Chairs of four Senate committees are calling on the Biden administration to quickly implement new exemptions from SNAP work requirements for veterans, people who are homeless, and young adults who are aging out of the foster care system.
In a letter to four cabinet secretaries, Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and the chairmen of the Finance, Veterans’ Affairs, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committees say the exemptions are especially urgent, because states are reinstating the work requirements that were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exemptions were created by the newly enacted debt ceiling deal.
“Guidance issued to states from your agencies should ensure related policies are implemented consistently across all states to equitably reach the highest number of eligible participants, reduce administrative and paperwork burdens on both state agencies and SNAP participants, and to ensure participants are adequately screened for exemptions prior to losing access to benefits,” the letter says.
Keep in mind: House Republicans are talking about revisiting the exemptions as part of the farm bill. Getting the exemptions implemented quickly would make it a lot harder for lawmakers to take them away.
GAO finds procedural fault with CCC spending
The Government Accountability Office says four programs that the Biden administration funded out of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp. account should have been reported to Congress under the Congressional Review Act. According to the GAO, the funding decisions fit the definition of an administrative rule, making them subject to CRA reporting requirements.
The funding initiatives include USDA’s $3 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program.
Each of four USDA documents detailing the funding initiatives “prescribes eligibility requirements, how and when to apply, application requirements, and the calculation and distribution of funds,” according to GAO.
Keep in mind: Government actions that qualify as rules can sometimes be reversed under the Congressional Review Act. However, doing so requires both chambers to approve a resolution of disapproval, and then the resolution must be signed by the president.
Washington rancher ordered to pay $1M fine for ‘ghost cattle’ scheme
A Washington state rancher has been hit with a $1 million fine for selling more than 200,000 non-existent cattle to Tyson Fresh Meats.
In an order issued Monday, Chief Judge Stanley A. Bastian of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington also enjoined Easterday “from further violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged,” said the CFTC, which brought the complaint. “The order also permanently prohibits Easterday from trading on or subject to the rules of any CFTC-registered entity and from engaging in any activities requiring CFTC registration.”
Easterday began serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison last fall after pleading guilty to a count of wire fraud. He also was ordered to pay $244 million in restitution. He has filed an antitrust action against Tyson from prison.
Biologicals need to do some work to gain more of a foothold, summit told
Much work remains to persuade growers of the benefits of biological products, which “are still far behind the technologies that enabled the Green Revolution,” a representative of Novozymes North America said Monday at the Agri-Pulse Food and Ag Issues Summit West.
Jason Garbell, senior director of marketing and strategy, said efficacy of the products is the main drawback, but he and other panelists also said farmers have to see the data so they can see the improvement in biologicals over the past decade.
“There's oftentimes a memory of, sure, I tried those products when they first came out 10 years ago, seven years ago, five years ago,” said Lisa Safarian, COO of Pivot Bio. However, “those products have been through five and six different formulation adjustments since then. And so they've increased in efficacy, they've increased in storage stability, they've increased in their ability to last on the plant. So there is an opportunity to take a second look.”
Surface Transportation Board responds to Vilsack, says decision on reciprocal switching will likely come in August
The members of the Surface Transportation Board told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a letter that they have concluded all hearings and ex parte meetings on reciprocal switching and they plan to “issue further action” in August.
The STB, responding to an earlier letter from Vilsack, said the board is actively considering “whether and how to allow a party to seek a reciprocal switching prescription that is either practicable and in the public interest or necessary to provide competitive rail service.
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Take note: The board also said Union Pacific had ceased its “pipeline inventory management program in order to take a hard look at its use of embargoes,” after the board held a hearing last fall examining the companies’ frequent use of them.
Approval of phosphate mine vacated by judge in Idaho
The Bureau of Land Management’s decision approving an open-pit phosphate mine in Idaho has been vacated by a federal court.
BLM did not adequately examine the impacts of P4 Production’s Caldwell Canyon Mine Project on greater sage-grouse, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill found, in a case brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups.
P4 is owned by Bayer, which plans to use the mine to produce phosphorus for use in glyphosate. The judge had previously found BLM’s decision violated both the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy Management Act.
Bayer said it disagreed with the decision and is assessing its next steps, “which could include pursuing an appeal.” In the meantime, “there is no impact to current supplies of our products.”
He said it: “It’s not just standing up for corn growers – it’s standing up for all of agriculture and the principle of science and making sure that governments operate the way they are supposed to and market access is based on real analyses and real outcomes and not something else.” That was Doug McKalip, speaking Monday about the U.S. decision last week to start USMCA dispute proceedings against Mexico. McKalip spoke at the Agri-Pulse Food and Ag Issues Summit West in Sacramento.
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