During last week's 2025 UEP Legislative Board and Committee Meetings, attendees heard from United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN), who spoke with egg producers about key issues impacting agriculture and egg production. She emphasized her commitment to working across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions to the challenges facing the industry. The week began with a review of UEP’s 2025 position papers, led by UEP consultants Randy Green and Louie Perry. This year’s topics included Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), vaccination strategy, egg prices, labor, and hatchery surplus.

Brian Kreher chaired the Government Relations Committee Briefing, where UEP’s Oscar Garrison presented an overview of recent developments related to HPAI, including key policy updates on indemnity payments, vaccination, surveillance, and ongoing research efforts. He also shared next steps for the industry’s response to bird flu and where USDA sits with the five-prong plan. UEP consultant Louie Perry delivered a comprehensive legislative update, covering the current political and budget landscape, trade dynamics, reconciliation, appropriations, the farm bill, and recent EGGPAC activity. Green also provided updates on nutrition and trade policies, highlighting UEP’s recent policy comments and advocacy efforts. Representatives from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Michael Sheats and Taylor Cox, delivered a detailed report, offering updates on regulations and staffing within the agency.

Doug Mack chaired the Environment and Sustainability Committee Briefing. Mack introduced Turner Bridgforth, Senior Advisor for Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), who provided an overview of Administrator Zeldin’s five agency pillars, highlighted accomplishments from the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, and discussed regulatory priorities affecting the egg industry—including Waters of the United States (WOTUS), the PFAS biosolid proposal, the Air Consent Agreement, and the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. Committee members also shared updates on key environmental issues in their states. They reviewed a proposal from Dr. Brett Ramirez at the Egg Industry Center to submit public comments on the USEPA’s AP-42 layer section and air emission estimation model, as well as informal feedback on a draft web tool.

During the Food Safety Committee Briefing, chaired by Kim Rice, she and Dane Kolkmeyer provided an overview of recent Salmonella-related events involving state investigations on member farms, including actions taken by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. UEP consultant Randy Green then shared updates on FDA priorities and discussed upcoming meetings with the agency, including plans to engage with the Deputy Commissioner later in the week. Oscar Garrison followed with a brief update on the Lowering Egg Prices Act, outlining the current status of the hatchery surplus legislation. The session concluded with a reminder about the upcoming Salmonella outbreak response webinar, scheduled for July 22, 2025, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST.

The Animal Welfare Committee Briefing, chaired by Roger Seger, covered a range of key animal welfare and certification topics. David Will opened with an update on organic matters, including developments within the National Organic Program (NOP) and the Organic Poultry Standards. There were several UEP Certified program updates, including progress on the UEP Certified Hatch Check initiative, and a detailed overview of the UEP Certified Hatchery Audit procedures. Dr. Larry Sadler also provided updates on the Unscrambled Egg campaign, encouraging producer participation on the amplifying the campaign on their own social platforms, and noted changes to the UEP Certified Cage-Free logo. Additional updates included new UEP Certified training videos for end-of-lay culling, to be released later in the week, and reminders about the four-year audit rule. Dr. Sadler also offered a general overview of ongoing animal welfare efforts, with a focus on cage-free legislation and the Food Security and Farm Protection Act (FSFP).

Wednesday concluded the Animal Health and Biosecurity Committee Briefing, led by Chair John Bedell. The briefing focused on critical updates around HPAI and other animal health concerns. Dr. Lauren Stump of USDA outlined the agency’s 5-point HPAI response plan, followed by updates from Dr. Craig Rowles and Travis Schaal on the AEB/UEP vaccination strategy. The committee also received updates regarding the HPAI Response Strategies Working Group. UEP’s Oscar Garrison shared insights on APHIS-led biosecurity and wildlife assessments, highlighting new auditor training and federal prioritization. AEB President Emily Metz and Garrison then proposed a USDA-backed research project using epidemiology, AI, and genomics to support real-time prevention. The session wrapped up with a roundtable discussion on broader HPAI and animal health issues.

Click here to view and download the images from the Legislative Meetings.