With farmers continuing to struggle across the country to find workers, 30 House members from across the political spectrum are appealing to leaders of the House Agriculture Committee today to ensure the next farm bill includes new funding for research and development into mechanizing and automating the production of specialty crops.
“The development and incorporation of innovative and accessible technology is … more critical than ever, both to bridge the gaps left by the shortage of human hands and equip the existing workforce with modern solutions to enhance their skill sets,” according to a letter from the lawmakers being released today.
“With dedicated federal funding and attention, we can better attract the private investment and ingenuity necessary to accelerate breakthroughs and commercialization.”
Take note: A bill called the Advancing Automation Research and Development in Agriculture Act would set up a $20 million-a-year automation R&D program at USDA.
Vilsack pushes back on H-2A complaints
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed frustration at an event in North Carolina Wednesday when a farmer in the state asked him to “give a pause to the H-2A wage rate,” the minimum amount employers must pay foreign farmworkers brought to the U.S. to work.
Speaking of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which passed the House multiple times only to stall in the Senate, Vilsack noted that one of its provisions would have limited increases in the wage rates, which vary by state.
“Wage levels would have been capped, and they would have been capped not just for a year – they would have been capped forever.” The bill would have frozen wage rates for a year and capped wage increases for the following nine years.
Vilsack noted that some farm groups opposed the legislation: “It’s frustrating to me that farmers’ voices weren’t loud about that, but they are now.” While many ag groups backed the bill, the American Farm Bureau Federation notably did not. AFBF had concerns with other issues in the legislation.
As USDA funding deadline looms, GOP hardliners demand riders
The threat of a government shutdown is back again, with a stopgap spending bill for USDA and several other departments set to expire a week from Friday.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus say they’re worried that a massive fiscal 2024 spending bill will be dropped on lawmakers without any of the policy riders and spending cuts that hardline conservatives have been demanding. In a new letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Freedom Caucus members ticked off a series of policy issues they want addressed, including a ban on “purchases of American farmland by our adversaries like China.”
Livestock groups target competition rules
Livestock groups angered by USDA’s push to address unfair practices in the meat and poultry industry are urging Congress to use the FY24 spending legislation to defund the effort.
In a letter Wednesday, they asked House and Senate leaders to retain a provision in the House agriculture appropriations bill that would prevent USDA from spending any money to propose, finalize or implement a series of rulemakings under the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Among their targets: A rule published in November addressing the poultry tournament system, which under the House bill would have to be withdrawn. “If allowed to take effect, the rules would incentivize frivolous litigation which would necessarily result in reduced opportunities to access these essential marketing channels,” said the groups, which include the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Pork Producers Council.
Lawmakers target Paraguayan beef imports
A bipartisan group of House members is trying to reverse USDA’s decision to lift a long-standing ban on beef imports from Paraguay.
Eighteen Republicans and one Democrat are sponsoring a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, a law that Congress can use to overturn some federal agency decisions.
At least eight state agriculture commissioners also have questioned the analysis USDA used to decide importing Paraguayan beef wouldn’t pose a safety risk to U.S. herds.
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Keep in mind: The CRA resolution would have to pass both chambers and be signed into law by President Biden. During a recent House Ag Committee hearing, Vilsack said Paraguay’s system is equivalent to USDA “in terms of their ability to detect, their ability to quarantine, their ability to respond quickly” to animal disease.
Survey: Fruit, vegetable benefits popular with WIC recipients
Fruits and vegetables are a big attraction in the WIC nutrition assistance program, according to a new survey of recipients by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Some 93% of those surveyed said the fruit and vegetable allowance under WIC was one of the reasons they participate in the program. Some 72% want to use benefits for frozen and canned fruits and vegetables in addition to fresh produce.
By the way: USDA officials told members of the National WIC Association Wednesday that a new rule making permanent some higher benefit levels for fresh produce should be finalized by April. Children are eligible for $25 a month for fruits and vegetables while pregnant and postpartum women get $44 a month. House Republicans have been pushing to slash those benefits to previous levels that were much lower.
Take note: Some 85% of WIC participants say they’ve changed the way they eat and feed their family because of what they’ve learned through the program.
The survey was conducted last July through September in 19 states.
She said it. “Once you lose that you will never get it back again.” – Ellen Teller, chief government affairs officer for the Food Research and Action Center, on a provision in the 2018 farm bill that requires USDA to periodically update the Thrifty Food Plan, a model of eating costs that is used to set SNAP benefits.
Congressional Republicans don’t want to eliminate the updates, but they do want to put restrictions on how they are done, a move that would free up $30 billion to fund other parts of the farm bill. Teller, who was speaking during the National WIC Association’s virtual conference, and other anti-hunger advocates are strongly opposed to the GOP proposal.
