There is big news today on the farm bill front. The House and Senate Agriculture committees are making dueling moves today in the partisan standoff over a new bill.
Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is releasing a complete bill, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. A committee staffer says the legislation will include provisions from more than 100 bipartisan bills.
In the House, Ag Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., is out today with a “high level” summary of his bill that broadly describes each title. While the summary provides few details, the bill include some modifications to the Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage and authorizes an expansion of base acres for PLC and ARC.
The bill also includes provisions intended to address Proposition 12, the California law that sets standards for pork and eggs sold in the state.
The conservation title brings Inflation Reduction Act funding into the bill, with some of the money allocated to the Conservation Reserve Program.
Committee debate on the bill is set for May 23.
For our report on the dueling farm bills, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
SAF tax credit rules leave ag with uncertainty
The Biden administration has released its long-awaited rules for the new 40B tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel, but they’re producing more questions than answers.
The 40B guidance is somewhat of an academic exercise. Very little SAF is currently produced, and the 40B credit gives way next year to a new, more expansive tax credit, called 45Z. The rules have yet to be written.
Biofuel producers and farm groups are glad agriculture is included as an eligible feedstock for 40B but they say the rules are way too prescriptive. Corn won’t qualify unless the corn is grown with three climate-smart practices: no-till, cover crops, and energy-efficient fertilizer. Soybeans won’t qualify unless producers use both cover crops and no-till. There also are rules for certifying that the crops were grown with climate-smart practices.
One view: “For growers like me here in North Dakota, short growing seasons and unpredictable fall weather make the cover crop requirement alone next to impossible,” says Josh Gackle, president of the American Soybean Association.
What’s next: The Treasury Department will be issuing a formal request for information on the 45Z guidance. Among the big questions with 45Z is whether new practices will qualify and whether farmers will be allowed to pick and choose among practices rather than using all of them on the same acreage.
For more on the SAF rules, check out our weekly Agri-Pulse newsletter.
EPA proposes to cancel most uses of insecticide
EPA is proposing to cancel all but one of the uses for acephate insecticide, citing increased dietary risks from drinking water as well as “worker, homeowner, and ecological risks.”
Cut through the clutter! We deliver the news you need to stay informed about farm, food and rural issues. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse here.
The organophosphate (trade names include Orthene) is currently registered for agricultural uses, including cotton and soybeans. EPA’s proposal would allow use for tree injection.
The American Soybean Association promptly questioned the proposal. Luke Sayes, an ASA director and soybean grower in Deville, Louisiana, said he is “troubled by what a ban on acephate could mean for my farm and our community. We currently have very few tools to manage destructive insect pests, like in this case redbanded stink bugs, which can inflict significant yield loss if not managed.”
ASA plans to “carefully examine the agency’s acephate claims to ensure they are supported by sound science,” Mayes said.
The Center for Biological Diversity’s environmental health science director, Nathan Donley, called acephate “exceptionally dangerous” to human health and said it “rightly belongs in the dustbin of history.”
The proposed decision comes with a 60-day comment period.
Meanwhile: A three-year study commissioned by CropLife America says corn, cotton and soybean yields would decline by up to 70% without pesticides.
The study, performed by University of Arkansas researchers, also says farming the crops without pesticides could use three times more land, water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions, CropLife said.
CAFO panel’s membership is set
A new subcommittee formed under the Federal Advisory Committee Act will look at how to reduce nutrients and other water pollutants from animal feeding operations.
EPA announced 21 members of the Animal Agriculture and Water Quality Subcommittee Tuesday. The first meeting will be held May 30 and 31 at EPA headquarters.
Members were appointed from farm and environmental groups, state agencies and dairy and cattle operations. Among the entities: Earthjustice, Food & Water Watch, the Iowa Environmental Council, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, Indiana State Poultry Association, Idaho Dairymen’s Association and the National Pork Board.
House members re-ignite call for better medical training on nutrition
Members of Congress are pushing the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to better incorporate nutrition education into medical school training.
In a letter, lawmakers led by Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., ask the council to do more to train physicians to screen and treat diet-related diseases. The push follows a bipartisan resolution adopted by the House in 2022 that called for meaningful nutrition education in all phases of medical training.
The council hosted a Summit on Medical Education in Nutrition in March 2023, but the latest program requirements for pediatrics training do not include nutrition training. Lawmakers pressed the council on these requirements in the letter and inquired about future updates to the Common Program Requirements set for graduate medical education.
Taking steps to properly train medical professionals to address these diseases will make people healthier and save the U.S. health care system money, McGovern says.
“As we work together to combat the rising obesity epidemic, increased nutrition education is critically important,” says Buchanan. “We need to ensure that medical practitioners provide patients with the knowledge and resources necessary to help them lead longer, happier and healthier lives.”
