6 years ago AFBF
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway released his draft of the next farm bill Thursday, known as the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. Introducing the bill, Conaway stated: “Except for the SNAP portion, this a bipartisan bill.” He says the legislation would be open for amendments. Conaway says his draft of the bill “keeps faith with our nation’s farmers and ranchers,” and also “keeps faith” with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program users by “offering SNAP beneficiaries a springboard out of poverty to a good paying job.” However, opponents to his plan say millions would lose SNAP benefits under his legislation. The Conaway bill would require all SNAP users to work or be in job training programs except for children, seniors, the disabled and women who are pregnant or taking care of children under six-years-old. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who announced he will not seek re-election, said he would like to see action on the farm bill this spring. However, Republicans could opt to replace Ryan as Speaker before his term is finished. Markup of the farm bill in the House Agriculture Committee is planned for this coming Wednesday.
Democrats on the Agriculture Committee appear unpleased by the draft. Ranking Member Collin Peterson says of the bill: “It makes no sense” to put agriculture and the farm safety net “at risk in pursuit of partisan ideology on SNAP.” Peterson says the bill’s nutrition title is “based on false perceptions and ignores reality,” along with ignoring the testimony of 89 witnesses regarding SNAP. The bill, Peterson says, also “fails to make needed improvements to the farm safety net.”
The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 is bill number HR-2, and Conaway says low bill numbers are reserved for highly important legislation. For reference, the Republican tax bill passed by Congress was HR-1 in the House.
The draft of the bill would make improvements to the farm safety net, according to Conaway, including the ARC and PLC programs, allowing reference prices to adjust to better market conditions. The bill also seeks to minimize the ARC program variations between counties. The bill makes changes to conservation programs, and adds funding for rural broadband, rural development, and seeks to address the rural opioid crisis.
The draft also includes a sought-after Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank. The draft calls for first-year mandatory funding of $150 million for the vaccine bank, $70 million in block grants to states for disease prevention and $30 million for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. For the other years of the five-year Farm Bill, there's $30 million in mandatory funding for state block grants and $20 million to be used at the Agriculture Secretary's discretion. Although the disease was last detected in the United States in 1929, it is prevalent in many parts of the world, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
Find the text of the bill here: https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/agriculture_and_nutrition_act_of_2018.pdf
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Trump Tells Trade Team to Look Into Rejoining TPP
During a meeting with farm-state lawmakers, President Donald Trump said he has directed his trade team to look into rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Meeting with Senators and other leaders from the Midwest, President Trump heard of the troubles his trade policy is posing to agriculture, and the benefits of TPP to farmers and ranchers. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who attended the meeting, says rejoining TPP is the “best thing” the U.S. can do to “push back” against China. Covering all products grown in the United States, at the time of negotiation, TPP was estimated to add $4.4 billion to cash receipts for farmers and ranchers. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa says the meeting was to stress the importance of increasing market access to protect farmers. Farm groups say farmers would rather trade, than take subsidies, to be profitable, in referring to the trade dispute with China and the proposed tariffs as a result. President Trump has promised to support farmers through a trade war, which many speculate would come from the Commodity Credit Corporation.
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Trump Announces E15 Waiver Support to Farm State Lawmakers
The Trump Administration is apparently planning to allow E15 sales year-round. During the White House agriculture roundtable Thursday, President Trump announced his support for E15 sales year-round without a cap on RIN prices, according to attendee, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. Ethanol groups have argued that allowing year-round sales of 15 percent ethanol blended fuels would be a “win-win” for agriculture and refiners, who have alleged that RIN prices are overburdensome. President Trump told the group “We’re going to raise it up to 15 percent,” adding the move “makes a lot of people happy.” Growth Energy applauded the comments from Trump, calling the move a “common-sense fix.” Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says a waiver lifting the Reid Vapor Pressure limits on summer-time E15 sales “allows retailers to offer better options alongside traditional blends all year long." National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson applauded the move as well, but says “more can and should be done for higher blends of ethanol.” NFU called on the administration to eliminate similar barriers to expanded use of higher blends of ethanol, such as E30.
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ASA President Testifies to Congress Regarding Trade Tariffs
The American Soybean Association President says retaliation by China against U.S. tariffs would undercut prices received by soybean farmers, and further hurt a depressed farm economy. Testifying to lawmakers Thursday, ASA President John Heisdorffer asked members of Congress to help soybean farmers “be part of the solution,” rather than “collateral damage.” Heisdorffer, an Iowa farmer, highlighted the importance of maintaining China as a robust market for U.S. soybean exports, and the lasting effects implemented tariffs and a trade war would have on soybean farmers. Farm income has fallen by 40 percent since 2013, and Heisdorffer says “farmers cannot absorb additional hits to the farm economy.” In 2017, China imported 1.4 billion bushels of U.S. soybeans, 62 percent of total U.S. exports and nearly one-third of U.S. annual soy production. According to a study conducted by Purdue University, soybean exports to China could drop dramatically if China chooses to impose a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans.
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Hyde-Smith Wins Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Seat
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, the former Mississippi Agriculture Director, will serve on the Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee after being awarded a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hyde-Smith was sworn in Monday after being appointed the seat of retired Senator Thad Cochran. She is the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress. The Republican announced she will keep several former Cochran staffers on her senior staff and brought in others from the Mississippi Department of Agriculture. Hyde-Smith was elected Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture in 2011, after serving 12 years in the Mississippi State Senate, including eight years as chair of the Agriculture Committee. In a news release, Hyde-Smith said she looks forward to being a “good steward of taxpayer dollars.” Her predecessor, Cochran, chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Scientist Say U.S. Climate Boundy Shifting East
Scientist say a climate boundary separating the east and west United States discovered more than 100 years ago has shifted 140 miles east. In a report published by Columbia University, scientist say global warming has pushed the boundary east, and could have significant implications on farming in the region. Scientist say that due to global-scale wind patterns, to the west of the boundary, rainfall drops off sharply. East of the line, rainfall picks up sharply. The boundary was first discovered in the late 1800's along the 100th meridian and has moved closer to the 98th meridian to cut through east-central Texas, along the western borders of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, before shifting northwest through North Dakota. A researcher at Columbia University's Earth Institute predicts that as the drying progresses, unless farmers turn to irrigation or otherwise adapt, they will have to turn from corn to wheat or some other more suitable crop. The researchers argue that the boundary divide will continue to move east due to global warming.
