It’s not March Madness yet, but the poultry industry is gearing up for equal playing feathers in its tournament system.
ICYMI: Poultry farmers are put into a tournament-type system when companies are looking to contract with a grower. The performance-based system determines payment based on the quality and quantity of the flock, as well as the efficiency of the systems in place.
Cluckin’ fairness: A third installment of regulatory reforms under the Packers and Stockyards Act intends to level the pecking order for farmers who raise chickens and turkeys (and hogs, cattle, and sheep). The Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems rule gives chicken farmers information about rates companies pay for birds, since there can be a lot of variability.
Bracket busters: The rule hopes to provide stability in the tournament system and give farmers information on improvements companies want farmers to make in order to keep or renew contracts. The new rule also helps farmers have leverage when the shoe’s on the other drumstick (when companies don’t adhere to rules).
Birds of a feather don’t flock together: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack saysthe rule will create “a much more balanced and fair tournament system in which producers can earn additional bonuses but won’t necessarily be penalized.”
However, the National Chicken Council isn’t as happy—saying the rule will “lead to rigid, one-size-fits-all requirements on chicken growing contracts that would stifle innovation, lead to higher costs for consumers, decrease competition, and cost jobs by driving some of the best farmers out of the chicken business.”
The regulations will take flight July 1, 2026.