Opposing USDA’s Dangerous Plan to Increase Slaughterhouse Line Speeds

On April 20, 2026, The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and its coalition partners filed comments with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) urging the agency not to adopt unlawful proposed rules that would allow for an increase in line speeds at slaughterhouses that kill turkeys, chickens, and pigs. The USDA has long set slaughterhouse line speeds, which are the speeds at which slaughterhouses are allowed to move animals through stunning, killing, butchering, and inspection. Line speeds impact the welfare of animals, consumers, the environment, and slaughterhouse workers.

The proposed rules would allow:

• Turkey slaughterhouses to increase maximum line speeds from 55 birds per minute to 60.

• Chicken slaughterhouses to increase maximum line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175.

• Pig slaughterhouses to increase from a maximum line speed of 1,106 pigs per hour to eliminating restrictions on line speeds.

As our comments explain, the proposed rules would be unlawful if adopted for several reasons. First, they would wholly undermine FSIS’s ability to meet its legal mandate to ensure food safety and the humane treatment of animals at slaughter under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). Second, they would make slaughterhouse workers’ jobs even more dangerous. And finally, they would violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), as FSIS failed to conduct any kind of environmental review—despite the fact that even higher line speeds will have significant and adverse impacts on the environment by increasing pollution at factory farms and slaughterhouses and across every stage of the production process.

What action was taken: ALDF and its coalition partners submitted comments with the USDA urging the agency not to adopt proposed rules that would allow for an increase in line speeds at slaughterhouses that kill turkeys, chickens, and pigs because, if adopted, the proposed rules would violate the FMIA, HMSA, PPIA, NEPA, and APA.

Why this action is important: The USDA sets maximum line speeds for slaughterhouses. But for decades it has, in response to industry pressure, allowed faster and faster line speeds. The newest USDA proposal would cut even more corners by raising the maximum line speed for chicken and turkey slaughterhouses even further and eliminating line speed regulation in pig slaughterhouses altogether.

If finalized, the USDA’s proposal would further increase animal suffering and slaughterhouse pollution while also further imperiling consumers, communities, and workers. For example, allowing faster line speeds increases would increase the risk that animals are still conscious when slaughtered, it is more likely that animal-derived products would be contaminated and unsafe to eat, slaughterhouse workers would be at greater risk of injury, and the facilities would create more pollution that is dangerous to surrounding communities and fuels the climate crisis.