[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19298]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   THE FAILURE TO PROTECT FARMERS AND RANCHERS FROM CORPORATE ABUSES

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                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2011

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment 
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Grain Inspection, 
Packers & Stockyards Administration's (GIPSA) final rule that was 
supposed to protect our Nation's farmers and ranchers from abusive 
practices in the livestock industry.
  Simply put, the final rule is inadequate and shows the power big 
corporate packers and processors have in this country. The final rule 
does not include about half of the protections it did in a previous 
draft.
  Congress had to direct USDA in the 2008 farm bill to establish a set 
of comprehensive protection rules because the department was so slow in 
responding to the changing marketplace that has become so slanted 
toward corporate packers and processors that we are losing small 
farmers at a rapid pace.
  The average American chicken grower makes 34 cents per bird while the 
processing corporation makes $3.23 per bird. With a profit margin of 34 
cents is it any wonder that we have lost over 460,000 small-scale farms 
since 1982.
  USDA claims it is committed to ensuring a fair and transparent 
marketplace. How can we have a fair and transparent marketplace when we 
allow corporations to force farmers to sign production contracts where 
one farmer is paid less than another despite producing the same 
livestock because there is no way for farmers to determine fair product 
value since there is no contract disclosure requirement.
  In addition, how can USDA claim it supports a fair marketplace when 
it fails to clearly define conduct that is a violation of law? How are 
farmers supposed to know when they are being taken advantage of when 
the governmental agency tasked with protecting them does not tell them 
what types of practices are a violation of the law?
  This House has not helped our Nation's producers either. We recently 
passed legislation that withholds funding from USDA to move forward 
with establishing more comprehensive fairness rules. Ultimately, we set 
the USDA up to fail and farmers and ranchers will suffer because 
corporate special interests have a stronger lobby than America's 
producers.
  While the final rule will prevent some of the most abusive practices 
in the poultry industry, it largely fails to protect farmers and 
ranchers specifically in the pork and beef industry. Nevertheless, I 
will continue to fight to protect our farmers and ranchers from further 
corporate abuses and urge the USDA to enforce existing laws designed to 
regulate corporate packers and processors.

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