U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service Protects Ag & Food Industries That Contribute $1 Trillion to U.S. GDP

January 18, 2020Tim CanslerGovt NewsAgriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS, food, National Plant Board, phytosanitary, shipments, trade, USDA

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…

Lobbying: Drinking Water Challenge pt.2

September 2, 2016Tim CanslerFood Safety, Govt NewsCansler Consulting, Congress, Drinking Water, EPA, Food Safety, Lobbying, Lobbyist, safety, USDA, Washington, Washington DC

Cansler Consulting is staying on top of the drinking water infrastructure challenges faced by our country and how the the government is responding to it now and in the future.
Side view of a woman drinking water in kitchen

The next EPA assessment should be released in 2017.

If history of the previous EPA assessments continue to repeat, there will likely be significant changes in some states’ needs in the new EPA assessment in 2017. These changes will result in adjustments to individual states’ DWSRF financial allotments. Most shifts in states’ needs can be attributed to expected changes in the status of projects from one survey to the next.…

CRomnibus Spending Plan p2

December 12, 2014Tim CanslerAgriculture, Budget & AppropriationsAPHIS, Budget, FDA, Food Safety, Lobbying, Lobbyist, nutrition programs, USDA, USDA policy, Washington, Washington DC

The CRomnibus totals $1.1 trillion and establishes spending levels for the remainder of the 2015 fiscal year for all federal government agencies except the Department of Homeland Security.

USDA

The total for the Department of Agriculture is $20.6 billion in discretionary funding through Sept. 30, 2015. This is $305 million below the previous fiscal year. It provides…

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Farmers Have to Choose a New Risk Management Program

September 30, 2014Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm Bill, Govt News, Industry NewsAgriculture Risk Coverage, ARC, Farm Bill, Farm Subsidies, farmers, Lobbying, Lobbyist, PLC, risk managemen, USDA

Let’s face it farming is not easy and manging risks amists Mother nature’s whims is even more risky. The only upside is that Congress is trying to help producers with new, innovative 21st Century risk management programs.

Farmer will have to make a choice between Risk Management Programs very soon. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently unveiled new programs as part of the 2014 Farm Bill that will help farmers manage their risks: Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Loss Coverage (PLC). The choice producers make in the next few months will be irrevocable and used for the next five crop years.…

Online Tools to Help You Choose Farm Risk Management

September 30, 2014Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm Bill, Govt News, Industry NewsAgriculture Risk Coverage, ARC, Farm Bill, farmers, Lobbying, Lobbyist, PLC, risk management, USDA, Washington DC

To help farmers choose between Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), USDA helped create online decision tools that allow farmers to enter information about their operation and see projections about how each program will benefit them under possible future scenarios. The new tools are now available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc. …

USDA Releases New Programs to Help Farmers Manage Risk

September 30, 2014Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm Bill, Govt NewsAgriculture, Agriculture Risk Coverage, ARC, Farm Bill, Farm Subsidies, farmers, Lobbyist, PLC, risk management, USDA, Washington, Washington DC

Using online tools to decide best risk management

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced much anticipated new programs to help farmers better manage risk, ushering in one of the most significant reforms to U.S. farm programs in decades. These new programs, including the Agriculture Risk Coverage program (ARC), are a departure from New Deal-era target price policies and represent one of the most significant Farm Policy reforms in decades. …

Bugging Us to The Tune of $120 Billion

October 27, 2012Tim CanslerAgricultureAgriculture, APHIS, Lobbyist, National Plant Board, Secretary of Agirculture, USDA, Washington DC

The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) protects the health and value of American agriculture and our natural resources. According to a Cornell University study released in 2004, invasive pest species not common in the U.S. are causing major environmental damages and economic losses adding up to almost $120 billion per year. An earlier 1997 General Accounting Office report estimated the national cost to taxpayers from invasive species was close to $41 billion annually in lost production, prevention, and control expenses.…

U.S. Manufacturers May Pick Up Tab For FSMA

September 18, 2012Tim CanslerGovt News, Industry NewsBudget, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, FSMA, USDA

Recent OMB Report & Other Factors Indicate U.S. Food Manufacturers May Pick up Tab For FSMA

In February of this year Cansler Consulting foretold of the fiscal challenges ahead at the Food and Drug Administration (click here to read article) in implementing the nation’s new food safety law, The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Late last week the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a congressionally-mandated report outlining potential impacts of budget sequestration on defense and non-defense discretionary programs verifying our analysis. The 400-page document showcases the impacts that budget cuts would have on all areas of government, including the safety of our nation’s food supply that is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture.

Dept of Ag to Cut nearly $3 Billion Next Year

According to the OMB report the Department of Agriculture would be required to cut a total $2.996 billion in the remaining eight months of FY 2013 (January to September 2013). This includes $86 million from the Food Safety Inspection Service that is responsible for the safety of the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products.…

Ag Industry: The Best of Times & The Worst of Times, Part I

August 31, 2012Tim CanslerAgricultureAgriculture, Farm Subsidies, Lobbying, Lobbyist, USDA

Like a Charles Dickens novel U.S. agriculture is currently experiencing a period of the best of times, and the worst of times. The U.S. agriculture industry is in one of its best periods in history. There are multiple components that generate such success and they include: adaptation to technology, meeting the demands of ever-changing and improving global diets, and the productivity and resourcefulness of U.S. producers.…

2012 Appropriations Bills & Food Safety Fight May Be Brewing

September 12, 2011Tim CanslerGovt NewsAgriculture, Appropriations Committee, Budget, Congress, Lobbying, Lobbyist, USDA, Washington, Washington DC

On Wednesday of this week the U.S. House is scheduled to take up H.J. Resolution 79, making continuing appropriations for seven weeks into the new (FY 2012) fiscal year. H.J. Res 79 funds most federal programs through November 18 at the FY 2011 level, minus a 1.4 percent reduction. This level of appropriations was established in the recently enacted debt limitation law (P.L. 112-25) establishing a $1.043 trillion spending cap.

The U.S. Senate must quickly take up the bill as Congress is scheduled to recess the last week of September. With the new federal fiscal year beginning in 11 days (on Oct 1), none of the 12 appropriations bills have been enacted by Congress.

According to the 112th congressional calendar, 26 legislative days remain until the targeted adjournment on December 8. With only a few legislative days remaining already the House and Senate are headed for heated arguments in the usually congenial agriculture appropriations subcommittee over the new food safety law enacted at the beginning of this year.

Earlier this month the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee adopted their version of an FY 2012 spending bill for the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. House adopted their version of the bill on June 16 by a vote of 217-203. The provisions showcase a difference of opinion in implementing the new food safety law.

Specifically, the FY 2012 FDA budget request was $4.36 billion for all programs, of which just over $1.2 billion was allocated for food safety and animal drugs and feed. FDA requested an additional $324 million for the food safety initiative. Previously, the Congressional Budget Office estimated an additional $1.4 billion would be needed over the next five years to implement the Food Safety Modernization law (FSMA).

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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.”…

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.…