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Congressman urges caution on Packers and Stockyards Act rewrite

The Republican leader of the House Ag Committee is urging the Biden administration to be cautious when looking at rewriting parts of the Packers and Stockyards Act rule.

Glenn GT Thompson said there’s a lot of complexities and moving parts within the livestock industry.

“We need to be taking a look at that, we need to learn from it,” he said. “I’m usually cautious about government overreach because when government gets involved, there’s unintended consequences that can corrupt entire systems.”

Biden’s executive order directs USDA to consider issuing new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act that would make it easier for farmers to bring and win claims against packers, prevent chicken processors from underpaying chicken farmers, and adopt anti-retaliation protections for farmers who speak out.

Thompson tells Brownfield everyone needs to be at the table when discussing potential rule changes.

“When it comes to the various parts of livestock, whether it’s [a] calf-cow operation, finishing, whatever it might be, we need to have a good farm discussion on that,” he said.

Brownfield spoke with Thompson on his Wisconsin dairy farm tour Tuesday.