Agri-Pulse’s Spencer Chase is reporting from Chile this week on a USDA-led trade mission.
Day one of the mission was loaded with information and experiences that gave the delegation a good idea of what kind of market Chile can be for U.S. ag products. The day started with a tour of two Chilean grocery stores – Lider, a Chilean version of WalMart, and Jumbo, a higher-end retailer – that bear a strong resemblance to many American food retailers in their layout and products.
The delegation stopped at a Jumbo grocery store, a retailer that caters to higher-end consumers, where U.S. beef was on display as part of a cooking demonstration.The stores featured several displays of American products, including a cooking demonstration of flank steak from California-based Brandt Beef.
Later Monday, the delegation got briefed by USDA and State Department personnel in Santiago. The consistent theme: Chile is a market with the potential for growth in U.S. exports despite its proximity to agricultural powerhouses such as Brazil and Argentina.
Take note: The trip comes as the U.S. and Chile are celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations and 20 years of a free-trade agreement between the two countries.
Coming up Tuesday: The Espacio Trade Show, one of the largest shows in Latin America. U.S. businesses and export promotion organizations in the delegation will be working the show looking for new buyers, and USDA Trade Undersecretary Alexis Taylor, the official delegation lead, will take part in an opening of the show’s American Pavilion in the afternoon.
SNAP expected to be issue in farm bill debate
A Republican member of the House Agriculture Committee expects SNAP to be an issue in the farm bill, despite the debt-ceiling agreement that expanded work requirements to older adults.
SNAP “continues to be part of the conversation, and when it’s 81% of the [farm bill] funding how would it not be? … I definitely think those conversations will continue going forward,” Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., said at the annual Ag Outlook Forum in Kansas City co-sponsored by Agri-Pulse.
A Democratic member of House Ag, Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, said she was disappointed the debt-ceiling agreement didn’t settle the SNAP issue for this year.
By the way: Davids was reluctant to say a farm bill would get enacted before the end of the year, citing the uncertainty about government funding. Mann said Congress would pass an extension of some kind if a new bill isn’t ready by January.
Vilsack says budget talks impact farm bill implementation
While much of the discussion this week focuses on an impending government shutdown, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says the challenge for his staff at USDA is to provide the technical assistance needed to lawmakers as they craft a farm bill.
“It’s important for them to understand the importance of using all the tools that would be available for all the challenges that they face,” Vilsack said Monday at a White House press briefing. The House is debating an appropriations bill this week that could make deep cuts in USDA for the fiscal year that starts Sunday.
“When you undercut and underfund the budget as some are proposing – cutting it by as much as in some cases 20% to 30% – you undermine the ability of any farm bill, regardless of whether it’s passed or not, to be implemented,” Vilsack said.
Senators slam absence of dairy checkoff reports
Nine lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have told Vilsack they are “highly troubled” by annual dairy checkoff program reports being missing from the agency’s website.
“USDA is obligated to provide this information to ensure transparency in how dairy producers’ dollars are spent; by neglecting to fulfill this obligation, USDA risks further eroding farmer’s confidence in important agriculture programs,” the lawmakers said in a letter on Monday.
The agency is required under the Dairy Production Stabilization Act to post annual reports to Congress with details on Checkoff program activities and spending. The USDA did post the 2020 report on its website sometime this month, but the 2021 and 2022 reports were still missing as of Monday.
Keep in mind: The letter writers include the lead sponsors in the House and Senate of the OFF Act, which would impose new restrictions on checkoff programs.
Cuba’s president takes time to meet Arkansas rice farmer
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel was in New York last week to speak to the UN General Assembly, but he took time to meet with Arkansas rice farmer Mark Isbell and staff from the USA Rice Federation.
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“This meeting was a unique opportunity to get in front of a foreign leader where there is so much potential for new business and growth on both sides of the equation,” said Isbell. “We are encouraged by recent commercial shipments of U.S. rice to Cuba, but a lot of work is still needed to move the needle in Congress, and this administration will also need to engage more seriously with Cuba for there to be substantive improvements.”
U.S. farmers want to sell a lot more rice to Cuba, and Cuban officials say they are eager to buy more, but U.S. restrictions on financing continue to hinder trade. Cuba buys most of its rice from places that are much farther away than the U.S. – like Vietnam, for example – because of U.S. restrictions.
USDA reports daily export sales of 1.7M tons of corn to Mexico
USDA on Monday announced sales of about 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexican buyers, with delivery split between the current 2023-24 and 2024-25 marketing years. Of that total, about 1 million tons is for delivery in this year and another 600,000 tons is in 2024-25.
The expectation is still that this year’s corn crop will be substantial, and prices are pretty good, says Collin Watters, director of exports and logistics for the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. “This is a buyer’s market, for sure.”
She said it. “I almost feel like I should recuse myself from this question, because I've already bet on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl. … I live on the Kansas side, it's legal.” – Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., when asked at the Ag Outlook Forum which outcome was most likely: The Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, Kansas State winning the Big 12, or a farm bill getting passed this year.
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