An organization representing
family farmers is suing the United States government to retain legislation that
protects them in marketing to big companies.
The
lawsuit seeks to reinstate the rules which “prohibit major meat and
poultry producers who contract with farmers from engaging in unfair and
deceptive practices,” the organization said in a news release.
The rule “would have allowed
farmers to hold agribusinesses accountable for practices like retaliation, bad
faith cancellation of contracts, or collusion efforts to force farmers out of
the market,” the group said.
The United States Department
of Agriculture’s move to halt the rule makes it effectively impossible for
farmers to bring unfair practices claims, it said.
The Organization for
Competitive Markets is being represented on a pro bono basis by Democracy
Forward, a nonprofit legal organization.
The suit, which is in the
form of a petition for review, was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
