Rohit Chopra, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission addressed a comment to USDA Secretary of Agriculture Dr. Sonny Purdue regarding the proposed rules to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act. Chopra stated the Act “was modeled after provisions in the Federal Trade Commission Act and other anti-trust laws to ensure that powerful meat packers and processors could not take advantage of family farmers through unfair trade practices.” Chopra maintains that the rules do not support these objectives and will allow potential abuses to continue.
Whether justified or not Chopra stated “vertical integration and concentration has turned the animal supply chain into a series of choke points used by Big Meat to coerce farmers and ranchers into accepting terrible terms for the price of participation”
CHICK-NEWS takes exception to the statement by Commissioner Chopra that “growers take on all of the risks and have little to show for it.”
In the U.S. broiler-production industry the relationship between contract growers and integrators has evolved over six decades and is mutually beneficial to both parties. Effectively risk is born by the integrators who supply chicks and feed and carry the potential losses associated with disease, inclement weather and market fluctuations. Contractors have no concerns over logistics or marketing and can integrate flock management with other employment or farm enterprises.
The fact that there are more aspirant growers than can be accommodated by the chicken industry confirms that the grower-integrator system is equitable and mutually beneficial. Lincoln Premium Poultry was able to contract with growers for breeding and broiler production for their new complex in Nebraska indicating the acceptability of the system.
There may be abuse or manipulation in beef or pork production but there is no recent evidence of exploitation in the chicken and turkey industries.