Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2007

Floor Speech

WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chairman, I rise to engage the fine gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson) in a colloquy on unfair practices in the poultry and meat packing industries, and want to commend him for this incredibly visionary piece of legislation. It is a real credit to him, to his dogged work and expertise over so many years in this Congress as well as in the private sector.

The current contracted system of meat and poultry production often maneuvers farmers who do the actual work of raising and feeding billions of animals into subservient positions in today's marketplace and legal system. Poultry has become one of the most vertically integrated industries in our country, with four firms controlling nearly 60 percent of the broilers raised and sold.

Poultry, despite the worrisome rise of camphylobacter and salmonella through safety recalls, remains outside the normal oversight by USDA, even though GIPSA has oversight over beef and pork.

The Department of Agriculture has no real power to stop unfair practices in this industry. It surely has no mediation authority. Poultry contracts often are presented to farmers as take-it-or-leave-it contracts. In many cases farmers do not even see the actual contract until after they have gone to the bank. Farmers are not encouraged to negotiate contract terms that protect their interests, such as hedging against animal deaths and environmental cleanup costs, assuring accurate weights and measures and fair feed and input pricing, or gaining a fair share of the value of the nitrogen-rich manure produced by the animals themselves.

As the gentleman from Minnesota moves forward on the farm bill conference, I would urge him to give the USDA the full authority to protect against unfair practices in the poultry industry and to protect farmers' legal rights.

Please give farmers legal standing in court. Provide them with transparency in pricing, as well as technical assistance with fair contracts. Assure weights and measures. Help them hedge against animal deaths and environmental cleanups. Provide for legal and safe working conditions for chicken catchers who are their primary workforce. Bring honor to this industry with contracting fairness to farmers and their workers.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source