Crying fowl: USDA poultry rules.

• Author: Moran, Rachel
• Position: Citings - United States Department of Agriculture - Brief article

THE U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has outraged poultry farmers by proposing new regulations that will require them to identify every chicken transported across state lines unless it is part of a group that is hatched, raised, and butchered together. Most poultry farms are small commercial operations, and they often mingle chickens from different sources to benefit from economies of scale. The new regulations will force them to attach numbered leg bands to every bird they transport and keep detailed records confirming that they have done so.

The USDA, which keeps tabs on poultry-based diseases, argues that the regulations are necessary to ensure the "traceability" of livestock in...