A proposed rule, published June 22 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), regarding the marketing of livestock and poultry will limit consumer choice and drive up costs, according to Republican Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas. He called for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the rule, which amends the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, says the rule prohibits creative arrangements between producers and packers necessary for branded meat products.