Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is making it pretty clear he has no plans to take up a farm bill this year. Schumer on Tuesday criticized House GOP leaders for omitting a farm bill extension from a continuing resolution that’s needed to keep the government funded after Sept. 30.
“Republicans have no plan for extending Farm Bill funding, Schumer said on the Senate floor. “One of the consequences of failing to pass the farm bill is going over the so-called ‘dairy cliff,’ which is what happens when the Dairy Margin Coverage Program dries up.”
Schumer is referring to the fact that if Congress doesn’t extend the DMC and other commodity programs, USDA would be required to start implementing some archaic laws for controlling market prices.
Take note: Farm groups are in Washington this week lobbying lawmakers to leave discussion of an extension until the end of the year.
Don’t miss the weekly Agri-Pulse weekly newsletter, which features our 2024 CEO salary report.
Jones presses lawmakers on FDA Human Foods needs
Jim Jones, FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, says his agency needs additional regulatory authorities and funding to keep up with the modern food system.
Jones appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health subcommittee Tuesday to take questions on a number of food safety bills and to push Congress for more support. “Certainly, the FDA is no stranger to doing more with less, but we also need modern authorities to enable further agility and to help us regulate our rapidly evolving 21st-century food supply,” Jones said.
Congress should give the agency authority to prevent foods with dangerous levels of contaminants from reaching retail shelves, and lift limitations on sharing some regulated commodity information with state partners during urgent food safety events, Jones said.
Nutrition advocates oppose House farm bill changes to DGA process
Forty-four organizations recently sent a letter to Senate and House Ag committee leaders opposing changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans process laid out in the House farm bill. The groups argue the provision would undermine scientific integrity, harm public health and exacerbate health inequities.
Specifically, they draw attention to language that would prevent the DGA Committee from considering factors like socioeconomic status and food labeling that impact dietary choices across different cultures and races, according to the letter. This would also prevent discussions about how DGAs impact federal feeding programs.
The changes appear to be driven by “political and industry influence” as opposed to science, the groups wrote. Signees include the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Farm Forward, Food Research & Action Center, the National WIC Association and more.
This comes as food industry groups have ramped up calls for changes to the DGA process. Some groups take particular issue with the level of transparency in how the DGAC selects studies that inform its recommendations.
Food industry groups create forum for traceability rule
Eight food industry groups have created a Food Industry FSMA 204 Collaboration to boost awareness and share resources about the FDA’s food traceability rule.
The traceability rule requires the food supply chain to collect more detailed information to help the agency identify and remove potentially contaminated foods from the market more quickly. The compliance deadline for the rule is Jan. 20, 2026, with the agency expected to begin enforcement in 2027.
Still, recent stakeholder discussions found that many in the supply chain lack awareness and understanding of the new requirements.
The new collaboration group includes the Association of Food & Drug Officials, FMI-The Food Industry Association, International Fresh Produce Association, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and more.
Rebekah Alvey has more on the traceability rule in this week’s newsletter.
ESA reform bill dropped in House
An Endangered Species Act reform bill introduced by House Republicans Tuesday would make major changes to the 51-year-old law.
The bill introduced by Reps. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., would prevent designation of critical habitat on private land and require that federal wildlife agencies examine the economic and natural security impacts of species listings. It also would prohibit judicial review of decisions to remove species from the threatened and endangered list.’
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council praised the legislation. The Center for Biological Diversity dismissed the bill as “a tired rerun of the same old script.”
Unclear, delayed guidance hamper states' broadband planning, lawmakers told
State broadband agencies are struggling to plan federally funded broadband projects amid a lack of clear guidance as well as delays in getting questions answered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Montana official told lawmakers Tuesday.
At issue is the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, a $42.5 broadband initiative funded by the 2021 infrastructure law.
Misty Ann Giles, director of Montana’s Department of Administration, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee her state has received “conflicting or even new and changed guidance after submitting our plans or beginning a previously approved NTIA operational process.”
For instance, states are required to create challenge processes to prevent overbuilding, and while Montana received approval for its process in January, NTIA rolled out new guidance in February. That meant the state couldn’t modify its system to incorporate the new guidance, she said.
The agency also didn’t issue proposed guidance for alternative technologies like unlicensed fixed wireless or low-earth orbit satellite broadband until midway through in August 2023. That was after the state had already begun taking applications for the main round of the program.
Final word: "Allowing American tax dollars to go to foreign farmers out of fear of retaliation is ridiculous.” That was Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, responding to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack’s warning that barring foreign feedstocks from qualifying for the 45Z clean fuels tax credit could result in retaliation against U.S. ag exports.
Rebekah Alvey, Philip Brasher and Nosh Wicks contributed to this report
Questions, comments, tips? Email Steve Davies at Agri-Pulse.
