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USDA announces new actions for more transparent marketing

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says new measures by his agency will increase market transparency and fairness for livestock and poultry producers.

“We do see it as an effort to continue to make sure that this is a balanced relationship between producer and processor,” he says.

Vilsack says a new proposed rule under the Packers and Stockyards Act would improve poultry grower payment systems and address abuses producers have experienced in the past.

If finalized, the rule will prohibit deductions from the base price in contracts for broiler chicken growers and enhance enforcement of existing restrictions on unfair capital improvement practices.

Vilsack says the Agricultural Marketing Service is also testing new tools with stakeholders in the cattle industry.

“We’re launching the Livestock, Mandatory Reporting Live Cattle Data Dashboard, which will give users the ability to access and analyze, intuitively and in detail, past and present market data,” he explains.

The dashboard is expected to be made publicly available later this summer.

The Secretary says the proposed rule is the third in a suite of Packers and Stockyards Act rules by the Biden administration to create fairer and better markets.