The Farmstand: RAFI’s Blog

Updates about IRA Section 22006 and 22007. Please note new deadlines and information.

In 2022, USDA purchased nearly half of its meat from the largest category of meat processors. Even more egregiously, 25% of USDA’s meat procurement was allocated to just four dominant meatpackers: $279 million to Tyson, $13 to Cargill, $5 million to Smithfield, and, despite its criminality, $63 million to JBS. In contrast, less that 7% of USDA’s meat procurement contracts were awarded to small meat processors serving regional food systems.

The two-day event included urban farm tours, locally catered dining, and a full-day resource rodeo with local partners and farmer-serving organizations. RAFI staff were also able to schedule a few farm visits along the way.

On May 2, 2023, as a part of the Pointing the Farm Bill Towards Racial Justice Summit, RAFI Policy Director Margaret Krome-Lukens participated in a Senate briefing on racial justice in the Farm Bill.  She remarks on the Fair Credit for Farmers Act, and the stories that drove us to fight for this bill.

The Poultry Grower Fairness Act expands protections against unfair, discriminatory, or deceptive practices to all poultry growers, including breeder hen and pullet growers, and grants the USDA administrative enforcement authority over poultry, as it already has over livestock industries. Learn about this and more.