Washington, D.C. - The House Agriculture Committee voted a little after 4pm ET to repeal a provision added to the 2007 Farm Bill by Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), chair of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, that would have forbidden livestock contracts from including mandatory arbitration provisions, as the majority of them now do.
During the debate on amendment number 87, proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Rogers repeatedly referred to his experience in family law. He said that mandatory arbitration clauses were like a couple agreeing to a prenuptual agreement, entered into when both parties were still calm and reasonable. He cited the possible expense of going to court as a reason to support his amendment, which included language that would force arbitration hearings to be held near where the farmer lived and that would allow small disputes to be taken to small claims court.
Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) disagreed with drawing parallels to prenuptual agreements. She said that because of geographic concentration in the livestock industry, many producers had "no options" and "only one partner" available if they wanted to sell their livestock.
