The National Chicken Council on August 9 filed public comments on the “Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems” proposed rule, the third in a series of four Packers and Stockyards Act rules USDA has pursued throughout the Biden administration.
“NCC opposes the Proposed Rule and urges AMS to withdraw it in its entirety,” the council wrote. “The current poultry grower compensation system has long worked well to fairly and appropriately reward high-performing growers and drive efficient use of resources, resulting in a highly efficient market and lower prices for consumers. The Proposed Rule is legally unsound and contrary to the clear intent of Congress, AMS’s mandate under the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA), and fundamental Constitutional principles.
“Further, the Proposed Rule assumes certain inefficiencies in the current poultry growing market that are fundamentally untrue, rendering the Proposed Rule arbitrary and capricious,” the comments continued.
Among the issues detailed in the comments, NCC is especially concerned about the following issues with the Proposed Rule:
- The Proposed Rule exceeds Congress’s grant of authority in the PSA by prohibiting conduct
without requiring a showing of injury to competition or even unfair or deceptive practices; - The Proposed Rule mischaracterizes dynamics and efficiencies in the current poultry growing industry, rendering it arbitrary and capricious;
- As written, the Proposed Rule is too vague to be considered constitutionally valid;
- The current Proposed Rule is so prescriptive as to unduly impinge on grower and integrator
freedom to contract; and - AMS has greatly underestimated costs associated with the rule and would require an extended implementation period of at least two years.
“This rule – which Congress never asked for – will lead to rigid, one-size-fits-all requirements on chicken growing contracts that would stifle innovation, lead to higher costs for consumers, decrease competition, and cost jobs by driving some of the best farmers out of the chicken business,” NCC concluded.
The comments can be read in their entirety here.
