§ 201.102 - Disclosures for broiler production.

§ 201.102 xxx

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Disclosures for broiler production.

(a) Obligation to furnish information and documents. In addition to the requirements of § 201.100 of this part, a live poultry dealer engaged in the production of broilers must provide the documents described in this section to the prospective or current broiler grower.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, when a live poultry dealer seeks to renew, revise, or replace an existing broiler growing arrangement, or to establish a new broiler growing arrangement that does not contemplate modifications to the existing housing specifications, the live poultry dealer must provide the following documents at least 14 calendar days before the live poultry dealer executes the broiler growing arrangement (provided that the grower may waive up to 7 calendar days of that time period):

(i) A true, written copy of the renewed, revised, replacement, or new broiler growing arrangement.

(ii) The Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document, as described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

(2) When a live poultry dealer seeks to enter a broiler growing arrangement with a broiler grower or prospective broiler grower that will require an original capital investment, the live poultry dealer must provide the following to the broiler grower or prospective broiler grower simultaneously with the housing specifications:

(i) A copy of the broiler growing arrangement that is affiliated with the current housing specifications.

(ii) The Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document, as described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

(iii) A letter of intent that can be relied upon to obtain financing for the original capital investment.

(3) When a live poultry dealer seeks to offer or impose modifications to existing housing specifications that could reasonably require a broiler grower or prospective broiler grower to make an additional capital investment, the live poultry dealer must provide the following to the broiler grower or prospective broiler grower simultaneously with the modified housing specifications:

(i) A copy of the broiler growing arrangement that is affiliated with the modified housing specifications.

(ii) The Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document, as described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

(iii) A letter of intent that can be relied upon to obtain financing for the additional capital investment.

(b) Prominent Disclosures. The Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document must include a cover page followed by the disclosures as required in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section. The order, form, and content of the cover page shall be and include:

(1) The title “LIVE POULTRY DEALER DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT” in capital letters and bold type.

(2) The live poultry dealer's name, type of business organization, principal business address, telephone number, email address, and, if applicable, primary internet website address.

(3) The length of the term of the broiler growing arrangement.

(4) The following statement: “The income from your poultry farm may be significantly affected by the number of flocks the poultry company places on your farm each year, the density or number of birds placed with each flock, and the target weight at which poultry is caught. The poultry company may have full discretion and control over these and other factors. Please carefully review the information in this document.”

(5) The following minimums established under the terms of the broiler growing arrangement:

(i) The minimum number of placements on the broiler grower's farm annually.

(ii) The minimum stocking density for each flock to be placed on the broiler grower's farm.

(6) The applicable of the following two statements:

(i) “This disclosure document summarizes certain provisions of your broiler growing arrangement and other information. You have the right to read this disclosure document and all accompanying documents carefully. At least 14 calendar days before the live poultry dealer executes the broiler growing arrangement (provided that the grower may waive up to 7 calendar days of that time period), the poultry company is required to provide you with: (1) this disclosure document, and (2) a copy of the broiler growing arrangement.” or

(ii) “This disclosure document summarizes certain provisions of your broiler growing arrangement and other information. You have the right to read this disclosure document and all accompanying documents carefully. The live poultry dealer is required to provide this disclosure document to you simultaneously with (a) a copy of the broiler growing arrangement, (b) any new or modified housing specifications that would require you to make an original or additional capital investment, and (c) a letter of intent.”

(7) The following statement: “Even if the broiler growing arrangement contains a confidentiality provision, by law you still retain the right to discuss the terms of the broiler growing arrangement and the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document with a Federal or State agency, your financial advisor or lender, your legal advisor, your accounting services representative, other growers for the same live poultry dealer, and your immediate family or business associates. A business associate is a person not employed by you but with whom you have a valid business reason for consulting when entering into or operating under a broiler growing arrangement.”

(8) The following statement in bold type: “Note that USDA has not verified the information contained in this document. If this disclosure by the live poultry dealer contains any false or misleading statement or a material omission, a violation of Federal and/or State law may have occurred.”

(c) Required disclosures following the cover page. The live poultry dealer shall disclose, in the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document following the cover page, the following information:

(1) A summary of litigation over the prior 5 years between the live poultry dealer and any broiler grower, including the nature of the litigation, its location, the initiating party, a brief description of the controversy, and any resolution.

(2) A summary of all bankruptcy filings in the prior 5 years by the live poultry dealer and any parent, subsidiary, or related entity of the live poultry dealer.

(3) A statement that describes the live poultry dealer's policies and procedures regarding the potential sale of the broiler grower's facility or assignment of the broiler growing arrangement to another party, including the circumstances under which the live poultry dealer will offer the successive buyer a broiler growing arrangement.

(4) A statement describing the live poultry dealer's policies and procedures, as well as any appeal rights arising from the following events described in paragraphs (c)(4)(i) through (c)(4)(vi) of this section. If no policy or procedure exists, the live poultry dealer will acknowledge “no policy exists” relating to the items in paragraphs (c)(4)(i) through (c)(4)(vi) of this section.

(i) Increased lay-out time.

(ii) Sick, diseased, and high early-mortality flocks.

(iii) Natural disasters, weather events, or other events adversely affecting the physical infrastructure of the local complex or the grower facility.

(iv) Other events potentially resulting in massive depopulation of flocks, affecting grower payments.

(v) Feed outages, including outage times.

(vi) Grower complaints relating to feed quality, formulation, or suitability.

(5) A table showing the average annual broiler grower turnover rates for the previous calendar year and the average of the 5 previous calendar years at a company level and at a local complex level.

(d) Financial Disclosures. The live poultry dealer must include in the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document the following information:

(1) Tables showing average annual gross payments to broiler growers at the local complex for each of the 5 previous years. The tables must express average payments in U.S. dollars per farm facility square foot. The tables must be organized to present the following elements:

(i) Year.

(ii) Housing specification tier (lowest to highest).

(iii) Distribution of payments, specifically either—

(A) Quintile (lowest to highest), for a local complex comprising 10 or more growers, or

(B) Mean and one standard deviation from the mean, for a local complex comprising 9 or fewer growers.

(2) If poultry housing specifications for broiler growers under contract with the complex are modified such that an additional capital investment may be required, or if the 5-year averages provided under paragraph (d)(1) of this section do not accurately represent projected grower gross annual payments under the terms of the applicable broiler growing arrangement for any reason, the live poultry dealer must provide the following information:

(i) Tables providing projections of average annual gross payments to broiler growers under contract with the complex with the same housing specifications for the term of the broiler growing arrangement at five quintile levels or by mean and standard deviation expressed as dollars per farm facility square foot.

(ii) An explanation of why the annual gross payment averages for the previous 5 years, as provided under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, do not provide an accurate representation of projected future payments, including the basic assumptions underlying the projections provided under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section.

(3) A summary of information the live poultry dealer collects or maintains relating to grower variable costs inherent in broiler production.

(4) Current contact information for the State university extension service office or the county farm advisor's office that can provide relevant information about broiler grower costs and broiler farm financial management in the broiler grower's geographic area.

(e) Small Live Poultry Dealer Financial Disclosures. A live poultry dealer engaged in the production of broilers is exempt from the requirements in paragraph (a)(1) of this section if the live poultry dealer, together with all companies controlled by or under common control with the live poultry dealer, slaughters fewer than 2 million live pounds of broilers weekly (104 million pounds annually).

(f) Governance and Certification.

(1) The live poultry dealer engaged in the production of broilers must establish, maintain, and enforce a governance framework that is reasonably designed to:

(i) Audit the accuracy and completeness of the disclosures required under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section.

(ii) Ensure compliance with all obligations under the Packers and Stockyards Act and regulations thereunder.

(2) The principal executive officer or officers, or persons performing similar functions, must certify in the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document that the live poultry dealer has established, maintains, and enforces the governance framework and that, based on the officer's knowledge, the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact which would render it misleading.

(g) Receipt by Growers.

(1) The Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document must include a broiler grower's signature page that contains the following statement: “If the live poultry dealer does not deliver this disclosure document within the timeframe specified herein, or if this disclosure document contains any false or misleading statement or a material omission (including any discrepancy with other oral or written statements made in connection with the broiler growing arrangement), a violation of Federal and State law may have occurred. Violations of Federal and State laws may be determined to be unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive and unlawful under the Packers and Stockyards Act, as amended. You may file a complaint at farmerfairness.gov or call 1–833–DIAL–PSD (1–833–342–5773) if you suspect a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act or any other Federal law governing fair and competitive marketing, including contract growing, of livestock and poultry. Additional information on rights and responsibilities under the Packers and Stockyards Act may be found at www.ams.usda.gov.”

(2) The live poultry dealer must obtain the broiler grower's or prospective broiler grower's dated signature on the broiler grower's signature page in paragraph (g)(1) of this section as evidence of receipt or obtain alternative documentation to evidence delivery and that best efforts were used to obtain grower receipt. The live poultry dealer must provide a copy of the dated signature page or alternative documentation to the broiler grower or prospective broiler grower and must retain a copy of the dated signature page or alternative documentation in the dealer's records for 3 years following expiration, termination, or non-renewal of the broiler growing arrangement.

(3) Information in the Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document must be presented in a clear, concise, and understandable manner for growers. Live poultry dealers may refer to Form PSD 6100 for further instructions on the presentation of information and certain calculations.

(4) The live poultry dealer must make reasonable efforts to ensure that growers are aware of their right to request translation assistance, and to assist the grower in translating the Disclosure Document at least 14 calendar days before the live poultry dealer executes the broiler growing arrangement that does not contemplate modifications to the existing housing specifications (provided that the grower may waive up to 7 calendar days of that time period) or where modifications to the existing housing specifications are contemplated when the live poultry dealer provides the grower with the Disclosure Document. Reasonable efforts include but are not limited to providing current contact information for professional translation service providers, trade associations with translator resources, relevant community groups, or any other person or organization that provides translation services in the broiler grower's geographic area. A live poultry dealer may not restrict a broiler grower or prospective broiler grower from discussing or sharing the Disclosure Document for purposes of translation with a person or organization that provides language translation services.

(h) Contract terms. A live poultry dealer engaged in the production of broilers must specify in the true written copy of the broiler growing arrangement the following:

(1) The minimum number of placements of poultry at the broiler grower's facility annually.

(2) The minimum stocking density for each flock placed with the broiler grower under the broiler growing arrangement.

[88 FR 83292, Nov. 28, 2023

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