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Delivered every Monday by 10 a.m., Weekly Agriculture examines the latest news in agriculture and food politics and policy. | | | | |  | | By Garrett Downs | With help from Marcia Brown and Meredith Lee Hill
| | | — Senate Ag lawmakers are gearing up for a busy couple of weeks after the Easter recess. MA breaks down some of the wonky details as the top Senate Ag members prepare to hash out priorities and funding for the bill. — USDA announced the rollout of Rural Energy for America Program funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. — MA caught up with the pork industry and Florida citrus industry to discuss what’s on their minds as the 2023 farm bill reauthorization is underway. HAPPY MONDAY, April 3. Welcome to Morning Ag. I’m your host, Garrett Downs. Are any budget wonks out there who want to talk about reprogramming Inflation Reduction Act money? Drop me a line. Send tips to gdowns@politico.com and @_garrettdowns, and follow us at @Morning_Ag.
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| | | A BUSY POST-RECESS: As Meredith reported for Pro s on Friday, Senate Ag members are preparing for a ramp-up in farm bill activity in late April. There’s expected to be another round of marker legislation in mid-April for the more than one trillion dollar ag and food bill after the first round ended last week. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.), two of the four corners on the farm bill, are also hammering out a final schedule to discuss major priorities and funding issues. So, what’s on the table? The first round of marker bills opened several critical salvos that will have to be worked out. These are some of the spending issues Stabenow and Boozman will have to work through when they meet: Nutrition: The nutrition title that funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program makes or breaks farm bills. It’s over 80 percent of the bill’s spending and is critical to getting enough Democrats on board to pass the bill. There’s been a lot of action in the SNAP arena lately, with Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) opening the first salvo with a proposal to expand work requirements in the program. Prominent Senate Republicans like Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) have described the plan as reasonable and a possible path to savings in the farm bill, but powerful Democrats including House Ag Committee ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) have lambasted it publicly. Adding to concern over SNAP is House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposal to strengthen work requirements for social service programs like SNAP as part of a debt limit deal with the White House. Thune recently told reporters the debt limit would likely have to be resolved before a farm bill can be passed. Stabenow is unlikely to cede ground on SNAP. Boozman, meanwhile, has called for more vigorous USDA enforcement of work requirements and for states to “no longer be allowed to game the system” through work requirement waivers. Commodity spending: Republicans have repeatedly called for increasing reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage program. The program kicks in when commodity prices fall below the reference price. But it would cost a pretty penny to raise the reference prices, to the tune of $20 billion, according to Thune. Most Democrats aren’t necessarily opposed to raising the prices, but where the money will come from to do it is the big question. Lawmakers don’t have much flexibility in the baseline budget drawn up by the Congressional Budget Office, so Stabenow and Boozman will have to find it somewhere. Some potential pots are the nutrition title or the Inflation Reduction Act’s funds for USDA’s conservation programs. But that will require getting around Stabenow and Democrats' objections to touching any of that money.
| | | REAPing THE REWARDS: USDA last week announced $1 billion in grant opportunities for the Rural Energy for America Program. The money, funded in the Inflation Reduction Act, will go toward rural small businesses and agricultural producers to fund projects for energy efficiency or renewable energy systems. In practice, this could mean money for solar panels, better insulation or methane digesters. Remember: REAP is an existing program USDA uses to fund the installation and improvement of renewable energy systems in rural areas. Grants can go toward systems like anaerobic digesters, installing solar fields and wind farms, along with a number of other systems. IRA provided $1.7 billion to the program in total, part of a total of nearly $14 billion in investments in rural energy. It’s separate from the nearly $20 billion allocated to four of the USDA’s conservation programs. What they’re saying: On a call with reporters, Vilsack said the IRA is “the nation's largest ever investment in combating the climate crisis.” He added, “We have the resources now to really help support rural Americans to lead the charge.” The White House highlighted its spending on renewable energy and preparation for climate change and pointed to how the spending has been an economic boon, especially for rural communities. “Oftentimes, the story of climate change is told as a story of gloom and doom,” White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters Friday. “What's important is to look at how we can sturdy ourselves and make ourselves more resilient in the face of these challenges.”
| | | | GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage, insider nuggets and unparalleled insights from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from April 30-May 3. This year’s theme, Advancing a Thriving World, will challenge and inspire attendees to lean into building an optimistic coalition capable of tackling the issues and inequities we collectively face. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat. | | | | | | | | AROUND THE INDUSTRY: MA caught up with pork and citrus industry representatives, who were both lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week. Marcia caught up with National Pork Producers Council CEO Bryan Humphreys and President Scott Hays: WOTUS: “It’s just such an overreach,” said Hays. “Pig manure is so valuable as a resource, as a fertilizer.” He pointed to farmers’ precision application of manure-based fertilizer to reduce runoff and said that under the proposed WOTUS definition, farmers would be more limited in how much manure they can apply and would instead turn to commercial fertilizer. Trade: Trade adds $61 in value per head, Humphreys said, and for the last 20 years growth in the pork industry has “largely” come from international trade. Americans don’t eat as much ham anymore, Hays explained, and other countries value certain parts of the animal more than some domestic eaters. Animal disease: Humphreys said he thinks there’s bipartisan support for containing and preventing animal diseases like foot and mouth disease and African Swine Fever through the farm bill. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the budget reality. “We’re talking about a farm bill that’s $1.4 trillion and at the same time talking about hitting a budget ceiling later this summer,” he said. “Inevitably there’s going to be conversations about priorities for members of Congress.” Garrett caught up with Matt Joyner, the executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual: Disaster relief: The Florida citrus industry is still reeling from Hurricane Ian — Joyner said the industry is “down a little over 60 percent” from last year’s crop. They’re pushing Congress to pass the Block Grant Assistance Act, which would give Vilsack authority to spend disaster aid appropriated in last year’s omnibus through block grants. Joyner said this would allow aid to get to producers faster. Research money: Joyner also said Florida Citrus is hoping to get research money in the farm bill for citrus greening, a plant disease that has no cure and afflicts citrus trees.
| | | — This week will mark 30 days since the U.S. launched formal technical consultationswith Mexico over the genetically modified corn dispute. According to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the two sides must meet to discuss the U.S. complaints within 30 days of initiation and aim to resolve the matter within 180 days. A U.S. Trade Representative spokesperson tells MA that USTR officials were in Mexico late last week to discuss the GM corn issue. — Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is leading a bipartisan delegation this week to the Colorado River to discuss the water crisis. Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) will join. Interior Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton will also be part of the trip. — An Iowa state fund that protects farmers from grain dealer bankruptcy is set to run out of money, Successful Farming reports. THAT’S ALL FOR MA. Drop us a line: gdowns@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
