Liability issues are of great concern to contract growers. Under production contracts, growers do not own the birds but are nonetheless responsible for waste spills and other permit violations. Under development are state laws that assign environmental liability to integrators for the wastes of poultry grown under contract. Several laws in Iowa were proposed in 2000 (HF 2245, SB 2182 and SF 2198, SF 2387) to make integrators liable for environmental violations committed by contract producers, but the bills failed. Kentucky's Division of Water finalized regulations on concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs) which include integrator liability.

Minnesota has a law that assigns responsibility to the parent companies of subsidiary processors to pay producers if the contractor fails to uphold the contract. Other states have proposed similar laws, though none have passed.

RULES

• Contract Growers - Liability Laws - Kentucky
  Kentucky's Division of Water recently finalized regulations on concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs) which include integrator liability. The KY law is the first of its kind in the country. Under the regulations, integrators must apply for a state permit (KPDES) even if they own animals kept by a farmer under contract. If the permit is violated, it is the integrators who are liable for consequences. More...
• Contract Growers - Liability Laws - Minnesota
  Minnesota passed a law in 1990 that assigns liability to the corporation that owns the processor for any unpaid debts due to growers. More...

More:

• See the Family Farm Rules Bulletin (#4) for more information on animal agricultural contracts!
• National Contract Growers Association
• Rural Advancement Foundation International
• When the Farmer Makes the Rules - by Brian Levy, The New Rules, Fall 2000
• The Plucking of the American Chicken Farmer, By Dan Fesperman and Kate Shatzkin, The Sun, Feb 28, 1999.