Faegre & Benson to Attend DOJ Workshop: Issues of Concern to Farmers

Lawyers from the Faegre & Benson antitrust and food, agriculture and biofuels practices will attend the first in a series of joint public workshops conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice. This workshop, which will focus on issues of concern to farmers, will take place on March 12 in Ankeny, Iowa.

A long-awaited event, this series will explore competition and regulatory issues in the agricultural industry. Workshops are designed to promote dialogue among interested parties, provide legal and economic analyses of agricultural sector issues, and enable listening to participants' real-world experience in these areas.

Faegre & Benson recognizes these workshops will address issues of vital concern to many of our food, agriculture and biofuels clients. In addition to attending the workshops, lawyers from our firm will continue to follow public discussion of these issues and monitor potential policy changes that may affect the industries we serve.

Please contact Kim Walker or Rick Duncan if you have questions, or areas of particular concern.

As listed below, additional workshops are scheduled throughout the year. Ongoing information can be found on the DOJ Antitrust Division Web site.

2010 Workshop Schedule:

March 12

Ankeny, Iowa

This event will serve as an introduction to the series of workshops, but also will focus

specifically on issues facing crop farmers. Specific areas of focus may include seed technology,

vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power.

FFA Enrichment Center

1055 Southwest Prairie Trail Parkway

May 21

Normal, Alabama

Specific areas of focus may include production contracts in the poultry industry,

concentration and buyer power.

Alabama A&M University

Auditorium, James I. Dawson Cooperative Extension Building

4900 Meridian St.

June 7

Madison, Wisconsin

Specific areas of focus may include concentration, marketplace transparency and vertical

integration in the dairy industry.

University of Wisconsin

Great Hall, Memorial Union

800 Langdon St.

August 26

Fort Collins, Colorado

Specific areas of focus will address beef, hog and other animal sectors and may include

enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and concentration.

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colo.

December 8

Washington, D.C.

This workshop will look at the discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and

the prices paid by consumers. As a concluding event, discussions from previous workshops

will be incorporated into the analysis of agriculture markets nationally.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Jefferson Auditorium

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, D.C.