R-CALF: Cattle Producers Greatly Disappointed With Court’s Decision

R-CALF USA is deeply disappointed that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, regarding Wheeler v Pilgrim’s Pride, in an 8-7 vote, ruled that the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) should deal strictly with overall competition in the marketplace, rather than competitive damage to individual livestock and/or poultry producers. Plaintiffs included Cody Wheeler, Don Davis and Davey Williams, all contract poultry producers. They alleged that Pilgrim’s Pride had engaged in unfair dealing with contract growers when it offered different contract terms to different growers and that those practices were a violation of the PSA, which bars undue preferences, unfair and deceptive trade practices. R-CALF USA and 53 other producer-oriented organizations, on Sept. 28, 2009, filed an amicus brief to show support for the plaintiffs. “The effect of this decision is that the PSA has been rendered useless for protecting independent producers from unfair and deceptive practices of the highly concentrated packers. We hope Wheeler will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court...read more