Some farm groups are expressing their disappointment with the lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for cancelling the GIPSA Farmer Fair Practice Rules. The case was filed by the Organization for Competitive Markets and farmer-plaintiffs from Alabama and Nebraska. South Dakota Pork Producers Council Executive Director Glenn Muller says they supported USDA’s decision to pull the GIPSA rules in October.
He says they aren’t sure if OCM has a solid case. The group claims the rules are needed to protect family farmers and ranchers from abusive practices by big agribusiness corporations. However, Muller says that isn’t a problem in the pork industry.
In fact, Muller says they also opposed the proposed Farmer Fair Practice Rules because they would have opened the floodgates to costly litigation that could have driven packers to own more of their own hogs.
The case was filed in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and plaintiffs argue that it was illegal for USDA to withdraw the rules when mandated by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill.
