Republicans are trying to head off new regulations on poultry and livestock marketing practices as House appropriators debate the Agriculture Department's fiscal 2017 spending bill this week.

 

USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is rushing to finalize a rule after Congress failed last year to renew a longstanding prohibition on the regulations. But Republicans plan to propose to reinstate the block on USDA rulemaking when the House Appropriations Committee debates the USDA funding bill on Tuesday.

 

GOP Rep. Andy Harris, who represents Maryland's Eastern Shore, a major chicken producer, will sponsor the amendment. He said that the regulations would discourage incentives for farmers to produce the highest quality birds. “As we're going to build up our export economy, I can't understand why we would want to handcuff the poultry industry,” he said.

 

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