Maryland Rep. Andy Harris is expected to try to block the USDA from issuing new fair-play rules today for poultry farmers who raise birds under contract for large processors, said a small-farm advocacy group. “Harris has indicated that he will offer such an amendment” when the House Appropriations Committee debates the fiscal 2017 funding bill for USDA, FDA and related agencies, said the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
The final draft of the rules has not been released but they are expected to require processors to show how they calculate payments to growers, and to protect growers from retaliation if they talk to the USDA or lawmakers about their contracts.
The USDA began work on the regulations in 2011 but has been blocked each year from completing work by opponents who attached riders to the annual USDA appropriations bill. Congress did not include the rider last year, so there was hope the new regulations could be issued during the final year of the Obama administration.
“For too long contract farmers have been taking on the risk of raising livestock they do not own, having no control over how the animals are raised, and working in a forced tournament system that guarantees half of them will always lose ” said NSAC policy specialist Paul Wolfe. On his congressional website, Harris says, “I promise to shield farmers from unnecessary and harmful regulations that could hurt their ability to grow and create jobs.”
The USDA-FDA bill totals $147.7 billion, roughly 5-percent higher than current funding.