Farmers Join Labor Union in Call to Protect Workers, Citing Need for Farmer Labor Solidarity - Poultry CEOs Indicted for Price Fixing

A group of farmers and ranchers last week joined the leading meatpacking workers’ union to demand greater protections for meatpacking workers, acknowledging a shared fight against mistreatment by large meatpackers in the wake of COVID-19.

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Ranchers and Lawmakers Decry Market Manipulation, as Cattle Prices Plummet and Monopolies Profit on Coronavirus

Wholesale beef prices have jumped to record levels, as shoppers stockpile meat in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. But this run on beef isn’t helping cattle ranchers. On the contrary, cattle prices have plummeted since January, putting many ranchers on the brink of collapse.

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Big Ag Eyes Cut of Farmers’ Profits in New Pricing Program

Agribusiness wants to dramatically change the way farmers value and pay for a bag of corn seed, to get a second bite at producer profits. Bayer, the world’s leading seed manufacturer, has been piloting an “outcome-based” pricing program that adjusts the cost of its seeds or agrichemicals based on how well its products perform. Farmers and antitrust scholars worry that goliaths such as Bayer will use this data-driven pricing program to further squeeze farmers and to lock more growers into the behemoths’ product bundles and digital agriculture platforms.

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Personalization or Price Discrimination?

Personalized pricing was a popular topic at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City this month, reports Food & Power Reporter Claire Kelloway. Grocery stores can leverage a combination of data analytics and customer identification and tracking tools to offer real-time individual pricing and promotions, both online and in-store. While the practice may still be in its infancy, some experts believe that personalized prices will become the standard in food retail and beyond.

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Trump’s USDA Sides With Corporate Meatpackers Over Farmers, in Latest GIPSA Proposal

On Monday, the USDA thwarted a decade of efforts to help farmers seek justice for discrimination, retaliation, and unfair treatment by meatpackers. Trump’s USDA introduced new criteria to determine whether a meatpacker violated the Packers and Stockyards Act, after withdrawing an Obama-era proposal two years ago. This latest proposal omits several critical farmer protections from the previous rule and introduces new language that could codify abusive industry practices.

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