As a government shutdown at midnight Friday looms, Congress continues to try to find a path forward on extending government funding and possibly addressing the debt limit in an effort to appease President-elect Trump, who has said the debt limit should be addressed alongside continued government funding.

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Given the complexity and volume of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services’s (FSIS, the Agency) Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products, including two lengthy risk assessments, NCC recently joined the National Turkey Federation and the Meat Institute in requesting the Agency further extend the comment period on the proposed rule until May 6, 2025. The groups said the current comment period remains unworkable and that the need for additional time has become increasingly evident given the issues raised in two public meetings hosted on December 3, 2024, and December 5, 2024, as well as the pending change in presidential administration.

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The House Agriculture and Appropriations Committees this week announced the addition of new Republican members for the 119th Congress, replacing some who have retired and others who have moved to other committees.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week announced a round of grants totaling $300 million under the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) to promote U.S. agricultural product exports in emerging global markets. This includes $10 million allocated to the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.

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California declares state of emergency on avian flu

On December 20, 2024, in Avian Influenza, by David Elrod

California on Wednesday declared a state of emergency over highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which grants the state more authorities to deal with the ongoing outbreak.

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Each week, NCC will feature in a short spotlight column the official representative from each of our Allied Leader and Allied Member companies. This week’s Allied Leader Spotlight is Brandon Lairmore, Executive Vice President of U.S. Rendering Operations at Darling Ingredients.

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Meat department sales continued to fire on all cylinders, with fresh meat sales driving 6.8 percent gains to lead the department to an overall five percent increase over November 2023, according to the latest Performance Report from Circana, 210 Analytics, and Hillphoenix. The four November weeks generated $8.6 billion, with $6 billion for fresh meat. While inflation played a role, pound sales increased by 2.6 percent, also driven by strong gains in fresh meat.

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USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchased chicken products for its child nutrition and other related domestic food distribution programs.

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U.S. total broiler slaughter data for the week ending December 21, 2024, is estimated by USDA’s Poultry Market News Service to be 173,723,000 broilers, a 4-percent increase from the same week a year earlier.

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Happy holidays from NCC!

On December 20, 2024, in Holidays, by David Elrod

The staff at NCC wishes you and your families a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a blessed new year. The Washington Report will resume on January 10, 2025.