President Joe Biden and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack are stopping at a Minnesota farm today to announce $5 billion in funding for projects across rural America.
The announcement includes $1 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for conservation projects in 35 states through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
Biden will announce $145 million in funding from the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, to benefit 697 small businesses and farms across 44 states. Vilsack says the projects will help small businesses and farms lower utility costs, as well as position farmers to “take full advantage” of additional IRA funding for transitioning rural electric cooperatives from fossil-fuel based electricity to more renewable power.
Rural infrastructure will also get a boost with $1 billion in new funding for power production and water and wastewater projects. An additional $274 million from USDA’s ReConnect program will go toward rural broadband projects in nine states.
There’s also $2 billion for communities in 10 states where the administration established the Rural Partners Network in areas of persistent and deep poverty.
By the way: Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., is fundraising off Biden’s visit. Finstad says in an email, “No matter how hard the Biden team tries to gaslight Minnesota families, you and I know Minnesotans are suffering thanks to: The administration’s war on production agriculture; Destructive Green New Deal policies; and BIDENFLATION!”
For more on ReConnect and where it stands in farm bill discussions, don’t miss our weekly Agri-Pulse newsletter. We also look into the idea of boosting premium subsidies for supplemental crop insurance coverage.
GAO: US sugar program costs consumers billions, needs to change
The U.S. sugar program that protects American farmers by restricting imports goes too far in propping up producers and costs consumers billions by inflating food prices, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO, after doing a deep dive into research, said the sugar program costs consumers up to $3.5 billion per year and stressed that U.S. sugar prices are much higher than international prices.
Rob Johansson, director of economics and policy analysis for the American Sugar Alliance, says in a statement that it is foreign subsidies that distort the international market and he stressed that the GAO analysis is faulty.
GAO, he said, “continues to make major and obvious errors in their analysis of sugar policy and markets in the United States and in other countries to the detriment of American farm families and workers. We urge Congress to consider the facts, including that global sugar costs of production have routinely exceeded global sugar prices over the past 20 years, clearly evidencing a world sugar market distorted by heavily subsidized foreign sugar.”
The GAO report also stresses that the U.S. Trade Representative, which decides how foreign producers divvy up the allocations for imports, uses “a method based on 40-year-old data” and has not considered alternative methods.
Livestock insurance sales continue to surge
Cattle producers are buying the Livestock Risk Protection insurance in increasing numbers. As of October, LRP had been purchased on 5.2 million head, up from 3.4 million in 2022 and 1.8 million in 2021, according to a Texas A&M University analysis. The program covered just 71,000 head back in 2017.
The analysis cites modifications to LRP, including reduced premiums and allowing producers to defer payments until the end of the endorsement period.
HPAI continues spread across U.S. commercial flocks
Six states have seen new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in commercial flocks over the past month, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Some 22 commercial flocks were confirmed to have been infected in October. Nine of these are located in Minnesota, while seven are in South Dakota and two are in Iowa..
The virus has also been detected in two flocks in Utah, one flock in California and one flock in Alabama.
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US hopes to provide rice to Ecuador after crop failure there
Severe weather hobbled Ecuador’s summer rice production this year, and now the U.S. hopes to help fill in a large supply gap, according to U.S. industry and government officials.
APHIS and the USA Rice Federation have been working with Ecuadorian authorities to complete all of the paperwork necessary to once again allow the U.S. to ship rough rice – rice that hasn’t been milled – to buyers in the South American country.
A pest risk assessment by Ecuador is still pending, but APHIS has cleared the way for exports, and importers have already arranged shipments from the U.S.
CropLife America seeking new leader
CropLife America’s board of directors is opening a search for a new CEO. CLA’s board decided last month to let Chris Novak go after about five years at the helm of the trade association, which represents companies that make, formulate and distribute crop protection products.
“The successful candidate will have strong leadership skills, experience in a regulated industry, and advocacy with a broad array of stakeholders including elected officials and regulators at both the federal and state level,” according to a statement from the board.
Comment deadline extended on pesticide-AMR resistance issues
EPA has extended the comment period on an interagency concept document for how to assess whether certain pesticides “could potentially result in antimicrobial resistance that compromises the effectiveness of medically important antibacterial and antifungal drugs.” The new deadline for comments is Dec. 13.
He said it. “I'm glad to see the president getting into the real America. I’d advise him to leave his Bidenomic message back in Washington, D.C.” – Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ahead of the president’s trip to Minnesota.
Jacqui Fatka, Bill Tomson, Noah Wicks and Steve Davies contributed to this report.
