This week dozens of members of the House and Senate joined in two letters to USDA requesting extensions to the comment periods for the latest two Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) rules.
Congressional Chicken Caucus co-chairs Steve Womack (R-AR) and Jim Costa (D-CA) and Senate Chicken Caucus co-chairs Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Chris Coons (D-DE) requested extensions to the comment periods for USDA’s recently proposed PSA rules, entitled “Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems” and “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets.”
“As members with an interest in the affordability, availability, and quality of meat and poultry products,” the House letter said, “we respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) grant a 180-day extension to the above referenced proposed rules.”
“In addition to the industry having re-adjusted thousands of contracts with farmers over the Christmas holiday,” the House letter said, referencing the chicken industry, “the breadth of new requirements outlined in the proposed rules and their impacts on how integrators and contract farmers interact warrant careful scrutiny, analysis, and the submission of comprehensive comments.”
Just before the letters were sent this week, USDA announced a 15-day comment period extension for the “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets” proposed rule. USDA did not propose an extension for the other proposed rule.
“Noting that the USDA has extended the comment period on this rule for an additional 15 days, we continue to request that the comment period be extended by 180 days from the updated published date,” both letters said in response to USDA’s extension announcement.
The House letter requested a 180-day extension to both comment periods, while the Senate letter requested a 90-day extension, despite USDA’s late and inadequate extension announcement. Both letters were addressed to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
As of now, the “Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems” proposed rule’s comment period closes on August 9, with USDA giving stakeholders just 60 days to fully digest and analyze the wide-ranging rule. The “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets” proposed rule’s comment period was originally scheduled to close on August 27, but has now been extended by just 15 days to September 11.
The House letter, led by Congressional Chicken Caucus co-chairs Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Steve Womack (R-AR), totaled 81 signatures, including: Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Wiley Nickel (D-NC), Russell Fry (R-SC), Donald Davis (D-NC), Keith Self (R-TX), Rick Allen (R-GA), James Comer (R-KY), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Andy Harris (R-MD), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Trent Kelly (R-MS), David Kustoff (R-TN), Mike Flood (R-NE), French Hill (R-AR), Tracey mann (R-KS), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), GT Thompson (R-PA), Mike Ezell (R-MS), James Baird (R-IN), Ben Cline (R-VA), Michael Guest (R-MS), Austin Scott (R-GA), Mark Alford (R-MO), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Barry Moore (R-AL), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), John Duarte (R-CA), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Christopher Smith (D-NJ), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Frank Lucas (R-OK), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Hal Rogers (R-KY), Julia Letlow (LA), Greg Steube (R-FL), David Trone (D-MD), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Ross Fulcher (R-ID), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Adrian Smith (R-NE), David Rouzer (R-NC), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Kay Granger (R-TX), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Greg Pence (R-IN), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Ron Estes (R-TX), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), and Zach Nunn (R-IA).
The full House letter can be found here.
The Senate letter, led by Senate Chicken Caucus co-chairs Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Chris Coons (D-DE), totaled 22 signatures, including: Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ted Budd (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Cornyn (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mark Warner (D-VA), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Braun (R-IN), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Tim Scott (R-SC), and John Boozman (R-AR).
The full Senate letter can be found here.
