Opinion ID: 76986
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Packers and Stockyards Act Claim

Text: The PSA prohibits live poultry dealers from “engag[ing] in or us[ing] any unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive practice or device,” or “mak[ing] or giv[ing] any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person or locality in any respect, or subject[ing] any particular person or locality to 7 any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect”. 7 U.S.C. § 192(a) and (b). The Adkins have alleged that Cagle JV violated this statute when it (1) provided them with inferior birds, (2) provided them with inferior or insufficient feed, (3) improperly weighed birds they had raised, and (4) offered them an unfair arbitration contract.6 There is no evidence that the Adkins received a substantial number of inferior birds, much less that Cagle JV intended to provide them with poor quality birds. The Adkins did demonstrate that Cagle JV could choose to send buses of chicks to different farms once they were loaded, but this falls far short of a showing that Cagle JV discriminated against the Adkins by sending them inferior birds. Uncontroverted evidence states that flocks were only sent to a different farm when the original destination farm was not yet ready to receive them. Chick quality is also a complex matter which cannot be determined at a glance, meaning that it would be difficult to judge the quality of a flock when loaded onto a bus for 6 We do not imply that these factual allegations, if proved, would establish a violation of the PSA. In the present case, it is sufficient for us to hold that the district court was correct in finding that the Adkins did not prove their allegations, and that the few facts they did produce were insufficient to make out a PSA claim. This court recently held that to prevail under this provision of the Packers and Stockyards Act, a plaintiff must show that the defendant’s unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or deceptive trade practice either adversely affects competition or is likely to adversely affect competition. London v. Fieldale Farms Corp., ___ F.3d ___, 2005 WL 1279147, at  (11th Cir. 2005). The Adkins have presented no evidence that any of Cagle JV’s activities had an adverse effect on competition, or were likely to have such an effect. 8 transport. Nothing in the record suggests that Cagle JV ever delivered poor quality chicks to the Adkins or any other broiler growers with any discriminatory purpose. Nor have the Adkins produced evidence of specific instances where Cagle JV gave them insufficient or inferior feed. The evidence did suggest that some of Cagle JV’s broiler farms would run out of feed from time to time while others received too much. But the Adkins did nothing to show that they were ever specifically targeted for insufficient or inferior feed. The Adkins have also failed to establish any illegal weighing practices. In the earlier years of the Camilla plant’s operation, there were discrepancies in the weighing process that might affect the live weight. Cagle JV made reimbursement payments to cover all misweighings prior to 1995, and the Adkins cannot identify any instances where Cagle JV misweighed their birds after 1995. Beginning in 1999, Cagle JV offered broiler growers a new form of Broiler Production Agreement which contained an arbitration clause. The Adkins allege that these arbitration contracts were unfair. At first the arbitration contracts were made available to all broiler growers, at their option, with a higher rate of pay for those who accepted them. The contracts were changed later so that all growers received the same pay, with arbitration still at the grower’s option. There is 9 nothing unfair or discriminatory about Cagle JV’s offer of a higher rate of pay in consideration for arbitration. Furthermore, contrary to the Adkins’ assertion, there is no evidence that Cagle JV ever “guaranteed” the Adkins a pay increase which they were later “denied” because of their failure to sign the arbitration contract.