"Today s announcement is a huge victory for our members who have been working for more than a decade to call attention to the market power abuses that are destroying the economic viability of our industry, said Bullard. "R-CALF has joined with a broad coalition of organizations that, like us, are fighting to restore competition to our nation s livestock markets.
Â
This coalition also met with the Department of Justice last month to encourage greater enforcement of antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA).Â
Â
"We could not be more pleased than to learn that both the Department of Justice and USDA are now taking our concerns seriously and we will continue working with our coalition partners to ensure that we turn this unprecedented opportunity into a genuine solution to permanently restore the opportunity for profitability to our nation s hard-working farmers and ranchers, Bullard concluded.
Â
The joint USDA/Department of Justice announcement indicates the first public workshops to explore competition issues will likely be held in early 2010 with the dates, locations and times to be announced later. However, the agencies have asked that written comments be sent to the Department of Justice no later than Dec. 31, 2009.Â
Â
# # #
Â
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
