There are only a handful of federal government agencies with responsibilities to protect the public, property and industries from the harmful effects of biological pests and diseases. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is one of those critical agencies administering programs and working with a network of local and state…
On November 14, the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture addressed the issue of invasive species and their impacts on the U.S. food supply chain. In his opening statement to begin the hearing Chairman of the Subcommittee, Jim Costa (D-CA) pointed out, “Along our southern border and in seaports across the country…
On August 2, President Trump signed into law a two-year federal budget deal totaling $2.7 trillion. Background The White House and congressional leaders announced on July 22 that a comprehensive deal had been worked out on the top line spending numbers for the U.S. discretionary budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Pressure had been…
House Maintains Modest Increases in all 12 Appropriations Bills Above FY 2019 Levels On June 11 officials from the White House & Office of Management and Budget will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) & Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) to chart a path forward on the FY 2020 appropriations bills that…
When Congress reconvenes after the Easter recess on April 29, job #1 will be to reach a deal on the top-dollar amount of federal discretionary spending for the federal government for FY 2020 beginning on October 1. Discretionary spending is the portion of the federal budget totaling just over $1 trillion that Congress controls each…
On December 11, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator, Andrew Wheeler and R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, signed a “pre-publication” of a proposed rule on Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS). EPA will submit it to the Federal Register for publication. Publication will likely occur in a few weeks.…
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture producers in California raise over 400 commodities, supplying over one-third of the U.S.’ vegetables and two-thirds of the fruits and nuts. These commodities are among the top ten valued crops in California and include (2015):…
The 2018 Farm Bill will focus on a few major issues. 75% of the Farm Bill revolves around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program). The general consensus is that most federal lawmakers and stakeholders want to keep a nutrition title included in the Farm Bill. At one time, there was talk about separating agricultural issues from nutrition programs. However, in order to keep urban stakeholders involved it is generally accepted that it is best for everyone to keep the two intertwined.…
The two main organizations that oppose agriculture’s interests in the upcoming Farm Bill are the Environmental Working Group and the Heritage Foundation. Scott Faber with EWG and Daren Bakst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that promotes free enterprise, spoke at a Farm Foundation forum recently in Washington. Both groups are vocal opponents of a number of programs strongly supported by Agriculture groups.…
The debate that preceded the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill was the most contentious in recent history. In a video article on From The Ground Up on KBTX, the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture had this to say …
The agriculture industry is experiencing a dramatic downturn as commodities pile up and prices fall to historic lows. Some in the ag industry are hoping the next Farm Bill can help — sooner as opposed to later. With farm loans steadily deteriorating, many farm groups are hoping to get the Farm Bill process started early.
We’re Not in 2013 Anymore
“The last time we did a farm bill in 2014 our production agriculture industry was having really good times. Commodity prices were good,” said Mike Conaway, U.S. Congressman, Texas’ 11th Congressional District, and Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. “Well, in 2018, I don’t think that’s going to be the case. We’ve already experienced a 42% drop in production farm income.”…
It’s not as far off as you think, work on the 2018 Farm Bill
According to Brandon, Lawmakers’ approach to the 2014 farm bill was an effort to spend as little as possible, as opposed to creating programs to truly help farmers and rural America.
While many in agriculture are still trying to fathom the complexities of the 2014 farm bill and its implementation, members of Congress and ag sector leaders are already laying preliminary groundwork for the 2018 farm bill.”…
A Response to Emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution
Congress has begun to focus on recent mergers and acquisitions in the seed and agrochemical industry. This industry provides inputs to farmers for growing crops.
There are six companies involved in the research and development, manufacturing, and distribution of agrochemicals and biotech seeds, namely Bayer, BASF, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta. All compete with one another for market share while simultaneously working with each other through cross licensing agreements. Cross licensing agreements between companies result in the companies trading technologies and products under certain conditions that typically render enhanced choices of products for farmers and facilitates innovation.…
Since the 1930’s and the Great Depression about every 5-years the U.S. Congress adopts a Farm Bill. The Farm Bill contains production agriculture & food policies under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Bill titles include Commodity Programs, Conservation, Trade, Nutrition, Credit, Rural Development, Research & Extension, Forestry, Energy, Horticulture and Crop Insurance.
Similar to U.S. demographics, Members of Congress today are further removed from the farm than in previous decades. Moreover, farm policy is complex as it includes public policies across varying sectors of the U.S. economy that impacts agriculture, the environment, international trade and social nutrition programs. As we mentioned in our previous farm bill article , Congress has struggled to timely adopt farm bills since the 1990’s.
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The Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79), or “2014 Farm Bill” authorizes the continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through September 30, 2018. Since the Great Depression in the 1930’s Congress has typically adopted a comprehensive Farm Bill every 5 years. However, since the mid-1990’s Congress has struggled to timely adopt farm bills.
Consider:
To save budget dollars the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66) reduced and extended many commodity support provisions beyond 1995. Thus the 1995 Farm Bill wasn’t signed into law until April 1996.
What should have been a 2007 Farm Bill was not enacted until June 2008. It required six temporary extensions of most programs in the 2002 Farm Bill.
The 2008 Farm Bill had to be extended into 2013 and Congress adopted the 2014 Farm Bill in February of that year.
With farmers under financial pressures due to extraordinary low commodity prices farm organizations across America are gearing up for battle for the upcoming Farm Bill. The next Farm Bill will need to authorize programs for crop years 2019-2023. Ideally, a new farm bill should be adopted before any new crop harvest. The earliest crop harvest in 2019 will occur in mid-to-late May of 2019 when wheat harvest begins in South Texas. Dependent upon the complexities of policies adopted in the new Farm Bill the U.S. Department of Agriculture would likely need anywhere from 9-months-to-1-year to implement the Farm Bill. That means for the next farm bill, Congress should reauthorize farm programs by roughly September 2018.
Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
Mary Kay Thatcher, senior director of congressional relations with AFBF, told Hoosier Ag Today in a recent interview that their organization is anticipating testimony before the House and Senate Ag Committees as early as next spring.
Thatcher explained “..we’ve heard from our cotton producers and our dairy folks, that they don’t think the new programs that were put into effect are working for them. Fairly low participation in both programs and most folks feeling again like they just don’t provide an adequate safety net.”
According to Thatcher, here are some of the biggest challenges in writing a new farm bill:
