Federal hearing: Family farmers take USDA to court for GIPSA Rule withdrawal

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's unlawful rollback of critical protections designed to safeguard family farms and ranches from predatory and retaliatory practices by big agribusiness corporations. Appearing on behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and independent farmers, Democracy Forward argued that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) acted unlawfully in withdrawing the "Farmer Fair Practices Rules" last year.  Last fall, Secretary Perdue rescinded the "Farmer Fair Practices Rules"—the product of a nearly 10-year rulemaking process—which were designed to help level the playing field for poultry and livestock farmers and ensure fairness in the production of our country's food. Despite thousands of comments from the public supporting the Rules, Secretary Perdue nonetheless took the arbitrary and capricious step of rolling back farmer protections, abdicating the responsibilities delegated to USDA by Congress."Farmers deserve a fair shake in their business deals. With the abusive power large agribusiness corporations now have in the market, farmers just can't get a fair deal," said OCM Executive Director Joe Maxwell. "Without market safeguards like the Farmer Fair Practices Rules, these large corporations are being allowed to use predatory and retaliatory practices against America's family farmers."