A partial shutdown of the government, including USDA, is looming as a possibility yet again as lawmakers struggle to agree on a deal to fund departments and agencies for the rest of the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.
There were hopes a fiscal 2024 funding deal would be released over the weekend, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer informed senators in a letter Sunday that “House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been under heavy pressure from GOP hardliners to demand that any FY24 legislation include policy provisions that Democrats are resisting.
By the way: Schumer, D-N.Y., warned a shutdown of USDA would “threaten vital food support programs for women and children and block critical loans to American farmers, threatening increased food prices for all Americans.”
State of play: Under the latest continuing resolution, departments and agencies covered by the Agriculture, Energy-Water, Transportation-HUD and Military Construction measures are funded through Friday. Departments and agencies covered by the remaining eight FY24 bills are funded through March 8.
For more on this week’s ag policy agenda, check out our Washington Week Ahead.
USDA issues food deflation forecast
USDA economists have raised their forecast for food prices this year. The Economic Research Service had been predicting supermarket prices would fall 0.4% in 2024. But the new forecast is for inflation of 1.6%. That’s still well under the increases for recent years and the 20-year historical rate of 2.7%.
Some of the largest increases are expected in prices for sugar and sweets (5.3%), fats and oils (4.6%) and beef (2.2%). Prices for dairy products are expected to be nearly flat, with an increase of just 0.2%. Pork prices are projected down 0.5%.
USDA opening Dairy Margin Coverage enrollment
USDA has finally opened the Dairy Margin Coverage program for 2024 enrollment. Signup has been delayed this year because of changes the department had to implement as a result of the farm bill extension enacted last November.
The enrollment period will start Wednesday and run until April 29. Coverage will be retroactive to Jan. 1, and payments could begin going out as soon as March 4.
Revisions to the program will allow eligible dairy farms to make a one-time modification to their production history. The program pays farmers when the difference between the average milk price and the average cost of feed drops below a certain amount.
“If 2023 taught us anything, it’s that we honestly have no idea what will happen in the market in any given year,” says FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux.
Ag shippers praise Federal Maritime Commission rule on billing reform
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition is applauding a final rule out Friday from the Federal Maritime Commission to reform detention and demurrage practices that the coalition said “contributed to massive financial injury to U.S. shippers, from small ‘main street’ businesses to the nation’s very largest ag exporters and retailers.”
The rule clarifies “who can be billed, within what timeframe, and the process for disputing bills,” the FMC said.
“Abusive practices included billing [detention and demurrage] without informing the shipper what – or when or where – the detention/demurrage occurred [and] waiting years to impose the charges,” the coalition said.
Klamath Dams on their way down
One Klamath River dam is officially no more and three more are on their way out.
The 25-foot-tall Copco No. 2 was taken down last fall and reservoirs next to three others slated for removal — Iron Gate, Copco 1, and JC Boyle — have been drained in preparation for demolition later this year, according to a press release from the Klamath River Renewal Corporation.
Does it impact farmers? Kind of: The removal of the dams, which are operated only for electricity generation, should help improve fish habitat in the river, according to Brian Johnson, the corporation’s board chairman. If these habitat improvements can successfully increase fish numbers, farmers may see less of their water supplies diverted to preserve populations, he told members of the Family Farm Alliance at their annual conference in Reno.
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As for the other dams: Former Washington Rep. Doc Hastings commented on the agreement to undertake a series of ecological restoration measures and alternative power projects in the Pacific Northwest, in anticipation of the potential breaching of Snake River dams. He told Agri-Pulse at the Family Farm Alliance conference in Reno, "If there's a new president, a different president than the one we have now, I have no doubt in my mind that those decisions would be reversed because they can be reversed by the executive branch."
A ceremonial signing of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative took place at the White House Friday. Read our coverage at Agri-Pulse.com.
Lawmakers propose new grant programs for rural communities
Four lawmakers want to create two new grant programs: one to provide funding for child care, housing and job training in rural communities and the other to help rural leaders access technical assistance when applying for other programs.
The Rural Partnership and Prosperity Act, introduced Friday by Reps. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., and David Valadao, R-Calif., and Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., aims to “help fill the persistent need across rural communities for direct federal support for economic and community development activities,” according to a fact sheet from Salinas’ office.
The bill also proposes additional cross-agency coordination on rural programs and directs the leader of the Rural Partners Network to prioritize “ease of access” in federal programs for rural communities, focus on those in economic distress, and use “early technical assistance to reduce duplicative applications and administration costs at the federal level."
The bill has support from the National Association of Counties, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the Farm Credit Council, and the National Rural Water Association, among others.
She said it: “One of the most frustrating things that happened when I was working in Washington is that you guys didn’t sue me.” — Karen Budd-Falen, the Trump-era deputy solicitor for wildlife and parks in the Department of the Interior, encouraging Western farmers to use lawsuits to push the agency to make Endangered Species Act decisions that are more favorable to them, in remarks at the Family Farm Alliance’s annual conference in Reno.
Philip Brasher and Noah Wicks contributed to this report
