Glickman Shuffle
Is Sec. Glickman doing the "Glickman Shuffle"--Again? Four years
ago contract poultry growers began sending letters asking the USDA for assistance
in obtaining fair treatment by integrators and the ability to participate
in the drafting of contracts that would be fair to all concerned. We have
pleaded with Mr. Glickman to come up with a viable plan to relieve our disastrous
farm economy.
Integrators have now devised a plan of "target weight". It will
not work because of the quality of feed and birds that they are providing
to the producers and payment to growers is by the ranking system. With the
ranking system still in force, a producer on top does extremely well while
a producer on the bottom cannot meet expenses. I do not think that producers
with new houses should be ranked with producers with old houses. The playing
field is too uneven. It seems that producers with new houses are going to
be on top of the list regardless of how well they have performed.
Producers with new houses are being offered incentives; higher rates of
pay and seem to receive better quality feed and chicks than growers with
older houses. The preferential treatment is consequently forcing producers
with older houses out of business because they are unable to meet their
financial obligations. Older farms and growers have made their companies
the huge conglomerates that they are today!
With the introduction of Marcy Kaptur's sponsorship of Bill HR 2738--the
Family Farmer Cooperative Market Amendment Act--we poultry farmers were
elated! The enactment of this bill would enable farmers in their cooperative
associations to negotiate for a fair contract.
Hog and cattle farmers are now in the same situation as the poultry farmers.
We certainly wish them good luck. Mr. Glickman and the current administration
have not demonstrated any competence in aiding the contract farmers in America.
Their refusal to enforce federal law on monopolies has allowed the big corporations
to destroy the family-farm sector of the livestock industry. What happened
to Mr. Glickman's plan of NO MONOPOLIES?
GAYLORD STOCKS,
Grower for ConAgra,
El Dorado Complex
El Dorado, Arkansas
Email-gstocks@arkansas.net
HOME |