USDA Proposes Scrapping Protections for Poultry Farmers

The agency plans to rescind three Biden-era rules intended to give chicken growers more power in their contracts with big meatpackers. The agency plans to rescind three Biden-era rules intended to give chicken growers more power in their contracts with big meatpackers. July 9, 2026 July 9, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is planning to rescind three Biden-era rules that strengthened protections for poultry farmers under the Packers and Stockyards Act. Expand your understanding of food systems as a Civil Eats member. Enjoy unlimited access to our groundbreaking reporting, engage with experts, and connect with a community of changemakers. Already a member? Login About 20,000 farmers raise chickens as contractors for big meat processors, in a highly consolidated $45 billion industry. Four companies control 60 percent of the market, and advocates argue they often use their outsized influence to exploit growers. The rules were intended to give farmers more power, by requiring companies to provide more details on payment structures, make ranking systems more fair, and avoid discrimination and retaliation against growers. According to submissions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the USDA will now take comments on proposals to remove the regulations, called Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments; Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity; and Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems. The rules were finalized under President Biden’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack following decades of farm group advocacy and multiple proposals and rollbacks during the Obama and first Trump administrations. If rescinded, they will shift more power back to large companies to dictate prices and conditions. In a statement, National Farmers Union President Rob Larew urged President Donald Trump’s USDA to reverse course. “We are deeply concerned by USDA’s proposal to rescind rules that protect family farmers and ranchers from retaliation, discrimination and unfair treatment by powerful meatpackers and processors,” he said. “The Trump administration has rightly pointed to consolidation and monopoly power as a driver of higher consumer prices and tighter margins for farmers and ranchers. But that acknowledgement must be reinforced by strong rules to protect farmers and increase fairness and competition in livestock and poultry markets.” Last spring, groups that represent the biggest meat companies sued the USDA in an attempt to overturn the rule on Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity. And earlier this month, after taking public comments, the agency delayed implementation of the Poultry Grower Payment Systems rule by 18 months. In response to questions about the decision to rescind the rules, an agency spokesperson directed Civil Eats to the OMB. But the OMB’s role is to review regulations submitted by other federal agencies, and its team did not respond to a request for comment by press time. (Link to this post.) July 9, 2026 Lucille Contreras, the founder of the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, on restoring bison in Texas and making sure mothers provide nutritious food to the next generation. Like the story? Join the conversation.