The White House today issued an Executive Order titled “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” The order touches on many areas of the economy, including agriculture.
“Today President Biden is taking decisive action to reduce the trend of corporate consolidation, increase competition, and deliver concrete benefits to America’s consumers, workers, farmers, and small businesses,” the White House fact sheet summarizing the Executive Order said. “Today’s historic Executive Order established a whole-of-government effort to promote competition in the American economy. The Order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy. Once implemented, these initiatives will result in concrete improvements to people’s lives.”
In the section addressing agriculture, the White House said that the President:
- Directs USDA to consider issuing new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act making it easier for farmers to bring and win claims, stopping chicken processors from exploiting and underpaying chicken farmers, and adopting anti-retaliation protections for farmers who speak out about bad practices.
- Directs USDA to consider issuing new rules defining when meat can bear “Product of USA” labels, so that consumers have accurate, transparent labels that enable them to choose products made here.
- Directs USDA to develop a plan to increase opportunities for farmers to access markets and receive a fair return, including supporting alternative food distribution systems like farmers markets and developing standards and labels so that consumers can choose to buy products that treat farmers fairly.
- Encourages the FTC to limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs – such as when tractor companies block farmers from repairing their own tractors.
USDA announced in its 2021 Spring Regulatory Agenda that it intends to propose three rules related to the Packers and Stockyards Act. Specifically, those rules are called:
- Unfair Practices in Violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act
- Clarification of Scope of the Packers and Stockyards Act
- Poultry Grower Ranking Systems
National Chicken Council President Mike Brown issued the following statement regarding the Executive Order:
“While we haven’t seen any proposals, for the chicken industry, this looks like a solution in search of a problem. The chicken industry is a model of success – from farm to table – and one of the least consolidated industries in animal agriculture.
“The vast majority of chicken farmers are thriving helping to produce America’s number one protein. In fact, chicken companies have waiting lists of potential family farms that want to partner with them and enter into the chicken business.
“This is a surprising announcement from the administration, given President Biden’s long history of support for the chicken industry, stemming from his 30 plus years as a senator representing Delaware, a state where chickens outnumber people and where chicken is the number one agricultural commodity. We will work to bring the concerns of chicken producers in Delaware and nationally to the attention of the President and his team and we look forward to working with them when the proposals are available.
“With regard to Product of USA labeling issues, USDA AMS’ regulations already require that chicken sold at retail clearly and accurately identify the product’s country of origin. Consumers seeking USA chicken can already find the “Hatched, Raised & Processed in the U.S.” label on American chicken. More than 99% of the chicken we consume is of domestic origin and can easily be identified. We hope that this trusted and accurate label is not diminished for the American consumer.”
More broadly, the order includes sections addressing labor markets, the healthcare industry, the transportation sector, internet service providers, technology companies, and the banking and consumer finance sectors. In total, the order includes 72 directives to various federal agencies.
With regard to labor markets, the order “encourages” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban or limit non-compete agreements and for the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) to “strengthen antitrust guidance to prevent employers from collaborating to suppress wages or reduce benefits by sharing wage and benefit information with one another.”
The fact sheet summarizing the order reiterated the President’s position that Congress ought to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would allow unions to override right-to-work laws in states that have passed them, implement the ABC test for determining independent contractor status, forbid any employer interference in union elections, allow employees to cast a ballot in a union organizing election at a location away from company property, allow newly certified unions to seek arbitration and mediation to settle contract disputes, ban card checks, grant more workers the rights to bargain and/or strike under the National Labor Relations Act, and increase financial penalties for companies that violate any workers’ rights.
The House passed the PRO Act in early March 2021.
The full text of the Executive Order can be found here. The White House fact sheet for the Executive Order can be found here.
