WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today welcomed an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of a 180-day extension effective date for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) interim final rule.
“I commend USDA for extending the effective date of this disastrous rule. This extension will allow for the incoming Secretary of Agriculture to fully analyze the effects of the rule and consider the recently submitted public comments. The Kansas Livestock Association had it right when they said, “the interim final rules ignores the comments submitted by thousands of cattle producers in opposition to the rule, the decisions of eight separate federal appellate courts and the intent of the language included by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said Roberts.
“The Obama administration made the imprudent decision to finalize this rule on their way out the door. I hope the Trump Administration’s USDA will finally heed the concerns of farmers and ranchers and the Congress to get rid of this unneeded and unwanted rule.”
Chairman Roberts has a proven track record of fighting the GIPSA rule since 2010, along with Congress repeatedly voicing its disapproval over the past seven years. In April 2016, Roberts sent a letter to USDA urging the agency to reconsider issuing the rules. Roberts heard concerns about the GIPSA rules from farmers and ranchers at a recent 2018 Farm Bill field hearing in Manhattan, Kan., and at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in May 2016. At a related hearing in September, Roberts pressed former USDA Secretary Vilsack on this matter.
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