[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 200 (Monday, October 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71477-71479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25006]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration


Proposed Posting and Posting of Stockyards

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration 
(GIPSA) is taking several actions to post stockyards under the Packers 
and Stockyards Act (P&S Act). Specifically, we are proposing that eight 
stockyards now operating subject to the P&S Act be posted. We are also 
posting 15 stockyards that were identified previously as operating 
subject to the P&S Act.

DATES: For the proposed posting of stockyards, we will consider 
comments

[[Page 71478]]

that we receive on or before November 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. You may 
submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Internet: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail, hand delivery, or courier: R. Dexter Thomas, GIPSA, 
USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 2530-S, Washington, DC 20250-
3604.
    Instructions: All comments should refer to the date and page number 
of this issue of the Federal Register. The comments and other documents 
relating to this action will be available for public inspection during 
regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine M. Grasso, Program Analyst, 
Litigation and Economic Analysis Division at (202) 720-7201 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GIPSA administers and enforces the P&S Act 
of 1921, (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). The P&S Act prohibits unfair, 
deceptive, and fraudulent practices by livestock market agencies, 
dealers, stockyard owners, meat packers, swine contractors, and live 
poultry dealers in the livestock, poultry, and meatpacking industries.
    Section 302 of the P&S Act (7 U.S.C. 202) defines the term 
``stockyard'' as follows: ``. . . any place, establishment, or facility 
commonly known as stockyards, conducted, operated, or managed for 
profit or nonprofit as a public market for livestock producers, 
feeders, market agencies, and buyers, consisting of pens, or other 
enclosures, and their appurtenances, in which live cattle, sheep, 
swine, horses, mules, or goats are received, held, or kept for sale or 
shipment in commerce.''
    Section 302 (b) of the P&S Act requires the Secretary of 
Agriculture to determine which stockyards meet this definition, and to 
notify the owner of the stockyard and the public of that determination 
by posting a notice in each designated stockyard. Once the Secretary 
provides notice to the stockyard owner and the public, the stockyard is 
subject to the provisions of Title III of the P&S Act (7 U.S.C. 201-203 
and 205-217a) until the Secretary deposts the stockyard by public 
notice. To post a stockyard, we assign the stockyard a facility number, 
notify the stockyard owner, and send an official posting notice to the 
stockyard owner to display in a public area of the stockyard. This 
process is referred to as ``posting.'' The date of posting is the date 
that the posting notices are physically displayed at the stockyard. A 
facility that does not meet the definition of a stockyard is not 
subject to the P&S Act, and therefore cannot be posted. A posted 
stockyard can be deposted, which occurs when the facility is no longer 
used as a stockyard.
    We are hereby notifying stockyard owners and the public that the 
following eight stockyards meet the definition of a stockyard, and that 
we propose to designate these stockyards as posted stockyards.

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  Proposed facility No.             Stockyard name and location
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KY-189...................  Blue Grass Stockyards of Albany, LLC, Albany,
                            Kentucky.
MS-181...................  Cattlemens Stockyard, LLC, West Point,
                            Mississippi.
NC-182...................  Walton L. Standridge d/b/a Standridge
                            Auction, Hamlet, North Carolina.
NC-183...................  Vale Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Cleveland County
                            Agriculture & Livestock Exchange, Shelby,
                            North Carolina.
ND-134...................  Bismarck Superior Livestock, LLP, Bismarck,
                            North Dakota.
PA-164...................  Nicholson Livestock Market, Factoryville,
                            Pennsylvania.
SD-173...................  Kramer's Auction, LLC, Colman, South Dakota.
TN-215...................  Alexandria Stockyard, Inc., Alexandria,
                            Tennessee.
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    We are also notifying the public that the stockyards listed in the 
following table meet the P&S Act's definition of a stockyard and that 
we have posted the stockyards. On July 27, 2015, we published a notice 
in the Federal Register (79 FR 41255-41256) of our proposal to post 
these 15 stockyards. Since we received no comments to our proposal, we 
assigned the stockyards a facility number and notified the owner of the 
stockyard facilities. Posting notices were sent to the owner of the 
stockyard to display in public areas of the stockyard. The table below 
reflects the date of posting for each stockyard.

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                                                                                                      Date of
             Facility No.                             Stockyard name and location                     posting
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AR-184...............................  Mid-State Stockyards, LLC, Damascus, Arkansas............      10/23/2015
AZ-119...............................  Arizona Livestock Auction, Buckeye, Arizona..............      12/16/2015
GA-236...............................  Trion Livestock Auction, LLC, Trion Georgia..............      10/23/2015
GA-237...............................  Deer Run Auction Co., Adel, Georgia......................      10/16/2015
KY-188...............................  Franklin Livestock Market, Inc., Franklin, Kentucky......      10/19/2015
MO-289...............................  Archangel Outreach Ministries, Inc., d/b/a CRS &               12/14/2015
                                        Highlandville Sales, Highlandville, Missouri..
MS-179...............................  Integrity Livestock Auction, LLC, Brookhaven,                  10/19/2015
                                        Mississippi..
MS-180...............................  Ramsey Livestock Sales, Inc., Vicksburg, Mississippi.....      12/11/2015
NC-181...............................  Flippin Chicken Auction & Sales, Beulaville, North             10/17/2015
                                        Carolina..
OK-218...............................  JC Stockyards Auction, LLC, Meeker, Oklahoma.............      10/19/2015
TN-212...............................  WJ Auction Co., LLC, Telford, Tennessee..................      12/01/2015
TN-213...............................  Saddle Brook Stables, Jamestown, Tennessee...............      10/26/2015
TN-214...............................  Wiser Farms/Triple ``M'' Farms, Shelbyille, Tennessee....      10/19/2015
TX-358...............................  Paris Livestock Auction, LLC, Paris, Texas...............      10/16/2015
UT-119...............................  Anderson Livestock Auction Co., Willard, Utah............      10/19/2015
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[[Page 71479]]

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 202.

Larry Mitchell,
Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-25006 Filed 10-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-KD-P