Agri-Pulse Daybreak for August 31, 2016
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2016 - Donald Trump is slated to make
what’s billed as a major speech on immigration this evening in Phoenix. The
speech comes as Donald Trump Jr. has raised new questions about what his father
would do about illegal immigrants already in the country.
In an interview
with CNN, the younger Trump denied that his father had softened his
position on deporting all undocumented workers: “He didn’t change his stance on
anything.” Trump, however, in recent days has talked primarily about deporting
illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, which isn’t a particularly
controversial position.
During a speech
in Iowa last weekend the candidate laid out a set of immigration
policy priorities that he’s been pushing since the beginning of the campaign,
including a border wall and mandatory E-Verify.
Farm groups would like to hear how Trump will address the
sector’s need for access to foreign workers. “Our biggest concern is as it’s
always been: We want accessibility to a legal workforce. However we need to
make that happen, let’s go make that happen,” said Bob Young of the American
Farm Bureau Federation.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he hopes Trump
will make clear today that he wants to take a piecemeal approach to passing
immigration reforms rather than the comprehensive strategy Democrats have
demanded. Grassley, R-Iowa, says a new president could make it easier for
farmers to get workers by removing red tape from the H-2A program. But Grassley
says Congress and the president need to ensure border security before it’s
politically feasible for lawmakers to take additional steps that farmers
want.
USDA offices reopening after threats. USDA’s research
facilities in Beltsville, Md., and offices in Colorado, North Carolina and West
Virginia will reopen today after
being closed for a day while the FBI investigated anonymous email threats.
Offices in Hamden, Conn., and one site in West Virginia are
to remain closed while additional security enhancements are put in place, a
USDA spokesman says. The department has not provided any new information on the
nature of the threats. The spokesman says USDA continues to work with local and
federal law enforcement to assess the seriousness of the threats.
No farmer needed, at least not in the cab. The farm
economy may not be booming as it was a few years ago, but that has not stopped
development of innovative new products that can reduce labor needs and improve
on-farm productivity. Case in point: Case IH unveiled its autonomous tractor
concept at the 2016 Farm Progress Show this week in Boone, Iowa. It’s one of many
new innovations on display at one of the nation’s largest outdoor farm
equipment show. (Photo by Spencer Chase)
Bayer exec: EU regulatory environment is bad and could get
worse. Bayer’s top science official says the European Union regulatory
environment is more than just an inconvenience for products. He says it’s
making the “very business of crop protection a risk right now.”
Adrian Percy, the global head of research and development
for Bayer, spoke to Agri-Pulse’s Spencer Chase on the sidelines of the Farm
Progress Show. Percy says the two-tiered approval system in the EU is being
pushed to “unreasonable limits” and that “science is being lost a little.”
Getting approval for farm chemicals and biotech traits requires working with
both the EU as well as individual member states.
The Brexit vote could make the remaining 27 EU states even
more difficult to deal with, Percy says. The United Kingdom has been a
moderating influence on EU regulation of agricultural technology, Percy
says.
Percy said farmers need to get more involved in making their
case to EU regulators. “Farmers need to have a voice. I think that the public,
consumers, and politicians . . . many people trust farmers more than anyone
else when it comes to our food supply,” he said.
Today at the Farm Progress Show, Spencer Chase will be
moderating a panel on the farm bill, elections and farmers’ legislative
priorities. The panel members will include leaders of the National Corn Growers
Association, American Soybean Association and the National Pork Producers
Council.
Bird to keep ESA protections. The Fish and Wildlife
Service has turned
down a request from groups representing building and agriculture interests
in California to delist the coastal California gnatcatcher. They argued that
the small bird wasn’t a valid subspecies that warranted protection under the
Endangered Species Act, but a panel of six experts that studied the issue
disagreed. The bird has been listed as threatened since 1993.
He said it. “If Trump is elected, it obviously
isn’t going to go. If Hillary is elected, her campaign manager has already said
she’s not for it before or after she gets into office.” - Sen. Chuck Grassley,
ruling out the possibility of the Trans-Pacific Partnership being considered in
a lame-duck session of Congress.
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