To read all of InsiderAdvantage Georgia’s daily news, SUBSCRIBE HERE. *Subscription includes a complimentary subscription to JAMES Magazine.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) is leading an effort to delay implementation of a rule that he says would have a “disastrous impact on poultry plants and the entire poultry industry.” Clyde led 34 of his colleagues from poultry-growing states, including several Republican members of the Georgia delegation, in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack expressing concerns about and urging the delay of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rule that will force poultry plants to reduce their line speeds by 25 percent if they decide against opting in to a USDA study. The deadline was initially set for last Thursday, September 1.

In the letter, Clyde details the impact the USDA proposal will have on the poultry industry: “If the Agency forces the industry to cut production, the ripple effects will be disastrous to the consumer of American raised chicken both domestically and abroad, the family farmers that work tirelessly to raise broiler chickens, the health and welfare of millions of broiler chickens, and the industry as a whole,” he wrote in the letter that was sent late last week.

“The Biden Administration’s line speed waiver rule forces an unnecessary ultimatum on poultry plants, burdening both consumers and workers already battling supply chain disruptions and 40-year high inflation, for the sake of a vague and intrusive third-party study,” said Clyde. “Given the adverse effects such a rule would impose on the industry and poultry production, it would behoove Secretary Vilsack to delay the compliance date until the USDA has provided substantive answers regarding the rule and study to Congress.”

At least 55 chicken plants currently participate in a USDA waiver program that grants accelerated line speeds. These plants received a letter from the USDA on July 29, stating that within one month, these plants must participate in a study to retain their line speed waivers.

According to Clyde, the USDA has provided no explanation regarding the length of the study, how the collected data will be assessed to determine the future of line speed waivers, an exit plan or timeline for plants that wish to opt out of the study, or additional operational questions in its communications to the poultry processing plants.

However, any processing plant that decides to opt out of the study, will face a slowdown of production by 25 percent, posing what Clyde calls a “serious threat to food availability during a time of crippling inflation and supply chain disruptions.”

Co-signers from the Georgia delegation include: Representatives Rick Allen (R-GA), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Austin Scott (R-GA).

The National Chicken Council has come out in strong support of the letter.