Farm groups watching members of the House Freedom Caucus bring action to a halt in the House this week may be wondering what that portends for the farm bill. The hard-line conservatives say they’re not happy with the way House Speaker Kevin McCarthy handled the debt ceiling bill. The farm bill could be a target because it’s one of a handful of must-pass bills that this Congress will be considering in coming months.
But House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson tells Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks he isn’t worried about moving the farm bill.
“The farm bill’s going to be a strong bipartisan, bicameral bill. There will always be folks who will wind up voting against it. But the fact is, I think it’s going to pass with a healthy margin. We just have a lot of work to do between now and whatever point it is voted on the House floor. So, to me, this is not disruptive to the farm bill in any way,” Thompson said.
What is he hearing from McCarthy on the issue? “What I hear from the speaker is I’ve got the speaker’s trust for all 12 titles of the farm bill,” Thompson said. He said he was asked to sign off on the final SNAP provisions in the debt ceiling deal.
Take note: The top Democrat on House Ag, David Scott, D-Ga., used a hearing on SNAP Wednesday to warn Republicans not to revisit the work requirements in the farm bill. “Now we all just hope and we pray that our Republican friends will want this to be a bipartisan bill. But there’s no way we Democrats can turn our back on where we are right now. All we’re asking for is to keep it where it is.”
Senators make case for magic mushrooms
The chairman of a Senate Agriculture subcommittee opened a hearing on specialty crops Wednesday with an offbeat question: Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wanted to know whether the U.S. mushroom industry was open to growing magic mushrooms.
“I’ve been an advocate of psychedelics in terms of magic mushrooms for PTSDs and for veterans especially,” Fetterman said. He suggested growing the mushrooms could be “an amazing economic kind of boom” for farmers.
Pennsylvania mushroom producer Chris Alonzo assured Fetterman the industry was open to the idea. “Obviously, we would have to do it within the parameters of being secure and safe and responsible,” Alonzo said.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., later expressed his interest in the issue as well. “I just have to jump in on the mushroom bandwagon here,” Booker said. The “data on psychedelics is extraordinary in terms of helping our veterans with PTSD.”
By the way: Fetterman left no doubt what he thinks about the spotted lanternfly, a crop pest he questioned a scientist about at the hearing. “I relish stomping on them personally,” Fetterman said. “They have a satisfying crunch when they go.”
USDA pushed on Growing Climate Solutions
One of Capitol Hill’s most outspoken advocates for dealing with climate change says USDA needs to get going on implementation of the Growing Climate Solutions Act.
“The USDA has not with great alacrity picked up the growing Climate Solutions Act, despite the fact that it passed about two years ago now,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said at a hearing on climate change and agriculture. “That would be a good place to put a little bit of attention.”
But, but, but: Whitehouse may be expecting too much from USDA. The bill did pass the Senate two years ago, but was not signed into law until December 2022. It authorizes USDA to create a program to certify carbon credit verification services and technical assistance providers.
Pork producers losing export values due to port labor issues
Pork producers facing already tight margins have another headwind facing them now: A lack of port workers on the West Coast is creating a backup in getting products to key Asian markets.
Maria Zieba, vice president of international affairs for the National Pork Producers Council, said at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines that the slowdown at the ports of Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle is cutting into export value for producers. That’s because the meat must be frozen, instead of being sold fresh for higher prices.
“The time on those exports is really tight from the plant to Japan. So even a day or two, or in this case five days, means that product is now probably in cold storage and frozen. So you have lost that value-added that those producers and those exporters have been relying on and are in desperate need of in getting a little bit of margin somewhere right now,” Zieba said.
APHIS OK’s second short-stature corn variety from Bayer
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has approved one of Bayer CropScience’s three short-stature corn varieties.
Don’t miss a beat! It’s easy to sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! For the latest on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. and around the country in agriculture, just click here.
The version whose approval was announced Wednesday was developed using genetic modification, with commercialization expected later in the decade. The breeding version is in trials with commercial launch expected next year, and a gene-edited version is farther back in the pipeline.
EPA sued over approval of Enlist herbicides
Environmental groups and farmworkers are suing EPA over its approval of Enlist herbicides, alleging the agency did not adequately examine their impact on the environment, particularly on endangered species.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington says spray drift buffers have been ineffective in preventing off-site damage.
Both herbicides contain 2,4-D. Enlist Duo also contains glyphosate. Early in 2022, EPA re-approved their use for seven years.
The lead plaintiff is the Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group. Corteva said in a statement that the lawsuit was meritless. “EPA’s work to comply with the ESA and establish new risk assessment processes is a crucial step toward regulatory certainty for farmers and others who rely on important pesticide technology, while also helping protect listed species and their habitats,” the company said.
He said it. “We need more tools in the toolbox, more plays in the playbook.” – Charles Wingard, vice president of field operations for Walter P. Rawl and Sons, a specialty crop producer based in South Carolina. Wingard was addressing Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, at a Senate Ag subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.
Noah Wicks, Steve Davies, Jacqui Fatka and Jana Rose Schleis contributed to this report.
