An amendment blocking finalization of the GIPSA rule, named after the Grain Inspections, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), was included in a Fiscal 2017 ag appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee Apr. 19. Congress had passed similar provisions to block the GIPSA rule in previous appropriations bills, but they were not included in the Fiscal 2016 omnibus spending plan, allowing USDA to move forward with the rule.
The proposed GIPSA rule includes measures aimed at increasing the rights of contract poultry producers, including broadening the definition of unfair contracting practices, setting a base price for growers of the same variety of poultry and requiring processors release sample contracts in the interest of transparency.
The House amendment is “extremely problematic,” Vilsack said during an Apr. 20 speech at the 2016 Food Tank Summit. He noted that the rule is intended to “level the playing field” for contract poultry farmers.
Vilsack cited support from some farm organizations for the rule, however, many others in the industry do not support the rule. “It is puzzling to me, with as many farm organizations who represent farms and who speak on behalf of producers who express strong support for what we're doing,” that the Appropriations Committee would “disregard the will of its producers,” Vilsack said.
The ag spending plan now heads to the House floor, but leadership has yet to announce a date for floor consideration and a vote on the bill. Vilsack indicated that it is his intent to finalize the rule before the end of the Obama administration.