Policy Updates and Issue News August 2024

USDA issues $2 billion for discrimination

USDA has issued one-time payments totaling around $2 billion to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across the country who may have experienced discrimination in farm loan programs or did not receive equitable access to federal resources. The funds come from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program. A total of 58,000 applications were received and over 43,000 borrowers will receive some assistance.  The assistance is not necessarily compensation for individual losses but as an acknowledgment according to Secretary Tom Vilsack who said the disbursement of these funds is an important step in efforts to rebuild trust between farmers and USDA.

EPA boosts industrial hemp

A project that aims to create standards to fortify the hemp building and construction industry has been selected for federal funding. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced grants of nearly $160 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects that track and reduce climate pollution in construction materials. Other industrial hemp marketer developments on the horizon could greatly expand the industrial hemp market including hemp seed meal for animal feed and biofuels production.

Department of Defense backs off lab-grown protein

The DoD has apparently scraped an experiment to feed lab-grown protein to the nation’s troops. As the appropriations process moved through congressional committees, it was discovered that the DoD request included funds to experiment with feeding troops cell cultured meat and seafood. The subsequent outcry by the producer segment and members of Congress caused DoD to rescind that request. While the DoD can and should be on the cutting edge of science applications to investigate defense applications, there’s a big difference between defense technology experimentation and feeding the troops lab-grown proteins.

Denmark to levy carbon tax on livestock

Denmark has passed a tax on cows, sheep and pigs beginning in 2030. Farmers will pay $43 per ton of carbon dioxide increasing to $108 in 2035. Denmark is the first country to tax its livestock farmers for the simple act of producing food. Certain animal and environmental groups were successful in propagating disinformation in their campaign against animal agriculture.

Farmers seek tough standards for carbon verifiers

Agriculture producers are calling for stringent requirements for third-party verifiers of carbon farming projects. These include knowledge of crops grown in the U.S. and specific soil types as USDA seeks to implement the Growing Climate Solutions Act. USDA has been working to identify the qualifications, expertise and certifications required for third-party verifiers which are independent entities that verify whether projects followed the requirements in carbon offset protocols.

Power hungry and thirsty data centers raise concern

The explosive growth of AI is raising questions about whether we will have enough power and water to support AI in the future. After a long period of relatively flat electricity demand, the growth of AI, manufacturing, electric vehicles and home appliances will cause a doubling of electricity demand by midcentury, according to the Department of Energy. The global use of AI could require as much fresh water by 2027 as is now used by four to six countries the size of Denmark.  According to Shaolei Ren at the University of California Riverside. Consumers are becoming concerned as households pay more for each kilowatt hour beyond a certain threshold while the rate for data centers declines as they use more power.

House committee urged to pass obesity act

The National Grange submitted 76 letters to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and their staff supporting passage of H.R. 4818 and S. 2407, the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA). The House Ways and Means Committee previously passed TROA overwhelmingly on a bipartisan vote. Obesity rates in rural America are higher per capita than in urban settings.  Many of these adults have other associated chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Rural residents are more likely to depend upon federal programs like Medicare for insurance coverage. TROA would require Medicare to cover the full continuum of obesity care.

New pole attachment rules in effect

The Federal Communications Commission pole attachment rules are now in effect. The new rules are intended to assist internet service providers that need to attach their wires and other facilities to utility poles owned by various third parties. The rules establish the Rapid Broadband Assessment Team to address pole attachment disputes quickly and give communications providers detailed information about the status of utility poles they plan to use for their broadband buildout. This development should reduce delays in broadband deployment that’s starting to roll out at the state level under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The National Grange has petitioned the FCC for two years to issue such rules to prevent broadband deployment delays.

Canada rail stoppage poised to disrupt agriculture

Failure to reach railroad labor agreements in Canada would stop rail service and disrupt the North American agriculture supply chain, snaring shipments of everything from fertilizer to wheat and meat. Of immediate concern is that the stoppage will halt shipments of spring wheat, currently being harvested, to the Pacific Northwest for export. The U.S. exported $28.2 billion of agriculture products to Canada last year, the third-largest destination behind China and Mexico. The U.S. imported $40.1 billion of Canadian agriculture products last year. As this newsletter goes to press, rail operators are scheduling lockouts.

“The friendly cow, all red and white, I love with all my heart; she gives me cream. To eat with apple tart.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

“There’s nothing like sitting back and talking to your cows.” ~ Russell Crowe

“When a cow laughs, does milk come out her nose?” ~ Anonymous

“I could dance with you until the cows come home. On second thought, I’d rather dance with the cows until you come home.” ~ Groucho Marx