U.S. lawmakers called on the Biden administration to push back the implementation of rules that would make contracts more transparent for poultry farmers, warning of "massive disruption" that could come with amending grower agreements.

The rules, announced last month and set to go into effect in February 2024, could require the poultry industry to "amend nearly every contract — tens of thousands in total — in just 75 days," House and Senate members wrote in two separate letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lawmakers are requesting an extension of at least 180 days.

"[USDA] has underestimated the number of people involved, the hourly rates, and the time required by compliance officers, regulatory consultants, attorneys, executives, and other services to implement the rule," the letters read.

The Biden administration has made antitrust enforcement a priority, which has led the USDA to modernize the Packers and Stockyards Act. The law, which is over 100 years old and regulates anti-competition in the agriculture industry, has been recently updated to include requirements that poultry processors inform broiler growers about the individual costs associated with agreeing to raise their chickens.

As lawmakers request a delay, farm groups have pushed the USDA to pick up the pace of enhancing competition in the industry. More than 60 groups called on the agency to propose more comprehensive rules to protect producers from abuse in the marketplace, expressing concern about the "slow pace of progress."

"Without adequate antitrust enforcement, USDA risks wasting many of these important investments they have made in local, regional, and value-added markets as producers struggle to find market access in our hyper-consolidated agricultural industries," according to a Dec. 13 letter.