Republicans continue trying to close ranks around a new House speaker, even after Steve Scalise won the party’s nomination for the position at a private conference meeting Wednesday. As of Wednesday evening, more than 10 Republicans were holding out against Scalise, according to a CNN count.
Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said after the vote that it could take a few days for Scalise to ensure he has the votes he needs. Lucas, a former House Ag Committee chairman, supported Scalise over House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
Lucas said he liked Scalise for “his experience, his consistency, the ability to count votes (and) the ability to listen to members.”
By the way: Scalise has a somewhat more conciliatory record on farm programs than Jordan, who’s never voted for a farm bill and voted in 2018 to gut the sugar program.
Another SNAP fight on the horizon?
It’s far from clear when the House will take up a farm bill, but when it does we could see another partisan bill that attempts to cut nutrition spending.
House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson has insisted he wants to move a bipartisan bill. But many conservatives are using the appropriations process and the battle over the House speakership to demand cuts in government spending that go beyond the debt ceiling deal worked out with President Joe Biden this spring. That deal included some modifications to SNAP work requirements.
House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Republican who represents a major agricultural district in Texas, told reporters Wednesday he doesn’t think the debt-ceiling debt went far enough and that farm bill nutrition spending needs to be reduced. At the same time, he also believes commodity program reference prices need to be increased, suggesting the current rates are “meaningless and irrelevant.”
Arrington said the SNAP reforms in the debt-ceiling deal were “very modest at best.” “We need real substantive policy changes and reforms on the Supplemental Nutrition (Assistance) Program, not just for taxpayers, but for the sake of the beneficiaries,” Arrington said.
Keep in mind: A fiscal 2024 budget resolution that Arrington’s committee approved last month doesn’t earmark any new money for the farm bill, despite a policy statement calling for the Ag Committee to “improve and strengthen the Farm Safety Net.” The GOP resolution also wouldn’t require any cuts in farm bill spending.
By the way: Lucas suggested an extension of the 2018 farm bill programs wouldn’t be a bad outcome. He said “the premise of the present farm bill is still valid. We need to make adjustments, but the premise is still there.”
Vilsack hints at forthcoming details for trade promotion
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was mostly mum when asked Wednesday about the Regional Agricultural Trade Promotion Program, a newly proposed $1.4 billion foreign market promotion program to be funded out of the Commodity Credit Corporation. But he did hint that details are forthcoming.
“I would just simply say stay tuned,” Vilsack told reporters.
Some lawmakers have been critical of the fact that USDA plans to use CCC authority to fund the program, as requested by leaders of the Senate Ag Committee.
Vilsack on Wednesday implored lawmakers not to try to limit his ability to access CCC funds. Lawmakers, he said, “shouldn’t contain the ability of the Department of Agriculture and the
secretary to utilize … CCC resources.”
Avian influenza returns to commercial poultry flocks
Avian influenza has crept back into commercial poultry flocks for the first time since May, with the Agriculture Department detecting new cases at three poultry farms.
More than 141,000 turkeys in two commercial Utah flocks are being affected by HPAI as of Wednesday, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. One South Dakota turkey farm has seen impacts on 47,300 birds.
Take note: The fall migration season could be one driver for the development of new cases.
New Walmart dairy facility in Georgia creates 400 jobs
Walmart is establishing a new dairy processing facility in Valdosta, Georgia. The facility will create almost 400 new jobs and is seen as a “big step in revitalization of the dairy industry in the Southeast,” according to Geri Berdak, chief executive officer of The Dairy Alliance.
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Berdak says the Alliance has been assured that Walmart will be working with the local dairy co-ops to supply the milk. “We believe this new investment in dairy processing will benefit our diverse Southeast dairy farm families by providing additional processing opportunities, while supporting local milk to service local stores,” Berdak told Agri-Pulse.
“We have found that 93% of households in the Southeast have dairy milk in their refrigerator. This facility will hold promise for Southeastern consumers while addressing milk shortages and food insecurity concerns and guaranteeing consistent availability of locally sourced milk on store shelves,” Berdak adds.
He said it: “Good luck getting rid of that,” Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said about some strawberry-flavored milk that seemed to be very popular with second-graders at Annandale Terrace Elementary School in Washington’s northern Virginia suburbs.
Vilsack visited the school and its cafeteria Wednesday, where he noticed kids snapping up the pink-colored milk containers. His comment was aimed at Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, who was also visiting. Reid told Agri-Pulse she was uncertain about how appropriate it was for the kids and discussed the subject with Vilsack.
USDA is currently considering some restrictions on added sugars in school meals. One option USDA is considering USDA would limit milk choices in elementary and middle schools to a variety of unflavored milks only. Another option is to maintain the current standard allowing all schools (grades K-12) to offer fat-free and low-fat milk, flavored and unflavored.
