Fairness for Small-Scale Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2026

Sponsor: Peter Welch (Democratic-VT)July 15, 2026

AI-generated ?

Report an error

Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Halts big food company mergers and boosts support for small farmers and ranchers.

This bill would pause large mergers in the food and agriculture industry and allow the government to review past mergers. It would also bring back country of origin labeling for beef, pork, and dairy, and create new rules to ensure fair practices for farmers and ranchers when dealing with large meatpackers and poultry companies. The goal is to increase competition and help smaller producers.

What Would Change

Today, large food and agriculture companies can merge more freely, and farmers often face limited options for selling their products due to market concentration. After this bill, large mergers in the food industry would be paused, and past mergers could be undone if they harmed competition. Farmers would also have stronger protections against unfair practices, and consumers would see country of origin labels on more meat and dairy products.

Key Provisions

Would pause large mergers between big agribusinesses, food and beverage manufacturers, and grocery retailers.
Would allow the government to review and potentially undo large food industry mergers that happened since 2006 if they harmed competition, farmers, workers, or consumers.
Would require country of origin labels for beef, pork, and dairy products.
Would ban large meatpackers from owning or feeding most of the livestock they slaughter.
Would require large meatpackers to buy at least 20-50% of their livestock on the open market from non-affiliated producers.
Would set new rules for fair contracts between poultry companies and growers, including minimum prices and clear performance standards.

View on Congress.gov

S 4996 · 119th Congress · July 15, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10

Fairness for Small-Scale Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2026

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity