On Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 10:00 am, the House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade held a hearing entitled Regulatory Injury: How USDA’s Proposed GIPSA Rule Hurts America’s Small Businesses.  The hearing took place in room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Committee examined the Grain Inspection, Packer and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Proposed Rule on livestock marketing practices. The purpose of the hearing was to highlight the effects of the Proposed Rule on small businesses within the beef, pork and poultry industries and discuss the inadequacies in GIPSA’s Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.  

Opening Statement:

Chairman Scott Tipton (R-CO)

Witnesses and Testimony:

Panel 1

The Honorable Edward Avalos, Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC

• Testimony  

Panel 2

Robbie LeValley, LeValley Ranch, Hotchkiss, CO

• Testifying on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
• Witness Disclosure 
• Testimony  

Gary Malenke, Sioux-Preme Pork Products, Sioux City, IA

• Testifying on behalf of the National Meat Association
• Witness Disclosure 
• Testimony  

Joel Brandenberger, President, National Turkey Federation, Washington DC

• Witness Disclosure 
• Testimony  

Bob Junk, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, Uniontown, PA

• Witness Disclosure 
• Testimony  

Additional Items:

Official Hearing Notice 

Official Witness List 

Official Hearing Memo 

Hearing Video 

Press Release