Twelve senators have written the Senate Agriculture Committee urging provisions in the farm bill that improve enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) to protect producers from “unfair, deceptive and discriminatory practices” in the livestock industry.

The senators said, “Court decisions have watered down the PSA, and contracts have become increasingly used by producers without the tools needed to protect them from abusive practices, not to mention these contracts are being priced off a tremendously thin and volatile spot market.”