DOJ USDA-Public Comment for Poultry Hearing by Farm Aid
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USDA/DOJ Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement in Our 21st Century Economy Poultry Workshop May 21, 2010 Normal, Alabama Public Comment: My name is Hilde Steffey and I am here today representing Farm Aid, a national nonprofit working to keep family farmers on the land and thriving. At Farm Aid we hear from family farmers every day. We’ve operated a 1-800 hotline since our organization began in 1985. Last year we received just under 1,000 contacts – a record for us. And what we’re hearing from poultry growers has us deeply worried. Nobody knows more about the problems of corporate concentration in the poultry sector than family farmers themselves. But you may notice a smaller turnout at this workshop than others held this year. Family farmers are fearful of retaliation from their integrators if they comment, and for good reason. We’ve heard troubling stories about what happens when a farmer speaks up about the unfair, one-sided and abusive contracts that typify the poultry sector – stories very similar to the many experiences you are hearing today: • • • • Farmers are provided with poor quality feed or sick chicks that die within days; poultry companies halt or delay the delivery of new birds; farmers are required to make expensive upgrades to their barns without fair compensation; or contracts are suddenly dropped altogether.
The lack of anti-trust enforcement in recent decades has been responsible for the misguided trajectory and limited bounds of our current system of poultry production in this country. The result has been a severely concentrated marketplace, in which power and profit are limited to a few at the expense of countless hardworking family farmers who ask nothing more than a level playing field. We regret that recent Administrations have turned a blind eye to the very real threats of corporate concentration to family farm livelihoods, rural economies and national food security. We applaud this Administration’s historic commitment to address issues of competition and concentration in agriculture – and we urge you to make full use of the experience and wisdom of the family farmers you are hearing from today. They are very courageous to be here, speaking out against a contracting system that is not just unfair, but flat-out wrong. Please don’t let them down.
The lack of anti-trust enforcement in recent decades has been responsible for the misguided trajectory and limited bounds of our current system of poultry production in this country. The result has been a severely concentrated marketplace, in which power and profit are limited to a few at the expense of countless hardworking family farmers who ask nothing more than a level playing field. We regret that recent Administrations have turned a blind eye to the very real threats of corporate concentration to family farm livelihoods, rural economies and national food security. We applaud this Administration’s historic commitment to address issues of competition and concentration in agriculture – and we urge you to make full use of the experience and wisdom of the family farmers you are hearing from today. They are very courageous to be here, speaking out against a contracting system that is not just unfair, but flat-out wrong. Please don’t let them down.
