February 2025 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter
In the final week of the Biden Administration, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA had withdrawn its rule entitled Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets, marking the second time such a rule had been halted.
As in the previous version, the rule intended to address unfair practices being undertaken by packers governed by the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). In effect, the rule would have lowered the threshold for legal action against a PSA regulated party, by not requiring proof of harm to either the industry or a single party. Furthermore, the rule did not define who is a covered party under PSA, opening the door to any individual or consumer to bring legal action.
Florida Farm Bureau opposed the ruling. In announcing the withdrawal of the rule, Secretary Vilsack stated there wasn’t enough time left in the administration to finalize the rule and keep the original intent.
For more information, contact the Florida Farm Bureau Ag Policy team.
As the agriculture industry becomes more advanced and complex, new challenges arise. For the livestock sector, animal disease traceability has received greater attention over the last several decades as domestic and international movement of live cattle and fresh beef has increased. For this reason, in 2013 USDA enacted rules related to official identification of certain classes of cattle and bison. Earlier this year, USDA finalized an amendment to this rule, requiring that official identification be readable both visually and electronically.