S. 4996 — Fairness for Small-Scale Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2026

This section imposes a moratorium on mergers and acquisitions by agricultural dealers, processors, commission merchants, input suppliers, brokers, warehouse operators, or retailers with annual net sales or assets above $222 million of any such entity above $22 million, or of 15 percent or more of voting securities or assets exceeding $21 million. The moratorium remains in effect until the effective date of comprehensive legislation addressing market concentration in the food and agricultural sector. The Attorney General may waive the prohibition only under extraordinary circumstances such as insolvency and must issue implementing regulations after consulting the Federal Trade Commission.

This section directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission to review every merger in agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail that occurred since January 1, 2006, and was subject to premerger notification. It authorizes the agencies to unwind any such merger that caused material harm to competition, farmers, ranchers, workers, or consumers. It authorizes $50 million annually for each agency beginning in FY2026, permits use of fines and penalties for operations, and provides additional Treasury appropriations as needed.

This section extends funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027, and provides $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2028 (from fiscal year 2019). The program supports direct producer-to-consumer marketing, mid-tier value chains, and related partnerships involving beginning farmers, family farms, and food councils.

This section restores mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork and extends it to dairy products. It defines beef as meat produced from cattle (including veal) and pork as meat produced from hogs, expands the covered commodity definition to include muscle cuts and ground forms of beef and pork plus dairy products (fluid milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter, and similar items), and requires retailers to designate the countries where dairy ingredients were produced or sourced and where the product was processed (or the state, region, or locality for exclusively domestic dairy products).

This section revises definitions under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. It updates the term "poultry grower" to include any person raising poultry under a growing arrangement regardless of ownership, and the term "poultry growing arrangement" to cover raising or caring for poultry according to another person's instructions. It removes the slaughter-purpose requirement from the "live poultry dealer" definition. It also establishes the terms "formula price," which sets a base using a price determined after the contract date (excluding futures-based or readily verifiable market adjustments), and "forward contract," which covers livestock delivery more than 7 days after contract execution.

This section revises unlawful acts under the Packers and Stockyards Act by adding definitions for base price, minimum price, poultry production contract, independent contract producer, expected performance standard, and related terms. It prohibits forward contracts for livestock that lack a firm base price, are not bid openly with multiple blind bids, use formula pricing, or exceed 40 cattle or 30 swine, and bars packers from owning or feeding livestock directly or through subsidiaries except for arrangements within 7 business days of slaughter or certain cooperatives.

This section requires covered packers (those reporting daily livestock purchases under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, excluding single-plant operators) to slaughter at least 50 percent of livestock through spot market sales from nonaffiliated producers each reporting day. For packers reporting over 60 percent committed procurement livestock in 2020, the requirement phases in at 20 percent in 2026, 30 percent in 2027–2028, and 50 percent thereafter (or the difference from 100 percent, whichever is greater). It does not preempt stricter state requirements.

This section applies the complaint, hearing, intervention, report, order, and civil penalty procedures in sections 203 through 205 of the Packers and Stockyards Act to live poultry dealers. It authorizes the Secretary to seek temporary injunctions or restraining orders on account of poultry care. It expands the violations subject to enforcement against live poultry dealers to any provision of the Act.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement, without amendment, the final rule titled “Unfair Practices and Undue Preferences in Violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act” (81 Fed. Reg. 92703; December 20, 2016) no later than 30 days after enactment.

This section requires courts to award reasonable attorney’s fees as part of costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action under section 204 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921.

This section directs the Comptroller General to review the fragility of the U.S. meat, poultry, and dairy food system and submit a report to Congress within 180 days. The report must analyze corporate consolidation across the supply chain, its effects on consumers, farmers, workers, greenhouse gas emissions, water and air quality, and lobbying; differences in USDA rules for small versus large establishments; COVID-19 impacts on exports, inventories, processing, prices, and profits; federal support for dominant firms; supply chain disruption risks; and whether breaking up meat and dairy processing oligopolies would improve resiliency.

This section updates terminology in sections 203 and 204 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 193 and 194) by replacing references to “he” and “his” with “the Secretary” and specifying “the packer, live poultry dealer, or swine contractor” in place of “him.”

This section provides $100 million in annual mandatory funding for the farming opportunities training and outreach program for FY2026 through FY2030. It also authorizes appropriations of $100 million per year for the same period (from $50 million for each of FY2019 through FY2023).

This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants or make or insure loans under programs in the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, or the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to help farmers, rural businesses, and cooperatives maintain or increase production, aggregation, processing, distribution, and marketing of value-added, niche, or regionally marketed meat, dairy, and poultry products. It requires priority for projects that increase the availability and geographic distribution of small processing facilities, defined as selected establishments under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or Poultry Products Inspection Act, or dairy facilities processing fewer than 100,000 pounds per day.

This section establishes a 5-year pilot program within the Food Safety and Inspection Service to expand the availability of processing inspectors, technical assistance, and onsite inspections, including no-cost overtime inspections, for eligible processing facilities. It requires the Secretary to identify and train part-time inspectors and technical assistance providers with expertise in veterinary medicine, public health, food service management, and animal science. Eligible facilities are limited to those with labor peace agreements, including facilities under section 764 of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and dairy processing facilities.