Farm & Food Bill: $100 billion/year at Stake

September 22, 2016Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm Bill, Govt NewsAgriculture, associations, Corporate, Farm Bill, federal budget, government relations, Lobbying, Lobbyist, public relations, Washington, Washington DC

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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Cansler Consulting Meets With Members of Congress on Client’s Priority Issues

July 31, 2011Tim CanslerCansler NewsCongress, Congressman, Corporate, DC, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington, Washington DC

This past week Tim Cansler, founder and senior consultant of Cansler Consulting met with Members of Congress, including Speaker of the US House John Boehner (R-OH), and discussed issues that are top priorities for clients, including Budget, Farm Bill and Rural Healthcare. “This was a good opportunity for our clients to have their issues front-and-center…

On Solutions to US Debt, It’s Compromise, Not Capitulation

July 18, 2011Tim CanslerBudget & Appropriations, Govt NewsCongress, Corporate, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Policy Changes, reform, Washington, Washington DC

Lobbying for compromise in Washington DC -Cansler Consulting With a deadline just days away, congressional leaders and The White House STILL cannot reach an agreement on how to move forward on reducing U.S. debt. All when the U.S. global credit rating is at stake amidst a capricious economy and the Treasury Secretary and leading Economists warning of the catastrophic nature of the U.S. default on its $14.3 trillion debt. The stalemate is due to lawmakers inability to make long-term decisions for the country, over old, ideological positions among political parties. Republicans are refusing to raise revenues (taxes) and Democrats are refusing to make policy changes to programs like Social Security and Medicare.…

A Farm Policy Battle Continues This Week, But The War is Far From Over!

June 13, 2011Tim CanslerFarm Bill, Govt NewsAgriculture, Appropriations Committee, Congress, Congressman, Corporate, DC, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Policy Changes, reform, Washington DC

A Farm Policy Battle continues to wage in the U.S. House of Representatives this week showcasing the escalating issue over how Congress must change current U.S. agricultural programs in the 2012 Farm Bill ruled as “trade distorting” by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Do NOT Pay the $147 Million…”
Passed By Voice Vote

During the U.S. House Appropriations (full) Committee hearing on May 31, Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), (a member of the Tea Party Caucus that promotes fiscal responsibility) offered an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill that reduces direct payments to U.S. cotton producers by $147 million, the amount equal to the Framework Agreement with Brazil. Congressman Flake’s amendment was adopted by a voice vote of the Appropriations Committee members.…

The Farm Bill & Brazil’s Impact

March 31, 2011Tim CanslerFarm Bill, Govt NewsAgriculture, Appropriations Committee, Budget, Congress, Corporate, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, reform, Washington, Washington DC

As we mentioned in an earlier article, the cotton case against the U.S. won by Brazil in the World Trade Organization maintains a caveat that allows the Brazilian government to retaliate against the U.S. and includes increasing tariffs on multiple U.S. products and as a last resort, restricting U.S. intellectual property (IP) rights (patents & copyrights).

Specifically, Brazil initiated and won a dispute over the current marketing assistance loan (MAL), counter cyclical payment (CCP), and export credit guarantee programs. Under a Framework Agreement reached in June 2010, Brazil agreed not to proceed with retaliatory measures; the U.S. agreed to annual payments of $147.3 million to the Brazilian cotton industry and quarterly discussions on potential limits of trade-distorting U.S. farm subsidies.…

Cansler Awarded for Range Management

February 23, 2011Tim CanslerCansler News, Industry NewsCorporate, Lobbyist, Society for Range Management, SRM, Washington DC

Cansler Consulting’s Founder, Tim Cansler, was recently honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the Society for Range Management (SRM) (www.rangelands.org) during their 2011 Annual Meeting in Billings, Montana. Recipients are honored for their significant contribution to the profession of range management. Cansler received the distinction for his service as Executive Vice President of SRM in front of an audience of 800 SRM members. …

Biotech Congressional Hearing Showcases Need For Reform Pt2

January 25, 2011Tim CanslerGovt NewsAgriculture, biotech, Corporate, House, Lobbying, Lobbyist, reform, USDA, Washington DC

While incoming Chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, Oklahoma’s Frank Lucas, agreed with Vilsack’s tenor on producers being able to choose their individual cropping system, Lucas stated that the Plant Protection Act, which grants USDA authority to regulate biotech crops, is a pure science statute and that decisions should remain based on sound science. Moreover, Lucas pressed USDA on their recent consideration of the possible coexistence of herbicide-tolerant biotech alfalfa co-existing with non-biotech fields is “a political objective and is outside the scope of (USDA’s) legal authority.”…

First Major Action of 112th Congress

January 21, 2011Tim CanslerGovt NewsBudget, Congress, Corporate, House, Lobbyist, Obma, Washington DC

On the House floor Thursday, fourteen Democrats joined House republicans to adopt a measure, 253-175, that instructs four Committees; the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Ways and Means, to each report legislation to the House of Representatives proposing changes to the health care law within each committee’s jurisdiction. The legislation must…

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Biotech Congressional Hearing Showcases Need For Reform Pt1

January 21, 2011Tim CanslerGovt Newsbiotch, Corporate, House, Lobbying, Lobbyist, reform, USDA, Washington, Washington DC

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held its first hearing of the new 112th Congress on Thursday and continued its tradition of tackling difficult issues by addressing the complex issues plaguing biotechnology and USDA-APHIS’ role in regulating it.

Biotechnology in agriculture has been rapidly adopted by farmers throughout the world as the industry addresses how to feed a growing world population with limited resources. In fact the 2009 report, The Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops continues to show that global adoption of agricultural biotechnology continues to increase with a record 14 million farmers in 25 countries around the world planting biotech crops on 330 million acres last year, up from 13.3 million farmers and 308 million acres in 2008. The U.S. accounted for 158 million acres of the total, or 48% of the world’s biotech crop plantings.…

The Farm Bill Pt. 3

December 7, 2010Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm BillBudget, Corporate, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington

In Part 3 of our overview of the Farm Bill, we give our assessment of the impact of the bill…

There are some pundits already saying that nutrition programs will not be considered during reconciliation. Don’t count on it. The new reform-minded Republicans elected in the House will most likely reinforce the call for a vote to change the eligibility standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (food stamps) program. Recall during the 2008 Farm Bill debate Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) offered a proposal that would not allow the indexing of benefits to inflation. Neugebauer will likely receive reinforcements on the House Agriculture Committee to be successful this time around. In addition, it helps Neugebauer’s position that the Congressional Research Service is estimating spending for SNAP “over the five-year period is significantly higher than originally projected in 2008 ($188.9 billion estimated in 2008, compared to the more current estimate of $314.9 billion), reflecting additional spending because of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), higher food costs, and increasing program participation rates due to the recession.”…

The Farm Bill Pt. 2

November 28, 2010Tim CanslerFarm BillCorporate, DC, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington

Welcome to Part 2 of our 2012 Farm Bill overview…

Farm Bills have traditionally been tough to write, in many respects. Other things to consider that will be unique to writing the 2012 Farm Bill are:

Other forces will play in this Farm Bill. In an extraordinary move, the Brazilian cotton case resolved in the World Trade Organization in August 2009 maintains a caveat that authorizes the Brazilian government to retaliate against the U.S. by suspending U.S. intellectual property (IP) rights (patents & copyrights) if it believes the 2012 Farm Bill contains trade distorting policies, targeting mainly the commodity marketing loan and counter-cyclical payment programs. Watch for more non-traditional IP-intensive industries and their high-powered lobbying corps to enter the fray of the 2012 Farm Bill debate.
Already dimishing support. Support for farm programs has already begun to diminish as the Administration’s FY 2011 fiscal year budget proposed to reduce farm supports.…
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Cansler Consulting Unveils New Web Presence

November 9, 2010Tim CanslerCansler NewsCorporate, DC, Lobbyist, Washington

Premier Washington lobbyists, Cansler Consulting unveils their new web site (CanslerConsulting.com). Designed and developed by veteran online marketing experts, Our Marketing Group (OurMarketingGroup.com), based out of Charlotte, NC, the site features automatic news updates via Cansler’s news blog and Twitter accounts. The site release coincides with the release and re-branding of their social media outlets,…

“Do NOT Pay the $147 Million…” Passed By Voice Vote

Welcome to Part 2 of our 2012 Farm Bill overview…

“Do NOT Pay the $147 Million…”
Passed By Voice Vote