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Know Your Contracts! Helping Farmers Ask the Right Questions Before They Sign on the Dotted Line

Jill Krueger

Summary

The “Know Your Contracts!” Project was led by Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG) and the Rural Advancement Foundation International—USA (RAFI).
“Know Your Contracts!” focused on educating farmers new to the use of contracts. While contracts have been widely used in the poultry industry for many years, recruitment of Hmong and other Southeast Asian people is an emerging phenomenon. FLAG and RAFI produced new materials, and presented them in an intrepreted workshop for Hmong growers and community leaders. The materials focused on protections provided by the federal Packers and Stockyards Act. We also updated materials designed to encourage prospective poultry growers to raise questions about common contract features that they might not think of on their own. Another growing arena for contract use is direct marketing. We presented to growers at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference, many of whom were on the cusp of changes in the nature and scale of their farming and marketing efforts. The materials again focused on questions for growers to address at the outset of the agreement, in order to avoid misunderstandings and build a strong ongoing relationship with buyers. Participating growers and potential growers learned questions that will help them to evaluate contracts prior to making a binding legal commitment--or perhaps even initiating a written agreement themselves. Agriculture as a whole benefits when contracts are understood by both parties and potential disputes are identified and addressed before the contract is signed.

Details

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