Today, the Biden Administration announced a final rule under the Packers & Stockyards Act requiring basic transparency when massive chicken corporations contract with farmers around the country to raise their birds.

Food & Water Watch and 13 other organizations submitted comments on the proposed rule last year calling for even stronger disclosures and emphasizing that farmers deserve meaningful protections under the Act, not just more information about likely corporate abuse. Several more heavily anticipated Packers & Stockyard Act rules remain outstanding.

Food & Water Watch Attorney Emily Miller issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Biden Administration’s commitment to strengthening and enforcing our nation’s antitrust laws. But narrowing this rule at the bequest of Big Ag so that only corporations engaged in broiler production have to comply with basic contract disclosure requirements does not serve that goal. The most important work is yet to be done.

“USDA must do more to actually protect farmers from corporate abuse, beyond merely informing producers how exploitative the system is. The Biden Administration must move quickly to finalize the remaining Packers & Stockyards Act rules and stop capitulating to industry demands that serve only to maintain the status quo. After decades of lax enforcement, President Biden has no time to waste in delivering final Packers & Stockyards Act rules that restore fairness, transparency and competition to the agricultural marketplace.”