USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the House Agriculture Committee needs to regroup and present a practical, not political, farm bill.
Talking to reporters after speaking to the Clean Fuels Alliance America on Thursday, Vilsack reiterated his claim that the bill is funded by budget gimmicks. Without a more practical solution, he said a farm bill is unlikely to get a majority support in either chamber, he said.
Specifically, he criticized the bill’s cut to nutrition funding and the restriction on USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority. He said he’s stayed within the law to use the CCC to support popular programs among farmers such as the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative.
“We've always been conscious of the need to make sure that there's adequate and sufficient resources to help farmers out.” said Vilsack. “So, I think there are a lot of arguments here for the House to take a step back, and to be a bit more practical about their approach, because they have a deficit and they can't use an invisibility cloak to mask it.”
Keep in mind: Republicans argue that the Congressional Budget Office is improperly estimating the savings they can get from rolling back Vilsack’s CCC authority. The CBO estimate leaves a large funding gap in the bill.
Agri-Pulse staff welcomed over 40 interns involved in the DC Ag Intern Network to the USDA building for lunch Wednesday. Agri-Pulse will soon release an intern edition of Farm Hands, highlighting the new talent.Lincoln: ‘Very hard’ to finish a farm bill this year
A former Senate Ag Committee chair says it will be difficult for the panel to get a farm bill done before the end of the current session.
Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat who chaired the committee between 2009 and 2011, told Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks that while “anything is possible” the committee would likely need to move a farm bill by September. So far, there has been no sign the committee is going to do that.
“It’s going to be very hard to get a farm bill done before the end of session,” Lincoln said.
"Everybody now is ready to go start campaigning. They know they’ve only got until October, and that’s not just the presidential, but it’s all members of Congress.”
Remember: Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has proposed a far different funding framework than the Republican-led House Ag farm bill. But her bill also doesn’t have the increases in commodity program reference prices that the House Ag bill would provide.
House GOP looks to roll back H-2A wages
House Republicans have released a draft fiscal 2025 funding bill for the Labor Department that would reduce H-2A wage rates to the 2023 level and freeze them there for two years. The average adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) this year is $17.55 an hour, up 5% from 2023.
The FY25 Labor-HHS funding bill also would suspend new rules that tighten protections for H-2A workers and address other issues.
The bill would cut funding for the Labor Department’s worker protection agencies by $193 million to $1.7 billion for FY25. The Wage and Hour Division would get a cut of $25 million to $235 million. OSHA’s budget would be slashed by $75 million to $558 million.
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Keep in mind: The cuts and wage rate freeze would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
California meat processor, staffing agency settle with DOL on child labor use
A Los Angeles-area meat processor and staffing agency will surrender over $327,000 in illegal profits from products connected with child labor, according to the Labor Department.
A&J Meats and The Right Hire reached a settlement with the agency after a federal judge in Los Angeles determined the companies employed and endangered children as young as 15. The children were tasked with using sharp knives, working inside freezers and coolers and scheduled to work past 7 p.m. on school nights.
In addition to surrendering profits, the companies will pay $62,500 in fines.
“A&J Meats and The Right Hire knowingly endangered these children’s safety and put their companies’ profits before the well-being of these minors,” Western Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said in San Francisco in a statement. “These employers egregiously violated federal law and now, both have learned about the serious consequences for those who so callously expose children to harm.”
Take note: The settlement comes as the meat processing industry is under increased scrutiny by House Agriculture Committee Democrats over the use of child labor. On Wednesday, some House Ag members met behind closed doors to discuss the issue.
Smoked salmon product recalled over listeria
Select smoked salmon products distributed to 15 states were voluntarily recalled Tuesday over listeria contamination, according to a Food and Drug Administration notice.
Routine testing of toast sized Foppen Smoked Norwegian Salmon Slices revealed listeria in a specific lot.
Foppen Seafood, a company based in the Netherlands, specifically recalled products from lot number 412, which is visible on the packaging. The products were distributed to Kroger and Payless Supermarkets in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
ARS, Cornell break ground on new grape research facility
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have broken ground on a new grape research facility on the Cornell Agri-Tech campus.
The over 70,000-square-foot National Grape Improvement Center will house the ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit and ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit. Four Cornell grapevine research projects also will move into the research facility.
“ARS and university employees will focus on research to advance grape production through interdisciplinary research, breeding and technology transfer,” ARS said in a news release. “Their work will aim to enhance grape production efficiency, profitability and sustainability for the United States grape industry.”
Rebekah Alvey, Philip Brasher, Noah Wicks and Jake Zajkowski contributed to this report.
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