We believe these bills will have a chilling effect on the already financially-ailing agribusiness sector by creating obstacles to mergers and requiring the sharing of proprietary business information. Stalling mergers will impede the flow of capital investment to the agribusiness community and may well drive struggling businesses to close their doors rather than wade through a new morass of complicated pre-merger approval processes. The customers and input-suppliers of America's farmers will be hurt, and this will hurt, not help, America's farmers. Mandating New Terms for Agribusiness Contracts A growing number of transactions between agribusinesses and farmers involve contracts. Provisions in these contracts cover everything from the quality of the agricultural commodity to its method or date of delivery to its volume to its price.
Contracts provide a degree of stability for both buyers and sellers.
Legislation to create new requirements for contracts between farmers and agribusinesses will have significant, negative legal and business implications. Within some states and here in the U.S. Senate, some are considering legislation that would set special new requirements for contracts between farmers and agribusinesses. This cover sheet provides only a brief summary of your contract. This is not the contract and only the terms of the actual contract are legally binding. The contract itself sets forth, in detail, the rights and obligations of both you and the contractor or processor.