The National Turkey Federation is expressing concern over USDA’s final interim rule and two proposed regulations possibly upending contract relationships in place between turkey growers and processors.
The USDA wants to make changes in the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration rules that would govern those contracts.
The Turkey Federation says the changes would increase costs, reduce overall productivity, and lead to a lot of uncertainty and unintended consequences that would outweigh any potential benefits to changing the rules.
“GIPSA’s proposed regulations governing poultry and livestock contracts and marketing could wind up hurting the very producers the department claims it’s trying to protect,” said National Turkey Federation President Joel Brandenberger.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association agrees, saying the rules are “destructive.”
NCBA President Tracy Brunner said, “USDA is going well beyond their statutory limitations, limiting marketing options for a product that America is demanding.”
Brunner says if the USDA was interested in real solutions, they wouldn’t rush the rules out the door at the end of the current administration.
He adds, “Cattlemen and women don’t appreciate Secretary Vilsack throwing a grenade in the building as he abandons it.”
