Seventy-seven Nobel laureates in medicine, economics, physics and chemistry are urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In a letter to senators, the Nobel Prize winners say Kennedy lacks “credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration” and has also opposed “many health-protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio.”
RFK Jr. “has been a belligerent critic” of FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, the scientists write. HHS’s leader “should continue to nurture and improve — not threaten — these important and highly respected institutions and their employees,” the laureates say.
“In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of HHS would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors,” the scientists say.
USDA submits rule on biofuel feedstocks
USDA has submitted an interim final rule relating to the type of climate-smart agriculture crops used for biofuels.
The rule, entitled “Technical Guidelines for Climate-Smart Agriculture Crops Used for Biofuel Feedstocks,” was submitted Friday. No additional details are available for the rule yet.
The guidance could supplement the 45Z Clean Fuel Production tax credit. While the Treasury Department has final say on crafting guidance for the Inflation Reduction Act credit, USDA requested public input earlier in the year on climate smart crops and practices used for feedstocks. The goal was to demonstrate to the Treasury that individual practices and an expanded range of crops could have verifiable carbon reductions.
The public feedback and potential rule itself wasn’t presented specifically for the 45Z guidance, but could be incorporated into this credit and other clean fuel programs.
Republicans see Chinese power grab at FAO
GOP lawmakers worry Beijing is trying to expand its influence in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization through a slate of reform proposals.
The measures include lengthening the director-general’s maximum term limit, boosting pay for that position, updating the constitution, and expanding and adjusting the makeup of the FAO council. The proposals were raised during last week’s FAO session in Rome.
“America cannot afford to sit idly by — even in a time of political transition — while China positions itself to expand its influence,” some 13 Republicans, led by Reps. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., and Brad Finstad, R-Minn., and Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., say in a letter to President Joe Biden.
Take note: An FAO official argued in a letter to some lawmakers that the changes were necessary to ensure that FAO can attract the top talent and insisted that the proposed changes would not apply to the current director-general, China’s Qu Dongyu.
Commerce keeps antidumping duties on Indian soymeal imports
The Commerce Department has ruled that an Indian soymeal producer selling to the U.S. market is continuing to price its product below the market rate and will remain subject to antidumping duties.
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U.S. soymeal imports from Shanti Worldwide, a soymeal and soy oil producer based in India’s Madhya Pradesh, will continue to face antidumping tariffs of 18.8%, according to a Federal Register notice published Monday. That’s the same antidumping rate applied to the company and 11 others in 2022.
Commerce found that one other company, Sumati, did not make any verifiable sales for the November 2021-April 2023 period. The department therefore did not review the duties applied to Sumati’s products and they will remain subject to the same 18.8% rate. The request to review duties applied to a group of other Indian soymeal exporting companies was rescinded by the petitioner in the case — the Organic Soybean Processors of America.
Marketing assistance program for specialty crop growers kicks off
Specialty crop growers struggling with high labor and input costs, and lower cash receipts can start applying to USDA to recoup some of their marketing expenses.
The application window for the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program, or MASC, starts today and ends Jan. 8.
Except for new producers, payments will be based on a producer’s sales in 2023 or 2024.
In its Federal Register notice today announcing the program’s details, the Farm Service Agency says specialty crop growers “face labor costs that are nearly 45% of total variable costs — far higher than the 9% percent average across all the agricultural sector.”
As an example of the challenges facing these producers, FSA notes cash receipts for fruit and nut growers in calendar year 2024 are 25% below the previous inflation-adjusted 10-year average — a greater reduction over that 10-year period than for any commodity grouping other than tobacco.”
Final words
"Work to put more competition in the marketplace. This is ultimately what will result in less reliance on farm subsidies.” — Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., in a farewell address on the Senate floor. In his speech, he recounted memories from his upbringing on a Montana farm, including advice from his parents, whom he described as “FDR Democrats” and “children of the 1930s Depression,” to “work to make your community a better place” and to never depend on farm subsidies for cash flow.
“She’s going to be a great secretary of agriculture, look forward to working with her.” — Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. Biofuels, an important industry to Fischer’s state, came up during their meeting Monday and Fischer said she believes Rollins will be an advocate and ensure there’s a market available to corn and soybean farmers.
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