Lee Zeldin, who served as a congressman from Long Island for eight years before leaving to run a tight but unsuccessful race for governor of New York in 2022, is likely to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
President-elect Trump said Monday Zeldin was his choice to lead the agency of about 15,000 employees that is primarily responsible for enforcing laws covering water, air and land pollution, as well as hazardous waste.
Zeldin served on the Financial Services and Foreign Affairs committees in Congress. He has a lifetime 14% score from the League of Conservation Voters, in part because he voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and its outlays for clean energy. In 2020, however, he voted against proposed cuts to EPA’s budget. He also voted to address PFAS contamination at military bases.
But on biofuels: Perhaps most interesting to the renewable fuels industry and farmers who grow corn for ethanol, Zeldin signed a letter with dozens of House colleagues to then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy seeking a reduction in the renewable volume obligations for 2016.
The lawmakers were concerned the proposal would break the E10 blend wall and drive up the price of E10.
On immigration: Tom Homan, a former Border Patrol agent who served as acting administrator of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration, will serve as White House border czar.
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.
He told Fox and Friends on Monday that ICE would resume raiding work sites to carry out Trump's plan for mass deportations of illegal immigrants. But Homan said, “I've been clear. President Trump's been clear, public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority, because they have to be.”
House Ag Committee election shake-ups
As more election results are finalized, some House Agriculture Committee members are finding themselves out of a job.
Freshman committee member Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., conceded her race against Republican Gabe Evans over the weekend. As of Sunday, Evans led Caraveo by less than 2,600 votes with 95% of the votes reported. The incumbent, who was one of four Democrats who voted to advance the farm bill out of committee in May, faced a race that Cook Political Report rated a toss-up.
Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, whose race was also considered a toss-up, lost her reelection bid in Oregon’s 5th District against Janelle Bynum by three points.
In another closely watched agriculture district, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, has claimed victory, but the race had not been called as of Monday. Her opponent, Christina Bohannan, trailed by fewer than 800 votes with 99% of the votes in.
Two closely watched California ag districts, where incumbent Republicans David Valadao and John Duarte are currently leading, have not been called yet.
U.S., Mexico sign deal on Rio Grande water sharing
After 18 months of negotiations, leaders from the U.S. and Mexico have signed an agreement aimed at ensuring water is delivered to the United States more regularly in a five-year cycle determined by a 1944 treaty.
While Mexico is supposed to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. over a five-year period, it has lagged in its deliveries during the current cycle, which ends next October. It has so far delivered only 425,405.
The new agreement gives Mexico “tools and flexibility to deliver water earlier in the five-year cycle,” says a release from the International Boundary and Water Commission. “A key feature will allow Mexico to use the tools at any time to reduce or prevent shortfalls in water deliveries to the United States, subject to prior U.S. agreement.”
It also establishes a Rio Grande Environment Work Group and “recognizes the importance to the United States of incorporating Texas water deliveries in the annual location plans of Mexico’s water managers," IBWC said.
“The last 30 years of managing over-stretched water resources in the Rio Grande basin have produced broad agreement that the status quo was not acceptable,” said U.S. IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner.
American Egg Board heads to Mexico
The American Egg Board is in Monterrey, Mexico, on a trip aimed at bolstering trade relationships with the country.
The delegation will meet with staff of the global food company Sigma Alimentos, and Mexican supermarket chains Supermercados Internationals HEB and Soriana.
Egg producers on the trip include those from Deb El Food Products in New Jersey, Rose Acre Farms in Indiana, S&R Egg Farm in Wisconsin and Versova in Iowa, according to a press release.
Take note: Only 3.8% of the U.S.’s total table egg production has been exported each year over the past decade. In 2023, the U.S. exported $219 million worth of egg products to Mexico, according to Foreign Agricultural Service data.
Pure Prairie Poultry subject of Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition
Four farmers and companies claiming Pure Prairie Poultry owes them more than $2.6 million have filed an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition against the company.
The petition, filed in the Northern District Court of Iowa late last week, alleges Pure Prairie is “generally not paying its debts as they become due.” Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a trustee is given the task of liquidating a company's assets to pay its debts.
Three or more entities owed at least $10,000 can file a petition to force a company into Chapter 7. In this case, the petitioners include Larry Falk; Tri-State Poultry LLC; Ekelr, LLC; and Lee Frie. Debts include unpaid yardage and bonuses and transport costs.
FAO report identifies $12 trillion in ‘hidden costs’ of agrifood systems
A new study from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says “hidden costs” in global agrifood systems amount to $12 trillion a year.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2024 says across 156 countries, more than two-thirds of that cost comes from “unhealthy dietary patterns” that are linked to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, “far exceeding the costs related to environmental degradation and social inequalities.”
The report identifies 13 dietary risk factors, including “insufficient intake of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; excessive sodium consumption; and high intake of red and processed meats, with notable differences across various agrifood systems.”
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
