With a day to spare, Congress has managed to prevent a shutdown of USDA and several other departments and agencies. A continuing resolution that the House cleared Thursday afternoon ahead of an expected snowstorm keeps those departments and agencies operating until March 1 and funds the rest of the government until March 8.
“Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for every American, especially for our veterans, our parents, our children, our farmers, our small businesses and so many other who would have felt the sting of a government shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after his chamber approved the CR, 77-18. The House then passed the measure, 314-108.
But CR further squeezes farm bill
The new CR prolongs the fiscal 2024 appropriations process until at least the first week of March, further limiting the amount of time that lawmakers have for moving a farm bill, assuming they’re even going to get to that.
“Anything that delays the farm bill, and the floor time to get a farm bill going, hurts the farm bill,” Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, says in an interview with Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.
The appropriations process is eating “ever so slowly, ever so steadily, into the time that would be needed, and is needed for the farm bill,” he said.
This week’s Newsmakers will be available today at Agri-Pulse.com.
House chairs mull action on USDA handling of foreign land data
House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson and Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer say they’re looking into potential “legislative vehicles” for addressing shortfalls in USDA’s tracking of foreign land ownership.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office says among the things that USDA staff fail to “sufficiently verify” is the accuracy of foreign land ownership data, and they are slow to share that information with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
The report details a list of challenges hobbling USDA's efforts to track foreign landholdings, including a handbook that provides "limited instructions" on collecting information.
But, but, but: The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which requires tracking of foreign land ownership, is built around self-reported information. To verify that information’s accuracy, USDA must look at records from more than 3,000 counties and 500 sovereign tribal nations, according to USDA spokesman Allan Rodriguez.
"The GAO’s recommendations would require changes by Congress, starting with the funding needed to increase staff and modernize our processes, in addition to a change in data collection mandates down to the county level,” he says.
GAO prods FDA to finalize traceability rule
Another new report from GAO is urging FDA to finalize a plan for implementing a traceability rule that’s designed to identify the sources of foodborne illnesses.
The rule will require farms and businesses handling certain food items to maintain specific records and have a traceability plan. Regulated entities are supposed to be in compliance by January 2026, but the agency has yet to finalize an implementation plan.
GAO says the plan should include FDA's resource needs as well as strategies for ensuring business comply with the regulations. The agency also needs to detail how it’s going to educate farms and other regulated entities on the requirements, GAO says.
Senators urge USDA to address trade barriers around bird vaccine
South Dakota GOP Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune are calling on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to begin the “tedious work” of updating trade agreements to allow poultry and egg farmers to treat their birds for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
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The highly contagious disease, which kills between 90% and 100% of the chickens it infects, has been found in 24 commercial U.S. flocks over the last 30 days, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. More than 5.4 million birds have been impacted.
While the Agricultural Research Service is currently testing HPAI vaccines, trade agreements would need to be changed in order for vaccinated birds to be exported to other countries. In a letter, the senators are asking Vilsack to “work proactively” with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to “resolve potential trade disputes” over a vaccine.
USDA’s view: Rodriguez said “the decision to proceed with vaccination is complex - from vaccine development to production timelines, to dissemination to flocks, there are many factors that make implementing a vaccine strategy a challenge and it would take time to deliver an effective vaccine.” He said “biosecurity remains the best defense against HPAI” for the time being.
Biofuel, airline group push GREET update
Sustainable aviation fuel advocates gathered on Capitol Hill Thursday with an urgent message for the Biden administration and Congress. They want to ensure that the administration meets its self-imposed deadline of March 1 to update the GREET model for calculating the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. The update is critical to determining what feedstocks will qualify for the tax subsidy.
“Meet the deadline,” said Jennifer Aurandt-Pilgrim, vice president of R&D and innovation at Marquis Energy. “The tax credit ends this year and the guidance isn't even in place. I love that they gave themselves a self-imposed deadline; hopefully Congress can help us make sure that the administration follows through on meeting their own deadline.”
Others at the Capitol Hill event, attended by a few dozen staffers, included biofuel industry representatives and Kevin Welsh of Airlines for America, the airline industry trade group.
He said it. “We have more liquid gold and wealth under our feet than any other nation. We have more liquid gold, oil and gas. More liquid gold. Well, I just met non-liquid gold. You know where it was? Iowa. It's called corn.” – Former President Donald Trump, during a campaign stop in New Hampshire this week.
