Title 7AgricultureRelease 119-73

§208 Unreasonable or discriminatory practices generally; rights of stockyard owner of management and regulation

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - STOCKYARDS AND STOCKYARD DEALERS › § 208

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Stockyard owners and market agencies must make and follow fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory rules for providing stockyard services. Unfair or discriminatory rules and practices are banned. Owners may run and set rules for their stockyards to keep markets efficient and competitive. Those rules cannot stop a registered market agency or dealer from working at other markets or doing occasional off-market sales.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §208

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It shall be the duty of every stockyard owner and market agency to establish, observe, and enforce just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory regulations and practices in respect to the furnishing of stockyard services, and every unjust, unreasonable, or discriminatory regulation or practice is prohibited and declared to be unlawful.
(b)It shall be the responsibility and right of every stockyard owner to manage and regulate his stockyard in a just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory manner, to prescribe rules and regulations and to require those persons engaging in or attempting to engage in the purchase, sale, or solicitation of livestock at such stockyard to conduct their operations in a manner which will foster, preserve, or insure an efficient, competitive public market. Such rules and regulations shall not prevent a registered market agency or dealer from rendering service on other markets or in occasional and incidental off-market transactions.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1968—Pub. L. 90–446 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 208

Title 7Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73