WHAT HAPPENED: The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has published the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, a snapshot of rules federal agencies plan to propose or finalize.
WHAT IS IN IT IMPORTANT TO CHICKEN: Several entries in it touch broiler production, HPAI response, and grower contracting. Of note:
- Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) rescissions (AMS): Three Biden-era PSA rules are teed up for formal rescission via new rulemaking including the “Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity” rule, the “Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments” rule, and the “Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems” rule. A related final rule already delayed the payment-systems rule’s effective date until December 31, 2027; the rescission proposed rule is the next step in unwinding it.
- Line speed modernization (FSIS): FSIS’s Maximum Line Speed Rates for Young Chicken and Turkey Establishments Operating Under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) remains listed; the comment period closed April 20, 2026, and the agency is now working toward a final rule.
- Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) import requirements (APHIS): This proposed rule would shorten the current 90-day waiting period before live birds and avian commodities can be imported from a region after an HPAI-affected premises is cleared, aligning the U.S. standard with World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) benchmarks.
- National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) biennial update (APHIS): A proposed rule would codify changes to NPIP regulations approved by voting delegates at the 2024 NPIP Biennial Conference.
- Payment of Indemnity and Compensation for HPAI (APHIS): APHIS is moving to finalize its December 2024 interim final rule requiring commercial poultry premises to pass a biosecurity audit before restocking after an HPAI outbreak, or before buffer-zone premises can move birds onto the property.
- SNAP “eligible food” definition (FNS): Tied to the administration’s MAHA initiative, this proposed rule would narrow what qualifies as “eligible food” under SNAP, which could have downstream effects on chicken as a covered protein.
WHY IT MATTERS: Several of these items are top priorities for NCC and the Unified Agenda provides a clear window into USDA’s rulemaking priorities.
NCC’s TAKE: “We thank Secretary Rollins and President Trump for their work in cutting unnecessary red tape on businesses and producers, including the Biden administration’s Packers and Stockyard rules,” said Harrison Kircher, President, National Chicken Council. “These rules were rushed, one-size-fits-all mandates that would have added compliance costs and legal uncertainty without benefiting farmers or consumers. We trust this Administration to regulate competitive markets, support American agriculture, and protect consumers — not through duplicative federal mandates, but through common-sense oversight that reflects how the modern broiler industry actually works. NCC and its members look forward to continuing to work with USDA on policies that strengthen the entire chicken supply chain, reward farmers, and keep America’s #1 protein affordable for American consumers.”
WHAT’S NEXT: We will monitor the Federal Register for the publication of rules pertaining to all the topics previously mentioned. NCC will have opportunities to comment on each PSA rescission proposed rule once available. Regarding line speeds, the next milestone is for FSIS to publish a final rule. We will continue tracking timing and circulating comment deadlines as dockets open.
Source: NBC News
WHAT HAPPENED: NCC has released the most detailed update to its Broiler Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist since December 2022, and the guidelines have now been certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO).
WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES? Industry-wide standards for the humane treatment, care, and processing of broiler chickens. First developed by NCC in 1999, the guidelines cover every phase of a broiler chicken’s life, including:
- Hatchery Operations: Guidelines for the proper handling, temperature control, and biosecurity of newly hatched chicks.
- Growout Operations: Standards for housing, nutrition, lighting, air quality, and daily flock husbandry.
- Catching and Transportation: Detailed protocols to minimize injuries and stress during loading and transport to the processing plant.
- Processing Operations: Standards for humane stunning methods (including electrical and Controlled Atmospheric Stunning – CAS) to ensure unconsciousness prior to slaughter.
- Abuse and Audit Failure: Zero-tolerance policies for animal abuse and strict consequences for failing an on-site audit.
The guidelines continue to emphasize measurable Key Welfare Indicators (KWIs) such as mobility, insensibility at slaughter, and wing and leg injuries.
WHO IS PAACO? The leading, non-profit coalition established in 2004 that sets standards of excellence in animal welfare auditing. It promotes the humane treatment of animals by providing professional training and certification for auditors across the swine, dairy, poultry, beef cattle, and feedlot industries.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE NCC GUIDELINES:
- A new dedicated section on Controlled Atmospheric Stunning (CAS) with standards separate from electrical stunning.
- Expanded lighting verification checks.
- New requirements for hand and mechanical catching programs.
- A required routine stunning-equipment-check program with a written emergency plan
- Reorganized language throughout — including replacing “poultry” with “broiler” to more precisely reflect scope.
NCC’s TAKE: “These updated guidelines reflect our industry’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, grounded in the best available science,” said Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., NCC Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. “Adding a dedicated section for Controlled Atmospheric Stunning gives companies using that technology a clear, fully scored set of standards, while our new requirements for routine stunning equipment checks and emergency response planning help ensure consistent, humane treatment of birds at every stage. We’re grateful to the veterinarians, poultry scientists, and auditors who helped shape this update.”
WHAT’S NEXT: NCC requests that auditors wait until at least October 1, 2026, to start auditing to the new 2026 NCC Broiler Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist. Until then, auditors should continue to use the 2022 NCC Broiler Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist. This will provide industry time to make any necessary updates. In addition, NCC has begun the process of updating our welfare guidelines for broiler breeders.
Tyson Chickens at a farm in Prairie Grove.
Photo by Beth Hall
NCC features in a short spotlight column the official representative from each of our Allied Leader and Allied Member companies. This week’s Allied Leader Spotlight is Dr. Suzanne McComb, Director, Key Acct Veterinarian, Poultry, at Boehringer Ingelheim.
We asked Dr. McComb three questions:
In 2-3 sentences, describe what good or service your company provides to the broiler industry:
Boehringer Ingelheim provides high quality and innovative poultry vaccines that assist in optimal health for breeders, broilers, commercial layers and turkeys. Our poultry portfolio is exclusively recombinant, live, and killed vaccines focused on disease control, prevention, and optimal immune health. Boehringer is a leader in innovation as we produced and licensed the novel first poultry vectored HVT recombinant vaccine. Poultry, and livestock in general, vaccines for long term innovation in both the United States and globally.
Briefly describe your position and responsibilities within the company:
I am on the Boehringer Ingelheim US animal health livestock leadership team and lead the Key Account Veterinary, (technical services) team. We focus to support our customers the technical support for our poultry vaccines and value-added collaboration. In addition, I work on long term strategy for poultry health in both the US and with our global team. We work jointly with stakeholders and allied commodity groups to promote poultry health for our customers’ needs.
What is your favorite chicken dish:
I am simple – grilled bone-in chicken thighs. They are amazing just the way they are without any spices, dry rubs or sauce.
WHAT HAPPENED: House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) this week introduced the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA), a bill to expand and modernize the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.
WHAT’S IN THE BILL: The legislation would remove the requirement that agricultural work be seasonal in nature, redefining “temporary” as any job contract of fewer than 350 days — opening H-2A access to year-round operations including dairy and poultry processing. The bill also revises the wage calculation methodology, caps year-over-year adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) fluctuations at no more than a 3.25 percent increase or 1.5 percent decrease, and mandates a single online platform to streamline interactions with the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security, and State.
WHY IT MATTERS: Most significantly for the chicken industry, SAWA expands the statutory definition of “agricultural labor or services” to include the harvest and processing of meat and poultry. Current H-2A rules exclude processing/harvesting because they fall outside the “agricultural labor” definition tied to seasonal field work. The bill covers only slaughter and the breakdown of carcasses, meaning the provision applies to front-end plant positions only. Further processing operations — deboning, portioning, marination, and ready-to-eat lines — remain outside the scope of H-2A eligibility under this bill. The bill also transfers authority to define “agricultural labor or services” from the Secretary of Labor to the Secretary of Agriculture.
NCC’S TAKE: “Work is not seasonal in our processing plants — it is year-round, so access to a pool of stable legal workers through a viable visa program is critical to food manufacturers, like chicken processors,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher. “We thank Chairman Thompson and look forward to working with him and Congress to pass this bill.”
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: “There’s not a constituent in America, and a number of families around the world, that do not pick up the tools of agriculture an average of three times a day, knife, fork or spoon,” Thompson told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday addressing the bill. “Food security clearly is national security, and workforce is a main factor.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Because SAWA amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, it falls under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee, not the Agriculture Committee. Chairman Thompson has been working to build a broad coalition of original co-sponsors, and the bill has drawn support from more than 250 agriculture organizations. There is no companion bill in the Senate at this time. NCC will continue to engage with Congress on the legislation and advocate for provisions that support the chicken industry’s workforce needs.
House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson. Source: House Ag Committee
WHAT HAPPENED: In its June 26 Constituent Update, FSIS announced a new pilot program allowing poultry processing establishments to test alternative approaches to managing Salmonella. The pilot is open to chicken and turkey slaughter and processing establishments subject to one or more existing Salmonella performance standards for carcasses, parts, or comminuted products.
WHAT IS BIOMAPPING? Biomapping is a facility-specific testing approach in which an establishment samples and tests multiple sites throughout its slaughter and processing operations — rather than relying solely on standard end-product testing points — to identify where and how Salmonella levels change as product moves through the facility.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: To participate, establishments must either incorporate Salmonella biomapping into their food safety system or include a validated Critical Control Point (CCP) for Salmonella control in their HACCP plan. Facilities that already conduct biomapping or have implemented a validated CCP are also eligible to participate.
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE PROGRAM: FSIS plans to evaluate a shortened moving window for Salmonella performance standards, moving from the current 52-week window to a variable window beginning at 13 weeks, with a maximum of 52 weeks. FSIS will also consider waiver requests submitted through the Salmonella Initiative Program (SIP) for alternative carcass microbial sampling frequencies.
Under the pilot, establishments using this option must submit a sampling plan identifying the specific locations where Salmonella samples will be collected and enumerated. The resulting data is intended to give both the establishment and FSIS a clearer picture of where contamination risk is concentrated, supporting more targeted interventions.
WHY IT MATTERS: Information gathered through the pilot could inform future regulatory changes and support updates regarding how the Agency evaluates and enforces Salmonella performance standards. The pilot program follows a public meeting held January 14 that discussed practical strategies for reducing Salmonella illnesses tied to poultry products, signaling continued agency focus on data-driven, plant-specific control strategies rather than one-size-fits-all standards.
NCC’s TAKE: We appreciate the Agency working with industry to collect data that will aid in making informed and science-based regulatory decisions.
WHAT’S NEXT: For establishments approved to participate in this pilot, FSIS inspection personnel will routinely verify collected biomapping data. Establishments opting to participate in the CCP pilot must submit information to FSIS describing the validated Salmonella intervention in their HACCP plan.
