A judge has ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to publish final regulations for animal welfare for organic farmers.
The regulations have been in the works for a decade and the Organic Trade Association finally sued the government to get them enacted.
They are in the Organic Foods Production Act and the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Proposed final rule.
The lawsuit said the USDA illegally delayed the standards.
U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer has set a Sept. 8 deadline for the agriculture department to publish a final rule and fully explain an updated cost-benefit analysis.
She said the department “should move quickly” after what she described as “these many efforts.”
Previous efforts to issue a final rule were scuttled in April 2018 when USDA identified policy and legal issues and withdrew a provisional final rule under consideration at the time.
