The Tennessee Farm Bureau urged the USDA to withdraw its proposed rule and consider an alternative proposal in its comments filed this week. TFBF has long been an advocate of animal agriculture in the state and the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. The TFBF mirrors many in the equine world calling for objective, science-based protocols to detect soring and eliminate the current subjective protocols that have been so problematic and are left in place in the current proposed rule. TFBF also expressed its concern on the impact to small rural communities in Tennessee and the charities that benefit so greatly from the Tennessee Walking Horse shows that would be eliminated as part of this USDA-APHIS proposal.
Click here to read the full Tennessee Farm Bureau response.