Online PSA Comment Writing Night

What: PSA Comment Writing Night

 When: 6 p.m. MDT, Wed., Aug. 14, 2024

Where: Via Zoom

Subject: Join Us In Supporting USDA’s New Rancher Protections  

Description: WORC, along with our partners CFFE and RCALF-USA and Open Markets Institute, are hosting a Packers and Stockyards Act Comment Writing Night in response to USDA’s proposed rule on “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets”.

These rules would provide much-needed clarity for courts nationwide, and help ensure fair treatment for independent cattle producers by multinational meatpacking corporations.

During this Zoom call, we will hear from cattle producers and experts in the field on why these rules are vital to producers, and what kind of comments will make an impact. We’ll have time to ask questions and hear answers from the panelists and other producers.

August 14 at 6 p.m. MDT

Register at this Zoom link

We will begin the night hearing from experts in the field who will be providing context and information on this rule:

Patty Lovera: Lovera brings an impressive background in grassroots organizing on farm and food issues and lobbying in Washington, D.C., as well as extensive knowledge of farming topics. She has been an ally to WORC for several years offering legal advice and expertise.

Claire Kelloway: Kelloway is the program manager for fair food and farming systems at the Open Markets Institute. She is the primary writer for Food & Power, a first-of-its-kind website, providing original reporting and resources on monopoly power in food and agriculture. She also oversees Open Markets’ policy research into the legal underpinnings of corporations and market concentration in the food sector.

Bill Bullard: Formerly a cow/calf producer in South Dakota, Bullard also serves as the CEO of R-CALF USA. He has testified on behalf of R-CALF USA before Congress and executive branch agencies, manages numerous lawsuits on behalf of the organization, and authored an antitrust paper published in the South Dakota Law Review.

We have until September 11th to submit comments on the proposed rule. The meat packers and industry associations are already making their voices heard loud and clear. They don’t want this rule implemented so they can continue to rig the system and control the market. Independent producers in the cattle industry need to show mass support for these proposed rules, and be able to hold packers accountable for violating the Packers and Stockyards Act.

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Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle and sheep producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call (406) 252-2516.