The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — USDA said Nov. 15 it will abandon portions of a sweeping antitrust rule proposed for meat companies if Congress does not provide money for enforcement.
A Congressional committee voted late Nov. 14 to strip funding for the measures in a spending bill the full Congress is expected to approve.
The reforms would have changed how poultry companies pay chicken farmers and made it easier for ranchers to sue meat packers over antitrust violations. The USDA proposed the reforms in response to an order in the 2008 farm bill that it beef up its antitrust rules. . .

