Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, hasn’t given up on his years-long effort to tighten payment limits for farm bill commodity programs. But he doesn’t support means testing crop insurance, an issue that got fresh attention this week with the release of a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
“I'm going to have to go by what I've heard from farmers for the last two years: Leave crop insurance alone, just keep it going the way it is. And I think that's the stand that I've taken,” Grassley told reporters Tuesday. He noted that farmers pay a portion of the program’s cost in the form of premiums, which isn’t the case with commodity programs.
GAO says Congress could save $15 million a year by reducing premium subsidies for farmers who have adjusted gross incomes above $900,000.
House Ag to hear from lawmakers
The House Agriculture Committee is holding a hearing today to listen to concerns from lawmakers who aren’t on the panel.
As of Tuesday, more than 20 House members had signed up to appear at the hearing, spanning the ideological spectrum. Among those set to talk to the committee: Democrats Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Don Beyer of Virginia, as well as Republicans Dan Newhouse of Washington, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Roger Williams of Texas.
Agriculture, auto groups urge House leaders to overturn proposed EPA tailpipe emission standards
Fifty-eight retailer, auto parts and agriculture groups urged House leaders in a letter Tuesday to pass legislation preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing its proposed tailpipe emission standards.
The letter, signed by the Agricultural Retailers Association and the National Corn Growers Association, said the proposed standards for light-medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles for model year 2027 and beyond could cause biofuel consumption to fall by up to 90%.
"A cost-effective, technology-neutral approach employing a full lifecycle analysis to evaluate all environmental impacts would achieve better outcomes for consumers, U.S. energy and national security, and carbon reductions for the environment,” the groups said.
The groups encouraged lawmakers to pass the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act, which would prohibit EPA from finalizing the rule.
Members sought for supply chain competitiveness committee
The International Trade Administration is seeking nominations for its advisory committee on supply chain competitiveness, particularly “representatives of workers in the supply chain [and] representatives from the agriculture and cold chain sectors,” the ITA said in today’s Federal Register.
“Members of the committee represent companies, organizations, and stakeholders involved in the U.S. supply chain,” ITA said. Members are not compensated for their service or reimbursed for their travel expenses. The committee meets about every quarter.
USDA makes investments in Tribal Nations
As part of the White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington the next two days, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack plans to announce measures to strengthen food sovereignty for Tribal Nations as well as investments of $68 million in forest management.
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Through a pilot, USDA is looking at barriers to selling tribally produced bison to USDA as part of government contracts and better support local small and mid-sized bison herd managers. Four Tribal Nations are receiving Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grants in the first round of funding announcements, with funding directed at Alaska, southern Oregon and northern California and Montana.
“Indigenous food sovereignty is really the ability for tribes to maintain their traditional food systems and really have the independence that they need in choosing how to feed their tribal nations,” says Heather Dawn Thompson, USDA director of the Office of Tribal Relations. “And unfortunately, historically, the federal government has played a devastating role in disrupting indigenous foods.”
The Forest Service HAS signed 120 new co-stewardship agreements, nearly tripling the annual investments with Tribal communities to $68 million. That’s up $20 million from last fiscal year and will help tribes take actions to improve watersheds and wildlife habitat and address conditions that fuel destructive wildfires.
USDA, EPA and FDA want to align voices on how to reduce food loss and waste
Leaders from USDA, EPA and FDA reiterated their excitement for a proposed national strategy on how to reduce food loss and waste as part of domestic efforts to address climate change.
On a White House briefing call Tuesday, Ritu Nalubola, deputy director of FDA’s Office of Policy, Legislation and International Affairs, says one action FDA is taking to help consumers reduce waste is better understanding product data labels. She says FDA strongly supports manufacturers’ use of the introductory phrase, “Best if Used By,” but consumers need to know that is about quality, not safety.
“Products do not have to be discarded after the date if they are stored properly,” she says. FDA supports ongoing consumer education to help better understand what quality-based data labels mean.
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