Grainnet

Washington—The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced March 10 an updated schedule and panelists for the first joint public workshop, which will be held on March 12, 2010, in Ankeny, Iowa, to explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry.

The workshop will be held at the FFA Enrichment Center at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).

The workshops, which were first announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Aug. 5, 2009, are the first joint Department of Justice/USDA workshops ever to be held to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry.

The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

Attendance at the workshops is free and open to the public.

The general public and media interested in attending the initial workshop should register at https://go.dmacc.edu/ffa/agworkshop.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Antitrust Division Christine Varney will participate in the workshop and will be joined by Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

They will participate in a roundtable discussion with presentations on current issues affecting farmers.

Testimony and roundtable discussion by a panel of farmers will follow. The workshop will also feature two panels focusing on the competitive dynamics in the seed industry and trends in contracting, transparency and buyer power.

The first day of the workshops will end with an enforcer roundtable and public testimony.

Full Schedule

For more information, call 202-720-4623.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• DOJ
• USDA

more GRAIN NEWS...