The House Rules Committee has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to decide which proposed amendments to the fiscal 2024 Agriculture spending will get debated on the House floor.
As of Monday, more than 160 amendments to the bill have been filed. They include several proposals seeking deeper cuts in USDA funding or to SNAP and other farm bill programs. Among the latest amendments are proposals to tighten SNAP work requirements and to roll back an increase in benefits provided by the 2021 update to the Thrifty Food Plan, a model of consumer food costs.
Check our coverage: The White House issued a veto threat Monday on the ag spending bill.
CBO puts price tag on reference price increase
Lawmakers now have a better idea of the potential price tag for increasing commodity program reference prices in an upcoming farm bill. A 10% increase would cost $24 billion over 10 years, according to a House aide familiar with the estimate.
Keep in mind: If unchanged, commodity programs are currently projected to cost $69 billion over 10 years. The staffer says the cost would go up exponentially with higher increases in the reference price levels; a 20% increase would cost well over twice as much as a 10% increase.
Why it matters: More targeted changes to reference prices, or increases in the reference price escalator for the Price Loss Coverage program, would cost less than an across-the-board increase. Under current law, the reference price for a commodity can rise as much as 15%, depending on recent increases in market prices. Increasing that 15% limit would be more likely to trigger PLC payments in future years.
Senate to consider foreign land ownership amendment to NDAA
The Senate will vote this afternoon on whether to approve an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act restricting foreign investors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from purchasing U.S. land.
The amendment is based on a bill introduced by Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., in February that would expand the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.’s authority to block land purchases by people affiliated with foreign adversaries. This version, however, excludes U.S. citizens and aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence from the restrictions.
Take note: The vote on the amendment provides an important indicator of where members of the Senate stand on this issue. One key person to watch will be Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is sponsoring a separate bill to expand CFIUS authority over foreign land purchases.
White House hits Russian attacks
The White House urged the Kremlin to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative immediately, with Biden administration spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre saying Monday that Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the agreement has “caused serious volatility to food prices, which will hurt impoverished and hard-hit areas of the world the most.”
“We continue to be concerned that the Russian military may expand their targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea,” she said.
Russia attacked grain-exporting ports in Odesa last week and said it would consider Black Sea vessels as supporters of Ukraine.
“They have destroyed port infrastructure and tens of thousands of tons of grain that could have fed hungry people around the world,” Jean-Pierre said.
EPA’s new herbicide strategy greeted with cautious optimism
Pesticide manufacturers and a leading environmental group reacted positively to EPA’s latest effort to address its endangered species problem, a proposed strategy released Monday that tries to come up with a set of common conservation practices that can be used to mitigate the impacts of herbicides.
“We appreciate EPA’s efforts to resolve the challenges of ESA review of pesticide registration decisions,” CropLife America said in a statement. “We are reviewing the documents that were published today and will be submitting comments. CLA will continue to advocate for a process that works for all interested stakeholders.”
Center for Biological Diversity, which has been active in lawsuits seeking to force the EPA to conduct interagency consultations with federal wildlife agencies, reserved judgment on the eventual impact of the document. However, scientist Nathan Donley said the group was pleased that EPA is trying to “think outside the box.”
Bayer adjusts earnings downward due to glyphosate sales
A “significant further decline in sales of glyphosate-based products” caused The Bayer Group to take a $2.8 billion write-down on glyphosate and adjust earnings downward for the year.
The change will result in a second-quarter loss of about $2.2 billion, the company said Monday.
Bayer said it now anticipates sales of between $53.7 billion and $54.8 billion for the calendar year, down from a previous estimated range of $56.4 and $57.5 billion.
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“Further price declines and lower volumes due to channel de-stocking, especially for glyphosate-based products, as well as adverse weather conditions have increased pressure” on pricing, the company said.
Brazil’s main corn harvest nearly half finished
Brazil is expected to produce a bumper corn crop this year and the country’s main harvest – the “safrinha” – is now 47% harvested despite delays in some states, according to the consulting firm AgRural.
The biggest harvest gains over the past week were in the Center-West states of Mato Grosso and Goiás.
In Center-South states such as Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul, “the harvest has not yet taken off due to the combination of late planting and high grain moisture caused by rain or low temperatures in July,” says AgRural.
The firm is predicting Brazil will produce a total of 132.2 million metric tons of corn this year in all three of its harvests, while USDA is predicting 129 million tons.
He said it: “I think they’re going to work together, this task force and the members of the committee are going to work together, to come up with a Democratic position. I don’t think [there’s] anything nefarious going on. I think it’s just … Hakeem Jeffries wants a bill. In order to get a bill, it has to be bipartisan. In order to get Democrats on board, he’s got to have liberal members, the Black caucus on board.” House Agriculture Committee chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., asked about the Democratic farm bill task force.
Philip Brasher, Jacqui Fatka, Bill Tomson and Noah Wicks contributed to this report
