This website is for educational purposes only. It does not provide legal advice. It is designed as a companion website to the book Food Farming & Sustainability, but may also be a publicly available freestanding resource. While efforts will be made to keep resources current, I cannot promise that I will keep ahead of all of the changes undertaken by the new Trump administration.
By Professor Susan A. Schneider
Food Farming & Sustainability (3rd edition)
Chapter VII Livestock Production & Marketing
Table of Contents
A. The Structure of the Livestock Industry
B. Introduction to Concentration and Competition
C. The Packers and Stockyards Act
1. An Overview of the Packers and Stockyards Act
2. Packers and Stockyards Act Statutory Update: The 2008 Farm Bill
3. Packers and Stockyards Act Statutory Update: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
D. Unfair, Unjustly Discriminatory, or Deceptive Practices Under the Packers and Stockyards Act
1. Judicial Decisions
2. The History of Administrative Action at USDE
3. The Biden Administration “Fair and Competitive Markets” Regulatory Initiatives
E. Antitrust and Competition Law as Applied to the Meatpacking Industry
Additional Resources to Support Chapter VII
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The Food and Agriculture Impact Project (FAIP) at the University of Arkansas School of Law, under the leadership of Professor Kelly Nuckolls, publishes an ongoing listing of PS&A and Antitrust litigation impacting agriculture. It is posted on the FAIP Competition and Antitrust Education website
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Some of the writings of noted antitrust and competition scholar, Peter Carstensen are available on his SSRN site. The following specifically addresses issues raised in Chapter VII:
Peter Carstensen, Pooling and Exchanging Competitively Sensitive Information Among Rivals: Absolutely Illegal Not Just Unreasonable, 92 U. Cin. L. Rev. 335 (2023).
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The USDA AMS Packers and Stockyards website, Rules and Regulations
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The U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Antitrust Case Filings
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The USDA ERS website
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The USDA and DOJ held a series of workshops around the country to assess antitrust issues and enforcement of the Packers & Stockyards Act. See Competition And Agriculture: Voices from the Workshops on Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement in our 21st Century Economy and Thoughts on the Way Forward, Dept of Justice, Antitrust Division (Final report from 2010 sessions published in May 2012).
Websites
General Legal Resources
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U.S. Code (statutes)
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Cong. Research Service (CRS Reports)
2010 - present
2010 - present
USDA Reorganization
On September 7, 2017, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the realignment of a number of offices within USDA.
The Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) and several program areas from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) were merged into the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), losing status as a separate agency with the department. See USDA AMS Reform.