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Former poultry farmers and their supporters have accused major poultry companies of trying to influence poultry farmers during the comment period on the proposed USDA rule.
– A White House hunger conference is approaching, but insiders say calls for planning one are sporadic at best. The preliminary date has been set for the last week of September.
– It has been about a year since Danone announced its exit from the New England organic dairy market. The dairy giant has notified 89 organic dairies that their contracts will be terminated as Horizon Organic moves to larger dairy farms in the Midwest.
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Lawyers and the USDA warn against coercion of poultry farmers. Lawyers and former farmers accuse some of the nation’s largest poultry companies of pressuring farmers to oppose a proposed USDA rule that they say could help raise their wages and give them more control over farm, says Marcia.
Background: This is a proposed USDA rule that would make contracts more transparent for farmers who raise chickens for poultry processing companies. Farmers are paid through a “competition system” where good workers get bonuses and bad ones are punished.
The proposed rule, unveiled in May, is the first of three the USDA says is needed to strengthen US antitrust laws in an increasingly concentrated agricultural industry.
The proposed rules do not eliminate the tournament system, but would require companies to disclose the true maximum and minimum revenue that producers can earn.
First in Massachusetts: Competition advocates and independent farmer groups argue that the proposed rules don’t go far enough. In an upcoming public comment to be provided by the MA, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) argues that the tournament system allows companies to transfer risk to producers and use their farms to conduct “forced trial and error” research. If the experiment fails, the farmers cover the losses through a fixed wage in a tournament system. Examples include the need for costly, unproven repairs to chicken coops, such as windows, and the move to a “never use antibiotics” principle.
Rudy Howell, a former North Carolina contract horticulturist, told MA that window installations, however well-intentioned, have failed in his experience, and farmers will bear the cost. When the feeders fill up at night, he says, “Shadows can scare away chicks, they can pile up and suffocate.”
The National Chicken Council declined to comment on GAP’s comments but said poultry companies, not farmers, bear most of the risk associated with raising chickens. “The structure of the industry is specifically designed so that companies take on most of the risk,” NCC spokesman Tom Super wrote in a statement. “Research shows that compared to independent producers, poultry companies eliminate about 97% of the economic risk they face. farmers when raising chickens.
Public Comment Campaign: Mountaire Farms, a privately held chicken processor that claims to be the fourth largest chicken processor in the United States, provided manufacturers with a letter form and step-by-step instructions on how to submit comments, Marcia reports. Documents reviewed by POLITICO. Reuters first reported on Monter’s role.
Another company, Perdue Farms, confirmed that it “invited” contract manufacturers to comment on the rule by adding several format letters to the Federal Register under the file name “Perdue”. The company declined to confirm whether the company provided formal letters to its contract manufacturers. The USDA confirmed to POLITICO that it had received “numerous complaints of fear of coercion.”
possible duplicate? This is not the first time the industry has opposed such regulation. They did this back in 2010 when the USDA was trying to end the tournament system, the last time the USDA was trying to fundamentally change the industry. At the time, advocates and former growers alleged that the companies provided postcards that the growers could mail to the USDA with similar instructions to object to the rule. The final rule was later blocked by Republicans in Congress.
The Inflation Reduction Act is the most important climate law in decades. An investment of almost $20 billion in climate-smart agriculture is a historic victory that will help strengthen the leadership of farmers and ranchers in the fight against climate change. In our coalition of over 215 farmers, ranchers, athletes, and conservation organizations, we thank President Biden, the leadership of the Board of Agriculture, and all who fought for this transformative investment. Read more here.
WH eyeing late September hunger conference: White House officials are looking at the last week of September as a ballpark date for a hunger, nutrition and health conference, but a source familiar with the matter told MA that planning for the event was “a mess.” .”
Tightrope Walking: The White House will face a massive mobilization from hunger advocates and food bank groups impacted by high food prices, record inflation and dragging supply chains, and the economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
These factors, which are bound to be at the meeting, will confuse the Biden administration as it attempts to paint a rosy picture of the economy ahead of the November midterm elections and also calls for more to be done to end US hunger.
It’s a mess: The plan remains a “mess,” according to a person who participated in a two-week daytime Zoom call hosted by the White House Office of Public Affairs. The sometimes chaotic appeals reflect a wide range of groups and interests coming together and vying for participation in the action – both due to the good publicity of the event itself and, perhaps, subsequent conference legislation.
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White House Response: In a statement to MA, a White House spokesman said, “We know many want to know more about the plans for the first White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health in 50 years. more details coming soon.”
“The meeting will serve as an important forum for the public and private sectors to work together to develop a coordinated strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases,” the official added.
ICYMI School Meals: The conference comes as the worldwide free school meals program ends during the pandemic. Meredith and Cristina Rivero give up trying to continue breastfeeding their children. The bipartisan agreement to extend Universal Meals by three months will expire when children return to school. Democrats are rushing to push programs through appropriation bills, but Republicans are calling for an end to aid in a pandemic era.
New England production halt: Danone North America announced last summer that its subsidiary Horizon Organic would terminate contracts with 89 small dairies across four New England states, in a move that critics say has inconvenienced independent dairies and the local economy, dealing a devastating blow . In the face of criticism, the company gave manufacturers the option to extend their contracts for another six months. As of the beginning of the month, 18 farms have signed contracts with Stonyfield or Organic Valley, and eight of them have closed.
Criticism: Critics say Danone’s decision to sever ties with small producers in the northeast goes against its stated values ​​and its B Corp status, an independent certification that the company meets certain environmental and social standards.
At the time, Danone attributed this decision to increased transportation costs in the northeast. Danone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Next Steps: A year later, groups including the Organic Farmers Association and the Northeast Organic Dairy Alliance are again asking for severance pay to dairy farmers and Danone to align with USDA efforts to expand dairy processing in the region.
— The outbreak of E. coli in the Midwest could be linked to the salad in Wendy’s sandwiches. The company temporarily phased out the lettuce sandwich.
Tyson Foods will invest $200 million in its beef processing plant in Amarillo, Texas, which will expand the scale of its operations. The expansion will not add any new jobs and is expected to be completed in 2024.
– Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) says all western states need to avoid a “catastrophic collapse” of western water supplies, writes POLITICO’s Olivia Orland.
Congress passed the Lower Inflation Act to invest nearly $20 billion in climate-smart agriculture that will have a profound impact on rural communities across the country.
These investments will fund overspent farm conservation programs that are critical to mitigating the effects of droughts and floods, improving soil and water quality, and building our resilience to climate change.
On the ground, landowners, farmers and ranchers will receive the financial and technical support they need to implement conservation measures on millions of acres each year, and vulnerable wildlife populations will receive healthier habitats. Ultimately, we all stand to benefit from the dramatic reductions in carbon emissions that these programs contribute to.
To our coalition of over 215 farmers, ranchers, athletes, and conservation organizations, we thank President Biden, Senator Stabenov, Rep. David Scott, and everyone else who is fighting for these transformative investments, others. Read more here.