Policy Updates and Issue News August 2018

The Senate finally took a recess the last week of August instead of their traditional full month. House members recessed the full month. The Senate and House conference committee whose charge is to resolve farm bill differences between the Senate and House versions will convene September 5 as Congress returns to Washington. Chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Agriculture committees and their staffs have been engaged in negotiations behind the scenes throughout August. Lab grown meat has become a high profile issue creating a regulatory battle pitting traditional animal agriculture against alternative protein products. The opioid and drug addiction crisis is on the front burner at the National Grange as we and numerous state Granges engage with state and local coalitions to raise awareness and advocate recovery steps. Support for rural broadband expansion continues to build almost everywhere around Washington. The challenge will be funding and breaking down federal, state and local barriers to efficient and cost-effective methods. Waters of the U.S. raises its ugly head again in a court decision. The U.S. and Mexico have reached agreement in NAFTA trade negotiations and attention now turns to Canada. The USDA unveiled its $12 billion Market Facilitation Program trade aid package for agriculture.

We may just get a farm bill through Congress by the end of September which has not been accomplished with several recent farm bills. The joint Senate- House conference committee plans to begin work September 5 to resolve differences between the two versions. Unlike recent farm bills, crop insurance, many conservation provisions, commodity payments, disaster protection, organics, credit, trade promotion, specialty crops, horticulture, forestry, research and more are largely noncontroversial this time around. Reconciling the conservation title around combining the popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) with Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) will be a challenge. The huge stumbling block between the Senate and House farm bill versions will be whether or not to increase work requirements to be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other food support programs.

 

The National Grange joined over 150 farm, commodity, food, wildlife, conservation, equipment manufacturer, energy and rural groups on a letter to Senate and House agriculture committees leadership urging them to quickly resolve the bills’ differences and pass a conference report so a five-year farm bill can be enacted into law by September 30 when much of the current law expires. The National Grange also asked the conferees to continue funding the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research at $200 million per year. This is a public-private partnership that leverages the funding to $400 million for Agriculture research, a high priority for the National Grange.

 

 

Several start-up ventures have been successful in growing a meat product in the laboratory from a single animal cell. The Good Food Institute, one of leading organizations promoting lab-grown meat says, “Just as modern automobiles replaced the horse and buggy, better alternatives will replace conventional animal agriculture.”   The Institute refers to their lab product as “clean meat” which raises the hackles of farmers and ranchers.

 

Both FDA and USDA claim regulatory jurisdiction over the new lab food. Both agencies have statutory authority to regulate different aspects of a meat product. The North American Meat Institute which represents meat processors teamed up with California’s Memphis Meats, a major cultured protein developer, on a letter to the White House suggesting both FDA and USDA should regulate cell-based meat and poultry. The two organizations requested a meeting between the White House, USDA, FDA, and both conventional and cell-based meat and poultry industry stakeholders.

 

 

USDA’s Risk Management Agency has approved the first revenue protection insurance policy for dairy producers. The Dairy Revenue Protection Policy, developed by the American Farm Bureau Insurance Services, will provide indemnities to dairymen when milk prices fall and actual revenue is below a revenue guarantee. Premiums will be subsidized similar to existing crop insurance products for corn, soybeans and other commodities.   Signup will start on October 9.

 

 

USDA will purchase up to $50 million worth of fluid milk in an effort to bring financial relief to the dairy industry. USDA will use its authority under Section 32 of the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1935 to make the purchases for food distribution and feeding programs such as School Lunch. Section 32 funds come from customs duties for disaster payments and the purchase of surplus commodities.

Waters of the United States is back from the dead for landowners in 26 states not covered by stays issued by two other judges. In mid-August, a South Carolina judge, acting on a motion from environmental groups, struck down the Trump Administration’s suspension of the rule until 2020 so the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers could finish drafting a replacement.  The South Carolina ruling will almost certainly be appealed. 

Agriculture producers continue to be hampered by the lack of a dependable legal ag workforce everywhere in the country. Efforts to get a House vote on an agriculture-specific immigration bill in July before the August recess were not successful. Another attempt may be possible in September. An op-ed “What Agriculture Needs Now is Labor” by the Grange’s Burton Eller was featured in Washington’s The Hill in support of bringing the ag worker bill to the floor.

 

The Connect Americans Now Coalition recently produced a colorful four part Facebook post featuring the National Grange in support of rural broadband access and closing the digital divide.

 

 

National Grange President Betsy Huber wrote Representative John Curtis (R-UT) in support of his bill H.R. 4824, the Rural Broadband Permitting Efficiency Act and encouraged the Committee on Natural Resources to adopt his bill. H.R. 4824 gives states permitting authority, rights-of-way categorical exclusion and federal permitting coordination in order to expedite the build-out of rural broadband.

 

 

The Daily Caller published an op-ed by National Grange President Betsy Huber highlighting the need for merged Comcast/NBC to continue providing reasonably priced service to local cable providers who service rural and small town customers. The binding arbitration provisions following the Comcast/NBC merger have expired and local broadband providers face the possibility of higher costs for both programming and distribution.

 

 

The Federal Communications Commission just completed an auction that will allow up to 700,000 rural and underserved homes and small businesses to receive broadband. The bidders commit to deliver the best service for the lowest amount of FCC subsidies to qualify to serve that particular region. Approximately $1.5 billion in federal subsidy funds will be provided over the next 10 years.

 

A breakthrough on North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations with Mexico was announced by the President and Secretary Perdue August 27. The agriculture community welcomed the announcement with relief. The U.S. exported around $35 million worth of corn to Mexico in 1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect. In 2016, the U.S. sold Mexico corn worth $2.6 billion. Soybeans, beef, pork and dairy have similar histories. In an effort to bring more car production back to the U.S. from Mexico, the revised deal also makes significant revisions in automobile manufacturing along with the requirement to use more local steel, aluminum and auto parts. This agreement between Mexico and the U.S. could clear the way for Canada to return to the negotiating table for a new three-way agreement.

 

Also on August 27, the USDA announced details of its long-awaited $12 billion Market Facilitation Program trade aid package to agriculture producers hurt by trade disputes with China, Mexico, the E.U., Turkey and others.   Initially, USDA will distribute about $4.7 billion to producers of soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, sorghum, dairy and pork. Another roughly $1.2 billion will go to purchase apples, pears, apricots, blueberries, beef and other commodities for public food assistance and child nutrition programs. Included as well is $200 million to help expand and create new foreign markets for U.S. commodities. The Farm Service Agency will administer the Market Facilitation Program. Payments begin September 4 based upon production. While generally appreciative, producers say they would much prefer trade to aid. Allocation of the remainder of the $12 billion will be announced at a later date.