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Congresswoman Pingree talks with a group of contract poultry farmers about the unfair practices large processors have subjected them to.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today applauded the release of new Farmer Fair Practice Rules by the USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).  The new rules will help level the playing field between poultry farmers and the large processors they contract with.

“I applaud the release of these long-awaited protections.  They are absolutely necessary in supporting farmers across the country by promoting transparency, equity, and certainty in contract farming,” said Pingree.  “I had dinner with a group of contract poultry farmers just last week.  It was appalling to hear how these unbalanced contracts go beyond just hurting their businesses to actually forcing their families into poverty or causing them to lose their homes."

The rules include one interim final rule clarifying that farmers do not have to show competitive injury under the Packers and Stockyards Act, as well as two proposed rules that address additional abusive and unfair practices in contract poultry farming.

On the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Pingree has actively fought against appropriations amendments that have blocked the USDA from writing the rules for years. She helped defeat such an amendment last year, which allowed USDA to finally release the rules. 

“Saying these rules are long overdue is an understatement,” said Pingree.  “It’s a travesty that Congress has held them up for so many years—despite my best efforts and that of several colleagues—but I very much appreciate the Obama Administration for prioritizing them."