The Biden administration is moving forward with new rules targeting what it sees as unfair practices in the agribusiness industry as part of an executive order on competition.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it will engage in a series of rule-makings to increase competition in agricultural industries, to boost farmers’ and ranchers’ earnings, fight back against abuses of power by giant agribusiness corporations, and give farmers the right to repair their own equipment how they like,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
The order will direct the USDA to issue new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act that the White House says will make it easier for farmers to bring claims, help chicken farmers from being exploited and underpaid by chicken processors, and put in place anti-retaliation protections for those who speak out about bad practices.
Psaki said the executive order will also direct the USDA to issue new regulations that will define when meat can have labels indicating it is a product of the United States.
“Something that I learned that I found a little outrageous,” she said, “is that under current labeling rules, most grass-fed beef labeled ‘product of the U.S.A.’ is actually raised and slaughtered abroad and then imported to the U.S. for processing.”
Psaki said that the Biden administration sees the issue about labeling unfair for U.S. farmers and ranchers who have to compete with companies overseas “that are misleading consumers.”
The order also directs the USDA to develop a plan to increase opportunities for farmers by supporting alternative food distribution systems such as farmers markets. The USDA will take other actions in addition to the ones mentioned on Tuesday as part of the executive order, Psaki told reporters.
The news comes about a month after more than two dozen Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland contending that “the anticompetitive practices” in the meatpacking industry today “are unambiguous.”
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The lawmakers said that over the years, the price of live cattle in the U.S. market has fallen, while the price of boxed beef has greatly increased, a disconnect that has resulted in higher costs at the grocery store for consumers.
“Our American ranchers work hard every day to produce the best beef in the world. They battle the wind, the rain, the snow and the sun. They shouldn’t have to battle a problem their government has an obligation to fix,” they said.
