‘It’s a Mistake’ Not to Appeal Court Decision to Revoke Faster Line Speeds Says Rep. Glenn Thompson
The USDA recently announced it would not appeal a Federal Court’s ruling ordering packing plants to operate at slower line speeds, and many in the industry feel this will do more harm than good. U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) joined AgriTalk to discuss the decision and what comes next.
“I think it's a huge mistake. You know, increase in line speed is just in line with what agriculture has always been: technology, innovation and science,” he says. “That includes not just production, but the processing side. These increased line speeds started under President Clinton and had been supported in a bipartisan way. Secretary Vilsack, when he worked for President Obama supported the increased line speeds and so I'm disappointed this is not being appealed. Especially now that we’re seeing cyberattacks, and our experiences with the pandemic within protein processing. The pandemic alone made it very clear there’s a sensitive linkage between our nation's food processing capacity and food security.”
The Biden administration has repeatedly asserted its commitment to addressing this vulnerability but, actions speak louder than words, Thompson says, and USDA’s decision speaks otherwise in term of walking away from efficiency.
“The court's decision offered the USDA the opportunity to address what would be minor technical deficiencies within the regulation and would reinforce, an otherwise thoughtful and deliberative rulemaking that's taken decades to develop,” he says. “The USDA chose a path that is going to result in an immediate and likely permanent reduction in our nation's food production capacity. And, at the same time, that's impacting our nation's producers and consumers who, quite frankly, are just beginning to recover from the pandemic.”
More Shackle Space Needed
During another AgriTalk segment, Flory visited with Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) who said so often things in Washington, DC fall down along Republican versus Democrat lines and you can see both sides.
"You can think, well, reasonable people can disagree," Johnson says. "But on this, I just don't even understand the other side. We've had five of these plants using the higher line speeds for decades."
And the data shows this system works, he adds. Johnson, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), sent a letter to USDA urging them to appeal the Federal district court ruling that would impede pork processing.
With the market as it is, Johnson said losing 2.5% of the nation's pork capability because they're running the line slower than it's been run at those places for decades simply doesn't add up.
"It wasn't like the judge said there had been some big policy mistake. It was a technical deficiency. It was a drafting error in the final rule," Johnson says. "USDA needs to appeal this. If they're not going to appeal it, they have got to fast track a rule that's exactly like the old one that was struck down without the technical deficiency because we need more shackle space in this country."
Faster lines lines are the same as increasing shackle space, he explains.
"I think the nice thing about Vilsack is he does understand agriculture. There will be times where he will be a sympathetic ear who will understand the impact that this has to producers and consumers. So I'm not giving up yet. I just wish we had so far heard something more positive from the administration," Johnson says.
Listen to the clips below with Thompson and Johnson.
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