Chicken farmers would get new access to integrator data under a USDA proposal to promote fairness in the industry.
The planned regulation would require companies to disclose information on bird placements, stocking density, and prior litigation with poultry growers.
Data on payments received by other farmers in prior years would be broken down by quintiles to show the income range producers could expect.
Both current and prospective growers would be entitled to this information.
Growers who are paid under a ranking system, in which the higher-performing farms receive more money, would also get information about the inputs they receive from the poultry company.
Some farmers have claimed that integrators vary the flock quality to hurt disfavored growers.
“Disclosure will help poultry growers better manage their operations, monitor for risks and snuff out abuses early,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA’s undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
In a separate effort, USDA plans to seek input on ways the poultry grower payment system could be modernized.
The May 26 announcement builds on rules to increase farmers’ clout against large integrators that were never finalized during the Obama years despite a lengthy rulemaking process.
The new plan is part of President Joe Biden’s goal to promote competition in a segment where a few major meatpackers hold most of the market share.
National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation welcomed USDA’s proposal.
“Farmers deserve to know what they are getting into and to understand how they are being paid,” said Zippy Duvall, the Farm Bureau president. “Making sure farmers have access to important information about their poultry company, inputs, stocking densities and feed disruptions is good for everyone in the food value chain.”
The National Chicken Council said the rules are unnecessary.
All chicken farmers receive the same quality of chicks, feed and veterinary care, and the variability in a flock’s outcome could depend on a farmer’s practices and what technology the farm is using, the group said.
Farmers receive base pay and potentially a bonus based on the health and size of the flock, the Chicken Council said.
“The contract provides farmers with guaranteed income and insulation from market risks, such as feed costs, floods and droughts. That is why there are thousands of people right now on waiting lists wanting to apply for a contract to raise chickens,” the group said.
Rural Advancement Foundation International said the proposed rule would give farmers valuable information — but could go further.
“Any tournament system or formula payment arrangement that bases grower compensation on factors outside their control (is) an unfair practice,” said Aaron Johnson, manager of the group’s Challenging Corporate Power program.
