporting, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (M-COOL), as well as a clarification of "undue preferences" in the PSA.
Stevenson reiterated the importance of addressing these issues in the Farm Bill because USDA and its Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) have failed to address the concerns of independent cattle producers and consumers in the past.
"Even if GIPSA successfully implements all the recommendations made by OIE (Office of Inspector General) this last year, and by the GAO in 2000 (then the Government Accounting Office), the agency will still not be strong enough for adequate enforcement and regulation," Stevenson emphasized. "Essentially, what we are asking for is economic liberty. The 2007 Farm Bill must contain a remedy to the institutional atrophy that has plagued our market, or else independent U.S. cattle producers will continue to suffer."
R-CALF USA affiliate organizations that also signed on to the letter include: the Beartooth Stock Association, Mont.; Cattle Producers of Washington; Central Colorado Cattlemen's Association; Crowley-Kiowa-Lincoln Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Dakota Resource Council, N.D., S.D.; Eagle County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Harding County Stockgrowers Association, S.D.; Independent Beef Association of North Dakota; Independent Cattlemen of Iowa; Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska; Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas; Kansas Cattlemen's Association; Kit Carson County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Madera County Cattlemen's Association, Calif.; Merced-Mariposa Cattlemen's Association, Calif.; Mesa County Cattlemen's Association, Colo.; Mississippi Livestock Markets Association; Montana Cattlemen's Association; Nevada Live Stock Association; New York Beef Producers Association, Southern Tier Region; Oregon Livestock Producer Association; Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyo.; Producers Livestock, Neb.; South Dakota Stockgrowers Association; Southern Colorado Livestock Association; Spokane County Cattlemen's Association, Wash.; Stevens County Cattlemen's Association, Wash.; Washington Cattlemen's Association; Washington County Stockmen's Association, Colo.; West Carroll Cattleman Association, La.
To view the letter, visit: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/CompConc2007.php.
