USDA has directed crop insurance companies to expedite loss adjustments necessary to make payments to producers impacted by Hurricane Helene, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday.
The department said it expects payments to be made within 30 days.
USDA estimates there are more than 38,000 crop insurance policies, covering more than 4.8 million acres, in place in the affected areas.
During a trip to Florida and Georgia with President Joe Biden to assess damage, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA is “extending program signup opportunities and using waivers and emergency procedures” to speed recovery efforts. USDA has deployed 190 staff, including many from the Forest Service, to help with response efforts, including removal of debris from roads.
Leaders from the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency will hold a virtual briefing at 11 a.m. ET today with ag producers and stakeholders to share information on disaster assistance programs for agricultural operations. Visit farmers.gov/hurricane for details on how to join.
Thompson, Jackson seek GAO report on Paraguayan beef analysis
House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Pa., and Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, are seeking a Government Accountability Office review of USDA’s determination that Paraguayan beef can be safely imported into the U.S. under certain conditions.
In a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, the lawmakers expressed concern about the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s analysis of the potential risks of foot-and-mouth disease posed by Paraguayan beef, which was drafted in 2018 but subject to periodic reviews until 2022. They worried that the agency only made site visits in 2008 and 2014.
“Without a more recent site visit by APHIS to verify Paraguay’s capability to address a potential outbreak of FMD, the agency is directly putting the livelihoods of U.S. livestock producers at undue risk,” the lawmakers wrote.
But, but, but: APHIS has stood by its decision to allow Paraguayan imports, noting that foot-and-mouth disease has not been detected in the South American nation in more than 10 years. In the final rule, the agency’s administrator, Michael Watson, pushed back on claims that the agency relied on outdated information in the risk analysis, saying it analyzed more recent Paraguayan data on top of the 2008 and 2014 site visits.
Take note: The Senate in March adopted a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the agency’s decision by a veto-proof margin, 70-25. Twenty-six House members have sponsored a companion measure, though it has yet to see any action in the House Agriculture Committee.
U.S. asks Supreme Court to weigh in on Universal Service Fund ruling
The Biden Administration is seeking a Supreme Court review of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ July ruling that the Universal Service Fund, which defrays the cost of phone and internet access in rural areas, is unconstitutional.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the decision over the USF, which is funded through assessments paid by broadband providers. The filing argues the 5th Circuit erred in its determination that the power to tax was unconstitutionally delegated by Congress to the Federal Communications Commission, and then by the FCC to the Universal Service Administrative Co., an independent corporation.
The petition notes that that the 5th Circuit’s opinion conflicts with previous rulings by the 6th and 11th circuits. "If left in place, the decision will upend the universal service programs, to the detriment of millions of consumers nationwide,” it said.
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From the other side: "The dual layers of delegation — from Congress to the FCC, then from the FCC to USAC — 'obscure lines of accountability the Framers intended to be clear' and 'render the promise of recourse to the judiciary illusory because they give reviewing courts no standard against which to measure the compatibility of executive action with the prescriptions of the people’s elected representatives,'” Consumers’ Research, the nonprofit that brought the lawsuit, said in a brief submitted following the U.S. government's filing of the petition.
Dairy grants of $11 million awarded
Dairy businesses and producers have received $11 million under the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives grant program, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday.
“The initiatives support small and mid-sized dairy businesses in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products,” USDA said in a news release.
One grant of $3.45 million went to help farmers in 12 southeastern states “integrate innovative practices such as on dairy innovation, product safety, farm sustainability, and workforce development to improve financial outcomes and diversify the dairy supply chain,” USDA said.
Two other grants, both $3.45 million, went to help farmers in the Northeast and Midwest.
USDA adviser: SAF industry needs to establish relationship with Congress to spur long-term policy
Speaking at a panel on sustainable aviation fuel investments, a USDA adviser said that the industry needs more long-term investments in the form of 10 or 20-year minimum tax credits, but suggested it is important to demonstrate success and build a trustworthy relationship with Congress first.
At the Sustainable Aviation Futures North American Congress in Houston last week, USDA National Business Renewable Energy Adviser Chris Cassidy highlighted the importance of carbon intensity and stacking incentives.
Throughout the conference, representatives of the SAF industry emphasized the need for stable policies like longer-term tax credits to spur greater investment. However, Cassidy said those may be out of reach until the industry can show Congress successful projects that have a positive return on investment.
“What we're trying to do is incentivize the whole industry and be able to send a signal to Congress that, hey, we need to continue to invest in these projects,” Cassidy said. “And the only way we're going to do that is … to have long-term, stable policy for these tax credits, but they listen when you can show them examples.”
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