Last updated on 2012.07.11
Win some, lose some. I went to Washington this summer to remind our Congressional delegation that small farmers and ranchers would benefit from serious implementation of the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Rule. Our Congressional delegation, alas, was not able to deliver. The "minibus" appropriations bill passed Thursday includes language that kills most of the protections for small producers that GIPSA could have brought.
The National Farmers Union wanted the GIPSA Rule to finally put some teeth in the 90-year-old regulations to help small producers. GIPSA would have counter the anti-free-market consolidation of the food industry. Big Food is understandably pleased, since it can continue to use unfair market practices to boost its profits and squeeze the little guy. With Noem-Randian predictability, industry spokespeople whine that the GIPSA Rule would have "wreaked havoc" on the meat industry. And of course, the Humane Society supported the GIPSA Rule, so it must be bad.
The minibus bill blocks funding for most GIPSA rulemaking through FY 2012. Come next October 1, we may get another crack at bringing market fairness to small livestock producers. We can only hope!