GIPSA Pulls Fair Practice Rule; EPA’s RFS Reductions
**The USDA announced last week it plans to pull an interim Final Farmer Fair Practice Rule.
The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA, says it’s being set aside because of legal and policy worries.
The rule would have protected contract farmers from a legal standard known as “competitive injury,” which requires farmers who have suffered damages to prove their own claim and that the company’s actions also harmed competition throughout the industry.
Sally Lee, with the Rural Advancement Foundation says the Administration is taking the side of “Big Meat” instead of protecting family farmers. Livestock groups have opposed the rule since it was included in the 2008 Farm Bill.
**Anne Dawson, with the USDA Foreign Ag Service, has been named recipient of the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s 2017 Distinguished Service Award.
The award, which recognizes an individual for leadership and lifetime contributions toward the achievement of the agency’s export goals, will be presented November 2nd in Tucson.
Since 2003, Dawson has worked to address market access restrictions resulting from the first detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.S.
**The Missouri-based National Biodiesel Board says four GOP governors have written to President Trump with concerns about the EPA’s recently proposed reductions to the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The letter from the governors of Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas says the RFS was instrumental in helping rural America survive the 2008 recession and now supports the livelihoods of tens-of-thousands of farmers and biofuels workers.