Federal compensation for poultry farmers hit by disease control orders

What it does

This bill amends the Animal Health Protection Act to require the federal government to compensate poultry farmers whose flocks are prohibited from being raised or laid in areas designated as disease control zones. Compensation is calculated based on the average income from the farm's five most recent flocks, multiplied by the number of flocks the owner was blocked from raising, minus any state or other compensation already received. Payments must be made within 60 days of request.

Why we flagged it

The bill functions as a targeted indemnification mechanism for a specific agricultural sector facing involuntary production losses due to disease-control mandates. It is narrowly tailored to poultry operations and operates as a form of disaster/regulatory-impact compensation rather than broad agricultural subsidy.

What the text implies

• The 60-day payment deadline creates a significant administrative burden on USDA/APHIS to process and verify claims, potentially requiring new staffing or appropriations not addressed in the bill.
• Compensation is capped at the difference between lost income and any state/other compensation received, creating potential disputes over what qualifies as 'compensation from other sources' and whether farmers must exhaust state remedies first.
• The bill does not specify funding source or appropriation level, leaving unclear whether compensation will be mandatory entitlement spending or subject to annual appropriations caps.
• Determination of 'average income from 5 most recent flocks' may be difficult for new operations, seasonal variations, or farms with incomplete records, potentially creating disputes over baseline calculations.
• The final-and-unreviewable determination clause (subsection (iii)) limits judicial review to Secretary-only appeals, which may constrain farmers' ability to challenge calculation errors or denials.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Poultry farmers in disease control areas face sudden, involuntary loss of income when flocks are prohibited for public health reasons. This bill creates a federal compensation mechanism that restores lost income, protecting farmers from bearing the full cost of disease-control measures that serve the broader public interest.

Who stands to gain

• poultry growers and layers (individual farm operators)
• poultry farming operations in disease control areas

Named in the bill

Animal Health Protection Act, Section 10407, USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Secretary of Agriculture, poultry growers, poultry layers, control areas

Where it stands

14 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans.

• Feb 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $125,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Jim Costa, the sponsor, reported $855,144 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Turkey Federation — $105,000 on 2 filings
• Association of California Egg Farmers — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.