Following the US Small Business Administration’s (SBA) USDA Regulatory Small Business Roundtable in December 2025, the National Chicken Council provided additional information to the agency regarding several USDA regulations that impact the small businesses NCC represents. 

"Although we support the agencies’ missions to promote fair business practices, protect public and animal health, and ensure a safe food supply, each of these rules would or do impose unnecessary, costly, and unlawful regulatory burdens on industry – particularly small businesses," wrote NCC Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Ashley Peterson.

The regulations that affect chicken production have substantial direct and indirect effects on small businesses across the country, and in particular on small businesses in rural areas.

Specifically, NCC identified opportunities for regulatory reform that are rooted in rules issued and pending actions by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Food Safety and Inspection Service:

1. USDA-AMS: Three Packers and Stockyards Act rules

This suite of three Biden Administration rulemakings exceeds USDA’s statutory authority and threaten to destroy livestock and poultry contracting practices: Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems; Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments; and Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity under the Packers and Stockyards Act:

• Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems
  • Impact on small businesses: This rule makes it much more difficult for high-performing family farmers to be fairly rewarded for their efforts with the outright cap on bonus payments. This makes raising chickens less appealing to the best farmers and reduces returns on the investments these farmers made on their land. Many farmers raise chickens to supplement other farming operations and reducing earnings risks destabilizing diversified farm incomes and undermining the agricultural economy in many parts of the country.
• Transparency in poultry grower contracting and tournaments
  • Impact on small businesses: Each small business owner, in this case the farmer, must review and sign off on, in some cases, hundreds of pages of information which may require that they retain an attorney for assistance. Previous contracts were clear, concise, and easy to understand. However, the Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments final rule requires substantial information now be given to the farmer with no realized benefit to either party.
• Inclusive competition and market integrity under the Packers and Stockyards Act
  • Impact on small businesses: This rule makes it much more difficult for high-performing family farmers to be fairly rewarded for their efforts making raising chickens less appealing to the best farmers and reduces returns on the investments these farmers made on their land. Many farmers raise chickens to supplement other farming operations and reducing earnings risks destabilizing diversified farm incomes and undermining the agricultural economy in many parts of the country.

2. USDA-AMS: Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards final rule

This rule imposed substantial restrictions on animal welfare and enrichment practices, not just the types of substances that may be administered or fed to the birds, which is typically the focus of organic regulations. These changes present significant animal welfare and flock health risks and impose significant costs on farmers and chicken companies of all sizes.

• Impact on small businesses: This rule imposes direct costs on farmers raising organic broiler chickens by requiring them to pay for costly facility upgrades to meet the new standards, increase costs to maintain the temperature inside the barn, and indirect costs by increasing biosecurity and bird health risks. It also reduces how many chickens a farmer can raise in an existing house, which in turn directly affects the farmer’s pay.

3. USDA-APHIS: Payment of indemnity and compensation for highly pathogenic avian influenza

In December 2024, APHIS issued an interim final rule (IFR) restricting future indemnification payments after an HPAI event unless the farm underwent a rigorous biosecurity audit before a new flock was placed. NCC supports strong biosecurity practices; however, the biosecurity audit is misguided and contains zero recommendations or input from the regulated industry. In fact, many of the audit parameters have nothing to do with good biosecurity or maintaining the health of a flock. In practice, there have been insufficiently trained personnel available to conduct audits, and audits are being performed to varying standards, creating significant confusion and inconsistency across the industry and unfairly penalizing farmers who face a lengthy wait for an audit.

Impact on small businesses: Having access to timely indemnity payments if needed is critically important should a flock become infected with HPAI. However, this new audit requirement is an unnecessary level of regulatory oversight with little to no demonstrated impact on disease spread. Moreover, much of the required remediation is borne by family farmers themselves. Delays or inconsistency in biosecurity audits jeopardize the security of indemnification and risk leaving farmers without birds to raise for longer than is necessary.

4. USDA-APHIS: Implementation of a vaccine strategy for HPAI

APHIS has developed a draft vaccination strategy for HPAI which, if implemented, threatens the economic viability and the survivability of the US broiler industry, including the many small businesses that make up and support it, with billions of dollars in export losses expected.

Impact on small businesses: Without appropriate assurances, the economic viability of small businesses that make up the industry and those that support it would be threatened. Some small businesses could be forced to either shut down or move their operations out of the US entirely.

5. USDA-FSIS: Maximum line speed rates for young chicken and turkey establishments operating under the new poultry inspection system proposed rule

After an independent study found that evisceration line speeds do not affect worker safety, NCC continues to support rulemaking to raise poultry slaughter evisceration line speeds to 175 birds per minute as originally contemplated. This would have deregulatory effects by easing arbitrary regulatory restrictions on industry and increasing the industry’s global competitiveness. A proposed rule is currently at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

Impact on small businesses: Higher line speeds benefit all companies, including small businesses, with demonstrably no drawbacks. Smaller companies, especially those with only one plant, especially benefit because increased line speeds substantially increase returns on their existing fixed capital. Capitalizing on operational efficiency may also increase the need for additional farmers to raise chickens across the United States.

6. USDA-FSIS: Guideline for Retained Water

FSIS regulations require that the labels for certain raw chicken products bear a statement declaring the percentage of retained water in the product (which is water picked up during normal processing). Recently, and with no clear impetus, FSIS changed its position and issued guidance calling for the use of a complicated formula that does not appear to actually reflect water retained during processing. In addition to expending considerable agency and industry time and resources, the new formula results in declarations that, at times, differ widely from what is currently declared, despite no actual change in the product or process.

Impact on small businesses: All companies, regardless of size, benefit from maintaining continuity in how retained water is declared. Moreover, small businesses are especially likely to be burdened by the costs associated with updating their retained water calculation protocols, securing regulatory approval for those protocols, paying for the necessary testing, and redesigning and obtaining new packaging, as small companies have a smaller financial footprint across which to spread these compliance costs.

“Addressing these issues will advance President Trump’s order to cut red tape, make sure agencies work within their statutory authorities, and help unleash the full potential of the US chicken industry and the many small businesses that support it,” Peterson added. 

Source: National Chicken Council