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GIPSA livestock rules close to final approval

The administrator of the USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration says the much-discussed GIPSA livestock rules are close to being approved.

Speaking Friday at the Nebraska Farmers Union annual meeting, GIPSA administrator Larry Mitchell said the Farmer Fair Practices rules—the so-called GIPSA livestock rules—could be approved by the end of this month.

“We’ve been working with OMB for some time on this, with some back and forth,” Mitchells says. “I think we’re very close to publishing those rules.”

Mitchell tells Brownfield he can’t discuss the details of the final rules.  He does say they won’t be as broad as those proposed in 2010—and he says there should be very little impact on the cattle and hog industries.

“I don’t think it’s going to impact them at all—but we’ll have to wait and see what the final published rules look like,” he says. “I can assure you it won’t be as tough as the speculation that we’ve heard for the last several months. I think folks will be pleasantly surprised.”

Once they are approved by OMB, there will be another public comment period on the rules. It’s uncertain whether the new Trump administration will proceed with the rules or withdraw them completely.

AUDIO: Larry Mitchell