Biden EO Establishes Chief Competition Officer at AMS

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday announced a package of rules and orders under President Biden’s executive order that seeks to increase competition in the livestock industry.

The new executive order also updates that all red meat purchased by USDA must be "born, raised and slaughtered" in the United States, that a new rule would require transparency in poultry contracting and that seed companies must provide information to farmers at the point of sale.

The package also establishes a Chief Competition Officer at USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). This position - which will be hired as a career, rather than a political, appointee - will help to elevate and institutionalize competition-related concerns at the Department of Agriculture.

USDA says the comprehensive approach will address the many, complex competition issues in agricultural markets and create a fairer playing field for small- and mid-size farmers. In support of these efforts, USDA has finalized the first in a series of rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act, which is aimed at helping contract poultry growers compete more effectively and better understand the terms of their agreements with major processing companies.

“From day one, President Biden has been committed to a robust and effective set of Packers and Stockyards regulations that will bring better transparency and more fairness to America’s producers and growers,” said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. “This rule and the other actions we are announcing today bring transparency and accountability to transactional relationships across the poultry industry, seed industry and federal procurement, and they are critical steps in USDA’s competition and farmer fairness agenda. They are also a powerful complement to the many other steps USDA is taking, from investing $1 billion in our supply chains to enhancing our labeling regulations — to create a fairer marketplace so more producers have the tools for success.”