[Senate Hearing 117-605]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-605
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FACING
FARMERS, FAMILIES, AND
RURAL COMMUNITIES
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
May 26, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on http://www.govinfo.gov/
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
50-073 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan, Chairwoman
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado JONI ERNST, Iowa
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
TINA SMITH, Minnesota ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
CORY BOOKER, New Jersey CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
Joseph A. Shultz, Majority Staff Director
Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
Fitzhugh Elder IV, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Thursday, May 26, 2022
Page
Hearing:
Opportunities and Challenges Facing Farmers, Families, and Rural
Communities.................................................... 1
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STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan... 1
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas...... 2
WITNESSES
Vilsack, Hon.Thomas J., Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture 4
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APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Boozman, Hon. John........................................... 44
Vilsack, Hon.Thomas J........................................ 47
Document(s) Submitted for the Record:
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie:
Grassley Regulation and Labeling, letter of support.......... 62
Question and Answer:
Vilsack, Hon.Thomas J.:
Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow...... 66
Written response to questions from Hon. John Boozman......... 70
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 83
Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten E. Gillibrand 87
Written response to questions from Hon. Tina Smith........... 88
Written response to questions from Hon. John Hoeven.......... 90
Written response to questions from Hon. Roger Marshall....... 91
Written response to questions from Hon. Charles Grassley..... 107
Written response to questions from Hon. Deb Fischer.......... 110
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FACING
FARMERS, FAMILIES, AND
RURAL COMMUNITIES
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THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2022
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., via
Webex and in room 216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Debbie
Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Committee, presiding.
Present or submitting a statement: Senators Stabenow,
Brown, Klobuchar, Bennet, Gillibrand, Smith, Durbin, Booker,
Lujan, Warnock, Boozman, McConnell, Hoeven, Ernst, Hyde-Smith,
Marshall, Tuberville, Grassley, Thune, Fischer, and Braun.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN, CHAIRWOMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well good morning. The Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is called to order this
morning, and we are so pleased to have everyone with us and
have our Secretary of the Department of Agriculture with us.
Secretary Vilsack, welcome. In addition to thanking you for
being here today I want to thank you and your 100,000 staff
members who undertake every day to support American farmers,
small towns, and consumers alike and all your work to protect
our food system, both locally and globally.
You have been very busy on a number of fronts, making sure
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) moms can get baby formula amid a national
shortage. I appreciate how quickly, once you were notified, you
went into gear. I also want to thank Senator Boozman and the
whole Committee for us working together on a bipartisan basis
to take action. That was important for our Committee to do last
week.
You have been creating more opportunities for rural small
businesses and strengthening opportunities for American
farmers, both at home and abroad, mobilizing USDA to respond to
the climate crisis and equipping our supply chain to better
withstand shocks like the pandemic and Putin's war on Ukraine.
Your work reflects the range of challenges facing our farmers,
families, and rural communities right now.
During the pandemic, we saw how highly concentrated food
supply chains left both farmers and consumers vulnerable.
Essential workers were on the front lines without adequate
protection. Farmers had no choice but to destroy the crops and
livestock they could no longer sell. Millions of families did
not have enough to eat. The previous administration gravely
mismanaged USDA's ability to address any of these crises.
Under your leadership, USDA has implemented the historic
investments in the American Rescue Plan and the Consolidated
Appropriations Act to support local and regional businesses and
get the supply chain moving again. After four years of
disastrous trade policies, putting our farmers back on solid
ground with our trading partners has been no small task.
This has been even more critical as Putin's unprovoked war
in Ukraine strains our global supply chain, as we know, putting
the food security of millions in peril and causing prices for
everything from diesel fuel to fertilizer to skyrocket. While
Congress and the USDA have responded quickly with humanitarian
aid and resources to grow domestic production, we know there is
more we can do together.
USDA is also helping to empower small towns and rural
communities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. USDA has
expanded high-speed internet and is investing in roads and
bridges that keep Main Street moving. Mr. Secretary, I hope you
can expand upon how these investments will increase the quality
of life for millions of people who live in rural America.
We will not have a home for future generations if we do not
tackle the climate crisis. Wildfires and droughts out West,
early frosts and thaws in Michigan, and torrential flooding in
the plains all pose great risks to our ability to produce and
distribute food. That is costing us, quite literally.
The good news is that while farmers and foresters are
directly affected by the climate crisis they are also uniquely
positioned to address it, as you know. Farmers are eager to
partner with USDA on cutting-edge research and innovation to
increase yields, to participate in USDA conservation practices
to protect the soil, and to invest in climate-friendly
practices that are profitable and practical for farmers. Our
Growing Climate Solutions Act that we have done together, for
example, goes hand-in-hand with the work USDA is doing to help
farmers lead on the climate crisis.
Finally, all of us can agree that we want to make sure we
have a rural economy that helps small towns thrive, gives
producers a good return on all of their hard work, and keeps
food on our tables.
Again, welcome to the Committee, Secretary Vilsack, and I
will now turn to my Ranking Member, Senator Boozman.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF ARKANSAS
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and we appreciate
having Secretary Vilsack back at the Committee. Before I turn
to today's hearing, I would like to congratulate the Chairwoman
for hosting a very successful hearing in April on the campus of
Michigan State University. This was the kick-off to the 2023
farm bill process. I enjoyed learning more about the issues
that are important to Michigan's agriculture producers and
rural communities. I share many of the goals for our next farm
bill that were highlighted by our witnesses. It is amazing, as
you get out, whether it is in Arkansas or throughout the
country, farmers really do have so much in common and just
share the problems that they are facing.
I am delighted that the Chairwoman will be joining me in
Arkansas next month for a second field hearing. The Committee
will formally notice the hearing later today, but I am pleased
to share with the Committee that we will be holding our next
field hearing in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on June 17th. I am
excited to share the views of Arkansas' hard-working farm
families with the Chairwoman and my colleagues on the
Committee.
This is an unprecedented time for agriculture. As we come
out of a global pandemic, we confront a war in the breadbasket
of Europe, which has choked off a sizable portion of the
world's grain and oilseed production. Global food insecurity
has become acute. My good friend, David Beasley, the head of
the World Food Program, recently told me, is now faced with the
decision to take food from hungry people in order to give it to
starving people. While U.S. producers are willing to help fill
the gap, our farmers and ranchers face declining farm incomes
and steeply higher input costs. I have got some examples of
that and will put those in for the record.
USDA can play a constructive role to help American farmers
and ranchers meet the challenges both here at home and
globally.
Also, I applaud the nomination of Alexis Taylor to serve as
the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign
Agricultural Affairs. America desperately needs some laser
focus on working with our partners and competitors across the
globe for the benefit of U.S. agriculture at this critical
moment. I would encourage USDA to stretch itself and fellow
agencies to make the tough decisions necessary that will help
bring down food prices and enhance global food security.
Food prices will decrease when the costs from the farm to
the fork go down. The answer is more supply, more oil and gas
development for lower energy prices, more participation in the
labor market, more land in production, and more certainty for
our farmers and ranchers. Until the Administration starts to
focus on the core issues that are driving record food costs,
there will be no relief and American families will continue to
suffer.
I will keep making that case to the Administration and my
colleagues and encourage them to work with us to help create an
environment where those factors start trending in the right
direction and prices start to come down.
I appreciate the announcement the USDA made this morning
that will allow some additional flexibilities for those with
expiring CRP contracts. I think it is a great step in the right
direction, but I believe that we can do more.
One suggestion is look to the past. In the 2014 Farm Bill,
landowners enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program were
given an opportunity to end their contracts early without
penalty. We should give serious consideration to do this again
until grain production returns to normal. I believe this
flexibility would allow potentially millions of acres to return
to food production. The world cannot afford for prime farmland
to lie fallow.
Second, and this is more focused on the EPA than USDA, I
believe that there should be a two-year pause on any regulatory
changes to currently approved crop protection tools. Producers
need the regulatory predictability to plan for the future, and
the companies that produce these inputs need the regulatory
certainty to bring these tools to the market. American
agriculture can meet this unprecedented moment--Federal
Government should assure it is not in the way.
With that, Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much.
Senator Boozman. I look forward to the hearing.
Chairwoman Stabenow. I am very much looking forward to
coming back to Arkansas. I am looking forward to it. Thank you
so much.
Again, I want to welcome Secretary Vilsack back to the
Committee. My first turn as Chair, from 2011 to 2014, coincided
with his first term at the USDA. As Secretary for Agriculture
under President Obama, Secretary Vilsack put Americans back to
work by investing in the rural economy, advocating for American
producers, and he helped them see record crop prices and farm
exports, and made sure Americans had access to safe and
nutritious food.
Prior to his current term as Secretary, he served as the
CEO and President of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Secretary
Vilsack was the 40th Governor of Iowa, a former member of the
Iowa State Senate, and a former mayor of his hometown of Mount
Pleasant.
Thank you, Secretary Vilsack. It is a pleasure to have you
before the Committee, and we look forward to your comments.
STATEMENT THE HONORABLE THOMAS J. VILSACK, SECRETARY, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Secretary Vilsack. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the
opportunity to be here and appreciate the invitation from you
and the Ranking Member for the opportunity to be in front of
this Committee.
I think it would be helpful if I could highlight three
recent announcements from the Department in my opening
statement, and then I will obviously be glad to respond to
questions that the Committee has.
As we all know, we are dealing with a situation involving
formula, and thanks to the quick action of Congress you all
have provided the Department of Agriculture additional
authority in terms of WIC that will allow us to work with those
who produce formula in this country to create more supply.
We just sent a letter to all of the State health
commissioners as well as to Gerber, Nestle, and Mead Johnson,
indicating our willingness to work with them to provide waivers
so that they can continue to expand contract brand options in
terms of the WIC State agencies, allow the use of contract
brand alternatives that were not previously authorized, as well
as temporarily allowing them to use non-contract products to be
substituted.
We will pay the rebates in the WIC budget itself so the
companies will not be at risk financially for these
substitutions, and I think it will help assist in expanding
access to product.
We also filed today, in an effort to try to create more,
new, and better markets for our farmers, the beginning of a
process on our Packers and Stockyards Act. We start with the
poultry tournament rule. There are two components to what we
have disclosed today. The first is an effort to try to create
greater transparency between integrators and producers,
providing additional information to the producer before they
enter into contracts. It is modeled after the FTC franchisee
disclosure efforts, and it is really designed to help producers
be able to better value the costs and risk that they are taking
in entering into a contract with an integrator. It allows them
to manage that risk by knowing a bit more about who they are
doing business with.
We are requesting that the integrators provide information
concerning the number of placement and the stock density; a
history of payments under prior tournaments so that folks can
understand and appreciate where they might be in the process; a
bit of information about the background of the integrator,
whether they have been in bankruptcy at any point in time,
whether they are involved in litigation; and the ability of
producers to be able to share that information with their
financial advisors and those who are providing them legal
assistance so that they are in the best possible position to
understand and appreciate the risk. There will be an exemption
for very small live poultry dealers in this proposal.
In addition, we also have provided additional disclosures
concerning the inputs that a farmer is receiving, both at the
time of placement and at the time of settlement. We want the
farmer to be able to understand the breed, the facility that
was breeding the stock that they are being provided, the sex,
the flock age, health issues that may have cropped up, and
essentially, at the time of settlement, understanding the
distribution of inputs, the housing specifications, feed
disruptions that may have impacted and affected the rankings.
All of this is designed to avoid deception and to provide,
again, farmers with the ability to understand precisely what
they are getting into.
Sixty-day comment period. We believe, from our analysis,
that the benefits of transparency and additional disclosure
exceed the costs. We will also be filing a study that was done
on competition in the retail and seed area.
We also are announcing today a $200 million effort to try
to help our existing meat and poultry facilities. It is an
intermediary loan program. It is going to provide grants to co-
ops and other nonprofit organizations, public agencies to
create revolving loan funds to assist and help those facilities
to remain in business.
We are announcing, as well, as $25 million effort to try to
expand work force through our NIFA programs. We think this is
an opportunity to expand capacity. This goes along with the
additional opportunities that we announced in terms of
additional processing capacity. We received 265 applications
for the $150 million grants that are available. It totals about
$895 million of interest--46 States, 111 beef applications, 33
poultry applications, 69 pork applications, 25 lamb, and 14
goat. The projected cost of all these projects is roughly $5
billion, so there is obviously great interest in this program.
I might say, in my remaining time, we also saw great
interest in the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry
Partnership Initiative. We received 450 applications, $18
billion in requests, from all 50 States, a diverse pool of
applicants--nonprofits, cooperatives, for-profit organizations,
government entities, commodity groups, forest groups, tribes,
universities, small and large corporations. A wide range of
commodities involved.
This is the first of two application deadlines. June 10th
is our small application deadline. About $8 billion of
additional leverage. There is tremendous interest in this
program as well.
I would be happy to respond to questions from the
Committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Vilsack can be found
on page 47 in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well thank you, Mr. Secretary, and I
know that Leader McConnell has to go to the floor to help open
the floor. Who says bipartisanship is dead? I am going to defer
to Senator McConnell. Please go forward with your questions and
we will continue. Thanks.
Senator McConnell. Thank you, Madam Chairman and Senator
Boozman. I am here today, Mr. Secretary, because I have got a
particular problem that I am trying to address, but it is
ultimately going to come down to you.
Here is what happened. Last December, we got hit by the
biggest tornado we have ever had. It actually ended up being on
the ground for over 200 miles. It hit and largely destroyed the
town of Mayfield, which is the biggest grain storage facility
in our State, completely wiped out.
I want to thank you for what you all have already done to
help on numerous occasions as we try to recover, but as part of
the destruction, with this grain storage infrastructure gone in
western Kentucky, not only did we lose millions of bushels of
storage, we have got a problem that has to be fixed or we are
basically out of business this year.
What I did was put a provision in the appropriations bill
that asks you to identify funding sources that we can address
pretty quickly to not completely lose our ability to have
storage for this year's crop.
I do not know if you are already familiar with this or not,
but I wonder if you have any awareness of it and if you could
give me any assurance that maybe we can address this issue by
your decision shortly.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I am aware. I know that our
staff has been in touch with the Farm Bureau down in your
State, as well as your own staff. I understand that there is an
idea for a series of pop-up storage facilities there. I think
there are some concerns about precisely how cumbersome that
particular solution might be. We are very committed to working
as expeditiously as possible to provide an alternative and to
provide the resources that will allow your farmers to have
storage.
I totally understand and appreciate the challenges that
this presents, and we are committed to trying to get it
resolved as quickly as possible.
Senator McConnell. Well, I really appreciate it. It is an
emergency.
The only other question I would ask, and I suppose anybody
at the table could also ask, and that is this inflation issue
that we are all hammered with. It amounts to well over $5,000
of increased costs annually, including $780 in additional cost
for food. In a rural State like mine, and a lot of the members
of this Committee have similar States, small business and
family farms are getting hit at both ends. In every single
conversation that I have had with farmers in the last year, the
burden of increased input costs has been right in the
forefront.
One recent study from Texas A&M estimated that despite
higher commodity prices farm profits will drop by nearly 60
percent in 2022, due to these higher input costs. Since January
2021, animal feed has increased by 43 percent; diesel fuel, 115
percent; natural gas, 202 percent; fertilizer, 220 percent.
Agencies like EPA, Interior, and other seem bent on driving
these costs up even further.
Have you worked with your colleagues across the
Administration to inform them how this regulatory onslaught is
contributing to the burdens that farmers already have?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, our focus at USDA is to try to
figure out ways in which we can provide assistance and help on
the number of issues that you have raised. First of all, we are
looking at ways in which we can increase productive land. Going
into production, obviously, as Senator Boozman indicated,
supply does have a tendency--if you expand it, it has a
tendency to help bring costs down and potentially increase
income.
Second, in terms of the fertilizer, there are a number of
things that we are doing. We are working with farmers to make
sure that they are fully aligned with the right application,
the right time, the right location, the right amount. We have
also provided a new risk management tool that encourages split
application of nitrogen to reduce the cost to farmers, with
picking up the loss of productivity that may occur if they are
unable to fertilize twice in a year.
We also have allocated $500 million toward looking at a
broad array of options in terms of how we might be able to
expand fertilizer capacity in this country and not be as
reliant as we have been on outside sources for fertilizer. We
are also looking at a number of strategies in terms of ways in
which we can better utilize precision agriculture to ensure
that we are using fertilizer in the appropriate time and
appropriate amount.
There is a series of things that we are doing. We are
also--and I would only finish by saying part of our
responsibility is also to provide help and assistance to the
families that, as you mentioned, are struggling. That is the
reason why it is important to get the SNAP program where it is.
It is important to continue to promote the WIC bonus buy that
we have in our budget. It is appropriate to take a look at ways
in which we can help our schools deal with the consequences of
all of this. It is why we ask for a continuation for one more
year of universal free school meals. We think that there are a
number of ways in which we can provide help and assistance to
families to get through this difficult time.
Senator McConnell. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you,
Madam Chairman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much.
First let me just say, Mr. Secretary, talking about
fertilizer and inputs and all the costs that have gone up, we
hope in Michigan to be able to help with this is a new effort
to have a potash facility created. We know that is part of the
ingredients, a really important part that has not been produced
in the United States. We hope we are going to have more
production of these materials in the United States so that we
are less dependent on what is happening around the world.
The climate crisis. I would like to talk with you a little
bit more about this. We know, I mean, whether it is what
happened in Kentucky, whether it is what happened last weekend
in northern Michigan, in a small town, Gaylord, Michigan, which
I do not ever remember having a tornado, and certainly not one
that went through and wiped out a very important housing
project, mobile home park, and downtown small businesses and so
on, and people are going to be picking up the pieces for a long
time. We are seeing the climate crisis, when severe weather and
what carbon pollution has been doing for us. One hundred years
of carbon pollution, right in our face right now.
I encourage the efforts that you are putting forth, and I
know you said you have received a tremendous response to the
partnerships for climate-smart commodities pilot project. I
wonder if you could talk a little bit more about what that
means and also how our efforts on Growing Climate Solutions
Act, you know, Senator Braun, Senator Boozman, and myself,
others on the Committee, putting together something that passed
overwhelmingly in the Senate. Not too often you have 92 out of
100 votes.
The effort to create some integrity around these systems
and transparency and expertise and so on, I wonder if you might
speak to that as well, as how that effort, which unfortunately
has not moved yet in the House, but we are going to get this
done and get it to you and how it will help farmers as we look
at the climate effort that we are all working on together.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, that act, Madam Chair, is
extraordinarily important, because it provides a vehicle
through which we can provide the level of technical assistance
that farmers and producers and ranchers need to be able to
understand and appreciate climate-smart practices. We have been
providing technical assistance to both the House and the Senate
Ag Committees in an effort to try to find common ground.
In terms of the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry
Products Initiative, this is designed to essentially create
opportunities for marketing of climate-smart commodities. We
think there is a value-added proposition. We think it is an
opportunity to expand income for farmers, to be able to allow
farmers to also qualify for ecosystem benefits.
We are very, very pleased with the reaction from farmers
and ranchers. We listened to them. They asked us to set up this
pilot. They asked us to provide resources to enable farmers to
aggregate their efforts. This is an effort that will result not
only in adoption of climate-smart practices and an acceleration
of those practices but an opportunity to measure and verify and
quantify the results from those practices that will allow us to
better understand how to essentially establish the standard for
climate-smart commodities.
It is also a way in which we are enhancing the notion of
partnerships and leverage. Finally, it is a chance for us to
really understand, to be ahead of the game, for American
agriculture to lead not just our own domestic effort but
internationally, to respond back and to push back a little bit
on some of the other approaches to this that are occurring in
other parts of the world that we think will jeopardize the
ability to increase productivity. We think that there is an
opportunity to increase productivity and be sustainable at the
same time.
This is part of an overall strategy that not only includes
this initiative but taking a look at 33 climate-smart practices
and having our NRCS folks work collaboratively with farmers to
adopt those practices. It is about renewable energy. It is
about forestry and better forest management. It is about a work
force. It is about adaptation and mitigation, and we are trying
to sort of address this in a very comprehensive way.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you so much. This is so
critically important for all of us.
Then, finally, let me ask about urban agriculture. As you
know, I authored several provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill,
including the establishment of an Office of Urban Agriculture
and Innovative Production, which we now have a new director of,
which I am appreciative of, and things are moving forward.
I wonder, when we talk about resiliency and we talk about
community and we talk about access to food and so on, urban
agriculture is a very important part of that, and I actually am
very proud of the efforts in Michigan that have been going on
across the State, really started with incredible leadership in
Detroit.
What specific actions is USDA taking to better serve the
unique needs of urban producers, and can you describe the
priorities for the new office?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, essentially there are 17 cities
that have been designated, 17 counties if you will, and we are
expanding that number this year. There were 11 initially and we
are adding an additional six new cities.
In addition to having an office, and in addition to having
a presence, we are also providing grant money to promote
innovative solutions in those urban settings, whether it is
vertical agriculture or it is community gardens, across the
board additional resources for that purpose. Also composting
and making sure that we are also addressing the food loss
issues.
The exciting opportunity, as well, is to have FSA offices
located in those cities. It is an opportunity for those urban
farmers to understand and appreciate all the range of programs
that will be available to them. We also are working on a
toolkit, to refresh the toolkit on urban agriculture, so that
you will have the opportunity to share with those who are
interested in establishing an urban agricultural activity in
their city. It is sort of a here is how you do it, here are all
the issues that you can raise, here are all the programs that
are available to you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Great. Thank you so much.
Now we are going to go out of order one more time here
because our distinguished Chair of the Judiciary Committee is
going to have to chair a hearing, so Senator Durbin, we are
going to turn it to you. Thank you.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. Good to see you, Mr. Secretary,
and thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member. This is a rare
appearance because we scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee at
the same time as Agriculture, and it is difficult. Thanks to
the remarkable cooperation of Senator Grassley we got things
done early this morning, and I got a chance to visit here for
just a moment.
I wanted to ask one very parochial but very important
question on behalf of 8,000 people in the State of Illinois.
Secretary Vilsack, you probably remember from your days of
trekking through Iowa how important some of these senior
activities are to our rural populations. For many of them it is
a chance to get together during the course of a day, and it
really is the highlight of their day.
Well, for over 25 years Illinois has had a model where we
have SNAP benefits available to these seniors, and they pool
them in these senior living facilities, in 150 of them around
the State, each day, for lunch. They get together for lunch.
This has been okay for more than 20 years, but just a few years
ago the Department said not okay anymore. We said, ``What is
the problem?'' They said, ``Well, fraud and abuse.'' They did
an investigation. There is no fraud and abuse. It is just the
use of these SNAP benefits in a pooled situation to pay for
their lunches.
We have, thanks to the cooperation of both Senators
Stabenow and Senator Boozman, each year in the appropriation
bill extended the program so that they continue to pool these
SNAP benefits for their lunches at the senior facilities.
On behalf of the 8,000 seniors I appeal to you. Can you fix
this for us?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we are trying to work with the
State to develop the framework of a pilot that would allow this
problem to go away so you would not have to deal with it each
and every year in the appropriations process.
I would also say that I think it is an invitation for us to
take a look at ways in which the SNAP program can be more
accessible and more meaningful. I think we have to be
significantly flexible as we deal with an aging population in
many of these States. We are committed to working with the
State of Illinois to try to figure out how to establish the
pilot in a way that does not require you to have to go through
this situation every year.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, Mr.
Ranking Member. I appreciate the opportunity.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, we are so glad you are a part of
the Committee, so thank you. Senator Boozman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you
again for being here with us today.
Rice farmers and some of our specialty crop growers may
lose hundreds of millions of dollars this year due to increased
input costs, and unlike almost every other commodity, they have
stagnant prices. They simply have not increased while we have
had this enormous increase, as we all know, with our input
costs.
I am worried about the future of our domestic rice
production, the infrastructure it supports, again, and
concerned about our specialty crops. Will you commit to working
with us to ensure that economic viability of our domestic rice
producers and others like specialty crop growers, who may be
experiencing difficulties?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I hope all of your questions
are this easy to answer. Yes.
Senator Boozman. Well, I hope all of your answers are like
that, and we get a yes out of them.
[Laughter.]
Senator Boozman. Thank you very much. Let me talk to you a
little bit about the Conservation Reserve Program, and I think
all of us appreciate the fact that you are being flexible in
that regard, and that is a good thing. I do not think we really
understand--and I know this Committee, and I think I can speak
for Senator Stabenow, you know, we are very concerned about
what we do not want to do is get ourselves in a situation like
baby formula, with shortages. I do not think we really
understand yet what is happening exactly, the difficulties in
Ukraine, all of the stuff that is going on right now to really
understand where we are going to be at.
I guess what I would ask you is, in regard to authorizing,
allowing CRP contract-holders to leave the program early to
open up even more acreage, this is something that has been done
in the past. Can we just work really hard to get some good data
to know, if we need to be doing some of those things, tinkering
on the edges there? You have a little bit, but again, what we
do not want is significant shortages perhaps. Looking at the
inflation, what we project it going further, Americans now--and
I just got through a primary campaign, and I can tell you as
well as anybody, the people of Arkansas, people throughout the
country, are just getting strapped. All of their discretionary
dollars are being eaten up by gasoline, food, rent, and the
list goes on and on.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I would say a couple of things.
First of all, we have basically taken a look at the acres that
are currently in that program, and many, if not most, of those
acres are really not very productive. I mean, it is not as if
we are taking a significant amount of productive land out of
production. We basically have been focusing on highly erodible
areas, areas that are not particularly productive.
Having said that, we also trust farmers to make the right
decision for their own operation, and, in fact, farmers have
actually made the decision to actually take about a million
acres or so, maybe a little bit more than a million acres, out
of the program this year. We have not created additional
incentives to try to encourage more sign-up. We are well below
the cap in this program. Frankly, we have got two challenges
here. We have got a global food security challenge today that
you have addressed in part.
We also have a longer-term global food security challenge
in terms of climate and the impact on production
internationally, long-term. We are trying to make sure that we
are paying attention to both of these. I think we will provide
additional flexibilities when and if it is necessary, and we
have done that in the past with haying and grazing, and we will
continue to look for ways in which we can provide assistance.
Right now more than a million acres coming out of that
program into production. We think that farmers can be trusted
to make the right decisions. They always have the right, as you
know, to be able to leave the program whenever they so choose.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. I understand USDA plans to
release a proposed rule to tighten nutrition standards this
fall. I guess the question is, will USDA enforce those
standards in schools? We have got a situation there where,
again, they are fighting the inflation costs, labor costs, and
then also just the price of these because they are in a
situation where many of these are specialty products that are
not made as much and not as profitable.
Are you confident that schools will have access to food
that will meet the USDA's new standards, and have we done any
work in really looking at what that is going to do toward
increasing cost and availability?
Secretary Vilsack. This is an interim rule, Senator. It is
a not a full application of the nutrition standards. It is a
bridge, if you will, to a longer-term recommitment to the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids standards.
You know, we obviously, at the time we proposed this, were
hopeful, and I guess I continue to be hopeful, that the
Congress finds a way to provide the resources to schools with
universal free meals for another year, and the additional
waiver authority that we had that will expire at the end of, I
think, June of this year.
In the meantime, if that does not happen we have, in the
past, and we will continue to look for ways in which we can
provide assistance to schools. We did $1 billion of additional
financial assistance to schools. We provided additional
resources for local and regional food purchases, which we
strongly support, in an effort to try to help schools manage
through this difficult time. We are going to do everything we
can to make it easier for these folks. They do heroic efforts,
and certainly did heroic efforts during the pandemic.
Senator Boozman. We are not going to tighten the standards?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, the standards, there is an
increase, but it is not a full-throated increase in terms of
the whole grains standard. I think the sodium standard stays
where it is. As I say, this is a gradual effort to try to
ultimately, over the next couple of years, get back to where we
were prior to the pandemic.
Senator Boozman. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much, and I also want
to just echo how critical it is that we move forward to help
our schools, both summer programs and the additional costs that
they are experiencing, you know, supply chain breakdowns and so
on. We continue discussions on that, but it is critically
important.
Because I understand according to your Department up to a
third of the schools, if we are not able to do anything to
help, may not be able to provide school meals in the school
year, which is certainly not acceptable.
Let me turn to Senator Bennet and then Senator Hoeven.
Senator Bennet. Thank you, and Madam Chair, let me just
echo what you just said about schools, and I want to thank the
Ranking Member, Senator Boozman, for the work we have done
together on school nutrition and school lunches. It is so
important, and at this moment particularly. Thank you for
raising that.
Secretary Vilsack, thank you for being here and thank you
for coming to Colorado for the joint secretaries wildfire
season briefing that we had last month. You learned there, and
we all learned there, that the West is facing the worst drought
in 1,200 years. Based on what we learned at the briefing, it is
likely that this trend will continue, and Colorado could see an
extremely active wildfire season. We have had the three worst
wildfires in our State's history two years ago. Last year we
had the terrible Marshall Fire the day before New Year's Eve.
These are people literally getting ready for New Year's in the
middle of COVID, who more than 1,000 families in Boulder County
burned out of their homes as a result of fire.
This year already is the first year when we have had the
shortest season without significant fire. Every single day, Mr.
Secretary, I get a briefing from my staff about a fire
someplace that is starting in Colorado, and my State is still
facing a funding shortfall of almost $150 million to recover
from the mega-fires that swept through Colorado in 2020.
I wonder whether you could provide the Committee an update
on what you expect USDA to release additional resources so that
Colorado can implement the critical recovery work before
another severe wildfire season begins?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we announced the availability
of a little over $1 billion focused on recovery efforts. I
think the State of Colorado was allocated $79 million of that
resource.
We are going to continue to look for ways to provide
assistance and help. In addition to those resources there will
also be resources in terms of reforestation that will be
available. There is also, as you well know, an effort to try to
accelerate our hazardous fuel reduction efforts. There will be
an effort to continue to support community resilience.
There is a series of things that we are doing in Colorado
and in the West, and with the resources we now have we are
going to accelerate that as quickly as we possibly can.
Senator Bennet. I really want to thank you for your broad
commitment on this issue, Mr. Secretary. This is poorly
understood by, I think, politicians in the East, certainly, and
we are in a crisis now.
For the Committee, this is where our watershed are. You
know, every single farmer and rancher in Colorado who is
downstream from these rivers that start in Colorado, which is a
lot of farmers and ranchers in a lot of different States, are
depending on us to figure out how to deal with the ravages of
climate change and the complete lack of investment the Federal
Government historically has made.
I want to thank you again for the $5 billion that is in the
infrastructure package that is going to allow us to do some
important work on land here. It is not enough, and as you said,
Mr. Secretary, waiting to just fight fires is the most cost-
ineffective way of dealing with this, $50,000 an acre versus
$1,400 or $1,500 an acre.
I wanted just to shift to one other thing, because you were
kind enough to--it has been just over a year since you and
Senator Mike Crapo and representatives from two producers and
farm workers had a meeting to discuss ag labor issues. We
talked about the urgency of addressing farm labor needs and
providing some sort of pathway for those workers who have
largely sustained this country's food supply throughout the
pandemic.
With both inflation and the crisis in Ukraine I am
extremely worried that the H-2A program is going to be
unworkable for our farmers and other employers. We should be
working to fix the H-2A program so that the agriculture
industry can have certainty with their labor.
I want to say just how grateful I am to Senator Crapo for
hanging in there on this issue. It is not easy for him to do
it. If there are others that want to join the effort we would
certainly love to have you, because we have made changes to the
House version of the bill and we would like to get it over the
finish line here.
I wonder if you could talk about, Mr. Secretary, what you
are seeing and hearing from employers around the country on the
need for H-2A reform and what we stand to lose if we continue
to perpetuate the system that we have.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, it is my view that it is a
crisis. It is a crisis that could result in a number of
particularly small and mid-sized farming operations not being
able to sustain activities, particularly in the dairy industry.
There is a need for stability. There is a need for a fix. There
is a need for courage, political courage, to pass immigration
reform.
The Ag Modernization Act is a bill that both the industry
and labor has agreed upon, which should make it relatively
simple to be for it. I tell you, people are puzzled as to why
this has not passed. When I travel and talk to farmers they go,
``We need to do something about labor. Why can't they get 60
votes in the Senate?'' I do not have an answer for that.
Senator Bennet. I will say, Madam Chair, again to my
colleagues, any of you, anybody who would like to try to be
part of getting this over the finish line here and helping
partner with me and Mike Crapo, we would deeply appreciate it.
Thank you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you so much for your
leadership, and I would just say this is the moment where we
have better opportunity than I think ever before, and frankly,
I would call on everyone in the agriculture industry to lean
in, as they lean in on other issues that they are concerned
about. If everybody leaned in like they lean in on tax policy,
I think we could get this done.
Senator Bennet. Yes, and I know my time is over, but the
Secretary is absolutely right. This is something that the
growers and labor have come together on, so let's try to get it
approved.
Chairwoman Stabenow. No reason to. If people want to do
this, if the agricultural community wants to do this, we will
do it. We see their power when they really want to get
something done. I know they care, so I am doing a call to
everybody within earshot here that this is the moment to get it
done. Thank you.
Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary, good
to see you.
I guess the first thing I want to bring up is Senator
Klobuchar, Senator Hyde-Smith, myself, all of whom are on the
Ag Committee, also Senator Cramer, and then House members too,
on a bipartisan basis, have sent you a letter in regard to the
end date on crop insurance. Because of excess moisture in North
Dakota, Minnesota, and some other States, our farmers are
butting up against that end date, whereby if they do not have
their crops in the ground--be it corn, soybeans, whatever it
is--that then they suffer discounts on crop insurance, which
then, of course, causes then to go to preventive plant, because
they become concerned about that discount.
Well, obviously in the time of food inflation we want as
many of them as possible planting crops. The proposal to you is
through CCC or one of our programs to actually offer to cover
some of that discount so that they will actually go ahead and
try to get those crops in the ground, even though they are
going past that crop insurance end date.
I think it is something to look at because it would
actually save the USDA money, save the government money, from
the standpoint of you are not paying out more preventive plant.
You are paying out less by covering that discount, and, at the
same time, you get more crops in the ground to help with food
inflation.
That is the proposal to you, but it is something you would
need to move on pretty quick if you are going to do something
to help there, because obviously they are getting those crops
in the ground now and they have to make those decisions.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, is this the letter that was
sent yesterday?
Senator Hoeven. Mm-hmm.
Secretary Vilsack. Okay. I have not had a chance to review
it, and I am happy to talk to our team about it. I think part
of the challenge that we face whenever we get into this
particular area is making sure that we do not compromise the
relationship between the insurers and the producers in terms of
the overall crop insurance program, that we do not essentially
create a circumstance where the risk is difficult for the crop
insurance folks to be able to calculate. I am happy to take a
look at what you all have written. As I think we have exhibited
in the past we are more than happy to try to provide help and
assistance where it makes sense.
Senator Hoeven. Well, yes, we appreciate that, and I did
talk to members of your staff about it as well, and that is why
we have pitched in the format that we have, so that you are not
dealing with your insurance contracts and you do not run into
any of those issues. That is specifically why we structured it
the way we have.
I appreciate your help and support and work on the disaster
assistance that we call WHIP+ but you have called it ERP,
Emergency Relief Program, and also the Emergency Livestock
Relief Program. Under ERP, Phase 1 is out. Just a brief recap
of how that is going and when you anticipate getting to Phase
2.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, on the crop side there are roughly
over 300,000 applications that are prefilled that have gone out
and are going out this week by Friday. All 300,000 will be in
the hands of farmers. Prefilled applications, so all they have
to do is check a few boxes and sign it. There have already been
a number of farmers that have come into the office, and they
have already received their checks. I believe it is a matter of
days once you basically file your application you receive the
resources.
That is the first phase, and we would expect the second
phase sometime this summer. After we have gotten a better
understanding of precisely who was not covered by Noninsured
Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), who was not covered by
crop insurance, who was not covered by the Livestock Forage
Program, so that we would be in a position to be able to define
the universe of that second tranche. We wanted to get resources
out as quickly as we could, and I think we have been able to
accomplish that.
Senator Hoeven. I appreciate your work on that and on the
Emergency Livestock Relief Program, which we are working with
you on as well.
My other question, though, relates to livestock indemnity,
the Livestock Indemnity Program. You and I talked about, you
know, where they suffer mortality due to these blizzards is
really in the smaller calves, for the most part, that 250
pounds or less.
We actually worked with our FSA director out in North
Dakota, Marcy Svenningsen, who is doing a fine job. One of the
ideas we talked about was combining those two smallest weight
categories in terms of the reimbursement rate as something that
would really work. The 250 pounds or less does not work. It
just does not compensate the rancher for what they lost there.
If you actually combined the two bottom of the four tiers it
probably would work. That was an idea she put forward, and I
thought a very good one, and so I want to pose it to you as
well.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, as you know there were changes
made in 2020, to create a new category, and we are certainly
committed to taking a look at realigning the categories if it
makes sense. Happy to do that.
I would say, just as a general proposition, the questions
you are asking, Senator, I think raise my opportunity to say
when you are looking at farm bill, I tell you, this notion of
disaster assistance, this notion of helping farmers through
difficult times because of climate-related circumstances, there
has got to be a real thought behind this in terms of
flexibility, in terms of the capacity to adjust, depending upon
conditions. Because I think we are facing a much different set
of circumstances than we have in the past relative to disaster,
and I think your questions basically underscore that.
Senator Hoeven. Right. We have worked in that way to try to
develop these programs, be it WHIP+ or what we do with some of
the livestock programs, with the idea that we will go into the
farm bill and address them as part of the farm bill.
Secretary Vilsack. It is important to understand the
regional difference and the commodity differences.
Senator Hoeven. Absolutely. Absolutely. Right on. Thank
you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. I believe we have
Senator Gillibrand with us virtually, and then next will be
Senator Ernst.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
The recent mass shooting in a grocery store on Buffalo's
east side left an entire community without access to fresh and
nutritious food. The incident has exacerbated the food desert
that already exists there.
Buffalo is not the exception, however, but more of the
rule. Throughout many counties and cities across my State that
are food deserts, sadly. This is an issue that plagues the
entire country and not just New York State.
Secretary Vilsack, what is the USDA doing to support
communities that are situation in food deserts, and what are
the existing resources currently available for communities
living in food deserts?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we are administering the
Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which is providing resources
to communities to address the issue of food deserts.
I intend to give a fairly significant speech next week at
Georgetown, laying out some additional support for local and
regional food systems, and the Healthy Food Financing
Initiative will be part of the announcements we will make in
that speech. We have resources under the American Rescue Plan
that we are going to dedicate to try to provide some additional
assistance. In fact, I think one of the potential grants is
actually in the area in Buffalo that you mentioned.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you. The Biden administration's
focus on creating economic opportunity in rural America has
been very positive. USDA's Rural Development mission is focused
on helping improve the economy and quality of life in rural
America and will be centrally engaged in this effort.
My concern is whether the USDA's Rural Development efforts
have infrastructure and staffing to meet the increased workload
to provide needed resources to rural communities. What can we
do to help improve outreach to our rural communities?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I really appreciate that
question because the answer is we do not have adequate staff.
It is one of the reasons why we have requested, in the
President's Fiscal Year 2023 budget, additional resources to
hire roughly 450 additional people in the Rural Development
area.
I will tell you, there is tremendous demand. Just to give
you a sense of this, our business and industry loan program is
basically out of money. There is so much activity and so much
opportunity that is being created in rural places that those
resources have been utilized, and we still have, obviously,
several more months left in the fiscal year. We are going to
have to transfer resources to make sure that we can meet the
demand.
It is an issue, and we hope, as Congress passes the budget,
that they pay attention to this issue of personnel.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you. With the cost of food
increasing, school cafeterias will be stretched to provide
affordable, nutritious meals. The enhanced pandemic relief
funding for school reimbursement programs ends with the 2022
school year, which will compound this problem. How can we
assure that the USDA's National School Lunch Program will
provide adequate funding for our students to receive nutritious
meals for the 2022-2023 school year?
Secretary Vilsack. Continue to have hope and faith and
trust in the Congress to basically see the wisdom of continuing
the Universal Free Meal Program for another year. If that does
not happen then we will take a look at what we have done in the
past, which is to provide additional resources, which obviously
are not as significant and not as effective as the Universal
Free Meal.
You are going to see a 40 percent reduction in school
budgets as a result of the ending of the pandemic assistance
efforts, and that is the reason why we have asked for an
additional year.
Senator Gillibrand. Well I will support that effort. When
you came back to USDA there were three major organic
rulemakings pending: the Origin of Livestock rule, which was
finalized recently; the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards
rule, which is at the OMB right now as a proposed rule; and the
Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule. This important rule is
the most significant revision to organic standards since the
publication of the original organic rule in 2001. It will give
the National Organic Program some more enforcement tools and
responsibilities to continue to strengthen the integrity of the
organic label and the organic supply chain.
The 2018 Farm Bill laid out parameters for this new
rulemaking and required the rulemaking to be completed by
December 2019. Comment period ended on the proposed SOE rule in
October 2020. What is the update on this final rule, and will
you prioritize its promulgation?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we expect that all three of
those rules will be out by the end of the year.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Ernst.
Senator Ernst. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank
you, Secretary Vilsack, for being with us today. It is always
good to see you.
It has been a while since you have been in front of the
Committee, and there has just been so much happening across the
front of agriculture, and you have heard a number of those
issues coming from my colleagues.
Right now you know our farmers are hurting, and there is a
multifaceted crisis happening across the Nation's ag community.
There is a tidal wave of supply chain issues preventing our
farmers from even getting the parts they need during the spring
planting season. Farmers are paying more for fertilizer and
other inputs, and they are really worried about the
availability of them next year as well. With the sharp spike in
a number of these input prices then, of course, we have the
rise of inflation. The food that is actually grown is costing
Iowa consumers significantly more.
We have seen an 11 percent increase in food costs since
January 2021, and at the same time if we compare and contrast
this the Administration has been pushing a pretty radical goal
to conserve 30 percent of the U.S. land and water by 2030. The
scope of this 30x30 Initiative is expansive. We have tried to
do a dive into it, but it is littered with a lot of different
buzzwords but has very little when it comes to actual details
of how this will be accomplished.
One of the things that we looked for was an actual
definition for conservation or what lands would be included. If
we can dive into a few of those issues. I had this issue raised
by an Iowan at one of my town halls just recently. He had a
concern about the 30x30 Initiative, and his concern was that it
would be used as a method to undermine private property rights
and lock up more land. There are also concerns within
recreational fishing and hunting communities that it will be
used as a means to arbitrarily restrict land access for those
types of activities.
Can you commit to me here today that the 30x30 Initiative
will not be used to undermine private property rights or to
lock up land used for recreational fishing and hunting?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I would be happy to commit to
the fact that private property rights will be respected in
connection with any activities relative to conservation. This
is voluntary. It is conservation-oriented. It is farmer-led. It
is basically utilizing the conservation programs that you and I
have been supportive of during our entire public careers. That
is what this is. We are going to continue to look for ways in
which we can provide assistance and help to expand the ability
of farmers and ranchers to utilize conservation tools.
Senator Ernst. Will we get additional details on how this
is going to be accomplished? We have not been able to locate
specifics on the initiative.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I think the details that you are
going to get are the development of an atlas, that is
essentially going to keep track of the activities of farmers,
ranchers, and producers relative to conservation.
For example, Robert Bonnie was out in Wyoming recently,
announcing a corridor initiative, a migratory corridor that is
going to be protected. It is a partnership between the State of
Wyoming, a number of those conservation, hunting and angler
groups, to create a conservation corridor, resources provided
by the USDA, State resources, combining, leveraging, creating
an opportunity for assistance. It is that type of program that
I think it is collaborative, it is farmer-led, it is rancher-
led, and I think, you know, we are going to continue to
emphasize the fact it is voluntary, and it is by all means
going to respect private property right.
Senator Ernst. Will they also maintain the rights of those
hunters and fishers to engage in those types of recreational
activities then?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, part of the reason we are doing
this is basically to expand opportunities for hunting and
fishing, because we understand and appreciate the important
role that plays in a rural economy.
Senator Ernst. Okay. I do appreciate that.
Iowa farmers are really working hard right now to raise the
crops and the livestock that are feeding our Nation and the
world, and they are being hit hard by inflation and supply
chain challenges. You are the co-chair of the President's
Supply Chain Disruption Task Force. What actions has the task
force taken to help lower prices and ensure supply today of
those necessary inputs for farmers during this growing season
and for next year?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, we have been working in terms of
our ports to increase hours of operation. We are providing
opportunities for pop-up facilities that will basically take
some of the pressure and congestion off of the ports.
Department of Labor is working on expanding apprenticeships, to
be able to put folks behind the wheel of trucks that are
necessary. We have worked with the Surface Transportation Board
to encourage our rail system to basically make the investments
necessary to have a more resilient system.
As you know, the Strategic Oil Reserve has been tapped. We
have obviously provided for summer utilization of E15. There
are ways in which we, as I alluded to earlier, ways in which we
are, at the Department of Agriculture, assisting folks during a
tough time. That gets into the TEFAP program, the SNAP program,
the WIC program, things of that nature.
It is a combination of all this, and we are going to
continue to work hard to find ways to bring costs down.
Senator Ernst. Yes, thank you. I appreciate it, Mr.
Secretary. Hopefully with this supply chain disruption task
force we can see more information broadcast widely so our
citizens know exactly how the Administration is working with
these problems.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Absolutely. Thank you. Senator
Tuberville.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank
you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today.
Mr. Secretary, Alabama's hard-working farmers and producers
continue to face uphill battles. As they work to feed our great
nation, constant roadblocks, and government overreach are
creating challenging environments for my constituents. Our
producers continue to face skyrocketing input costs for fuel,
seeds, equipment, fertilizer, combined with supply chain
disruptions, shortages, and backlogs.
Since President Biden took office in 2021, inflation has
caused prices in Alabama to increase over 10 percent. In April,
Alabamians were paying $478 more each month for everyday
expenses. It is more expensive for everyone to feed their
families, fuel their cars, power their homes. This is not
sustainable.
Today gas prices in Alabama are $4.30 for regular gasoline,
$5.36 for diesel. These prices are almost $1.50 more than this
time last year. Secretary, I call on you to be a partner to
help relieve the regulatory inflationary burdens on our farmers
so they can do what they do best--feed the world.
Now as we seek to begin farm bill discussions in the coming
months, it seems that the Biden administration is only focused
on two areas of the comprehensive package--nutrition and
conservation. While these farm bill titles are important, so
are the traditional farm programs like crop insurance, farm
commodity programs that help our producers safely manage risk.
Also, we need to acknowledge and thank our farmers and
foresters who have worked hard for generations, and continue to
work hard to voluntarily implement practices of sustainability
and conservation on their land as they see fit. They are the
first conservationists and best stewards of their land, knowing
it must be preserved for generations to come.
My first question, Mr. Secretary, is changes within the
Administration keep bringing newly written regulations
surrounding the Waters of the U.S., or the WOTUS. While know
the Department of Agriculture does not have direct role with
WOTUS as compared to the EPA and the Corps of Engineers, your
Department clearly has direct engagements with landowners and
our Nation's natural resources.
The Supreme Court plans to make a ruling surrounding WOTUS
later this year. Do you commit to working with others in the
Biden administration and our Nation's farmers and foresters to
uphold and implement the final decision from the Supreme Court
in a timely, efficient fashion, and can you elaborate on that?
Secretary Vilsack. Sure. Senator, I appreciate the
question. We have a close relationship with EPA on this
particular issue, wanting to make sure that as EPA promulgates
and implements rules and regulations of any kind, including
Waters of the U.S., that it does so with farmer input. We have
encouraged Administrator Regan, and I think he has been very
true to his word. He is sitting down, and he is listening, and
he is making himself and his team available for farmer input.
Our second responsibility, I think, is to take a look at as
rules and regulations are implemented how can USDA provide
resources and assistance to enable farmers and ranchers to
implement whatever the rule might be in the most efficient and
effective way for them and for their operation, and we
obviously will be committed to doing that.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you. You know, between the
publication of 2012 and 2017 Census of Agriculture report,
67,000 farms ceased operation--67,000--and over 14 million
acres of land went out of farming. What is your department
doing to help protect and restore our Nation's farmland and
farmers?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, there are a couple of things. I
think first and foremost we are trying to figure out ways in
which we can expand on what I refer to as the extraction
economy. Right now, Senator, essentially farmers have two ways
to make money. They can sell their crops or they can feed their
crops to livestock and sell the product to the livestock. The
reality is they need more revenue streams, and that is one of
the reasons why the Climate-Smart Agricultural Product
Initiative is so important, because it creates additional
revenue streams for farmers.
Also converting agricultural waste into more biobased
products, another revenue stream. Increasing the number of
revenue streams is one avenue.
The second avenue is making sure that farmers have access
to the information about programs that are available to them.
We are expanding significantly the technical assistance,
particularly to historically underserved farmers, because they
are the ones who are most struggling and oftentimes they are
either not aware or unable to go through the process of
applying for the various tools and various programs that we
have to help them. With these technical assistance grants that
we are making to a number of organizations we are now providing
more assistance and more help so folks can get access to the
programs.
Then the final thing I would say is we obviously
continuously look for ways in which we can help beginning
farmers and ranchers get started, and focusing on a variety of
folks, including veterans. A number of things that we are
doing.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you. One last quick question. Are
you familiar with the EQIP proposal to our farmers about cover
crops?
Secretary Vilsack. Sure.
Senator Tuberville. I am having problems in my State. My
farmers are asking me, why would we plant these three grains
when we do wheat? We have cover crops, and we need more wheat.
We need more things that we can sell.
Secretary Vilsack. We essentially have recently indicated,
as part of this effort to try to expand production through our
conservation agreements, that wheat would be essentially
treated as a cover crop, an appropriate cover crop. We just
recently announced that, Senator.
Senator Tuberville. That will not be a problem.
Secretary Vilsack. Should not be.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Absolutely. Thank you. Next is Senator
Smith, and then Senator Grassley.
Senator Smith. Great. Thank you. Welcome to the Committee,
Secretary Vilsack. It is great to see you again. I want to
thank you for your visits to Minnesota. I understand you were
at the Crookston campus to give a commencement speech recently,
and we also appreciated you visiting us last August to talk
about the drought we were experiencing, and also the visit to
the rural hospital that you and I made together. I appreciate
that.
You know Minnesota well and you understand. I know that
Minnesota is blessed because we have such a diverse
agricultural economy, in really all ways. Particularly, we have
Hmong, Native, Latino, Somali, Indigenous, and Black farmers
that all play a really important role in Minnesota's
agricultural sector.
During your confirmation hearing I asked you what you
thought the USDA could do, both internally and externally, to
break down some of the barriers facing farmers of color and
business owners of color. I have asked this question of pretty
much every nominee who has come before this Committee.
The idea, the need, of course, is to address some of the
systemic and historic challenges that the Department has faced,
and I know that you understand this. You and I have talked
about it frequently.
I am wondering if you could give us an update, give us a
sense of how you have made equity and fairness a priority at
the USDA, and tell us a little bit, maybe give us some examples
of the work that you have been doing.
Secretary Vilsack. Thank you, Senator. Internally, we have
asked each of our mission areas to ostensibly establish a
review of their programs with the use of an equity lens in
everything that they do, and to put together a strategic plan
to incorporate equity in all decisionmaking. Those plans have
now been consolidated into a single Department-wide plan. Over
500 recommendations that are in the process of being
implemented. Each mission area is going to have a chief
diversity officer that will also be responsible for overseeing
that operation and reporting to us results.
That is not enough to do an internal review. We also have
to have an external review, and that external review is now
being conducted by the Equity Commission that was formed as a
result of the American Rescue Plan. We have individuals who are
very serious thinkers, who are taking a look at the systemic
nature of our programs, and we expect and anticipate the
beginnings of a set of recommendations on both the Farm Service
programs and on the Rural Development programs during the
course of this calendar year. We will certainly look for ways
to implement the Equity Commission recommendations to remove
those systemic barriers.
The third thing I would say is the reality is that many of
those underserved populations simply either do not know about
the USDA programs or are unable to access the very detailed
information that is necessary to apply for some of these
programs or, frankly, do not trust the USDA.
In an effort to try to build a bridge and to build a better
understanding and a connection to our programs and those folks
who need our programs the most, we are in the process of using
American Rescue Plan resources to essentially provide grants to
organizations that have a trusting relationship with
historically underserved producers and creating an opportunity
for those entities to help those individuals apply for and
receive the benefits of programs. We are excited about that
opportunity.
NRCS has also expanded on this by establishing another $50
million initiative, and 108 organizations are now contracting,
including the Hmong population in Minnesota, in an effort to
try to make sure that we are getting the technical information
and assistance out there to everyone who needs the programs.
That is a representative sampling. I could go on for a long
time on this, but I do not want to use up all of your time.
Senator Smith. Well, I appreciate you putting into practice
your pledge to make this a priority, and I am glad to hear
about what sounds to me like the sort of a navigator strategy
for connecting underserved communities to USDA programs,
including, I hope, language translation services, which can be
really helpful for a lot of Hmong farmers and other farmers. It
sounds like we are working on that, so I very much appreciate
that.
Just in the short time I have left, there are many of us on
this Committee who have worked a lot on issues of market
concentration. I suspect that my colleague, Senator Grassley,
might bring this up next. I am very happy to be supporting and
working with Senator Grassley and Senator Fischer on the work
that they are doing around market concentration and bringing
more transparency there.
A huge issue in Minnesota, where farmers, especially beef
producers, are making pennies on the dollar while the big
processors are making a lot of money, and everybody is paying
more at the grocery store shelves.
My question is, could you just quickly address the
opportunity for the USDA to do better and more research on the
impacts of market concentration? The University of Minnesota's
Food Protection and Defense Institute is doing some great work
to understand better how the lack of competition in the packing
sector is directly impacting producers, and I wonder if you
could just talk briefly about what more the USDA could be doing
there on research.
Secretary Vilsack. Part of what we announced as part of our
package to provide assistance and help to expand processing
capacity today is a study that was required by the President's
competition order, that speaks a bit to this issue.
Second, our Chief Economist's Office is obviously engaged
and involved in taking a look at the market and how
concentration can potentially impact, positively or negatively,
capacity and income.
You know, the fact that we had 263 applications for our
$150 million, almost $900 million in requests, $5 billion in
projects, suggests that there is a real demand and need. I am
excited about the opportunity for us to use the resources that
are available under the American Rescue Plan to begin creating
more capacity and, therefore, more competition, which we think
ultimately will lead to better prices. Obviously, the
legislation that you all are working on, we look forward to,
when and if it is passed, to be able to implement it in the way
that you envision.
Senator Smith. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Grassley.
Senator Grassley. First of all I want to congratulate you
on the announcement that you made about rules beefing up the
Packers and Stockyards Act. I know that you are committed to
that, the use of that act, and the enforcement of that act.
The first thing that I am going to ask you about is pretty
simple, whether or not what I am going to describe to you was
the USDA consulted in regard to this. Two weeks ago, the
Solicitor General filed a brief of whether or not the Supreme
Court should take a case involving widely used pesticides, in
Iowa what we call Roundup, but the big classification is
glyphosate.
In that brief, the Solicitor General flipped the
government's long-held position that has been the position of
the law since 1972, that Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts State law. Then the Solicitor
General argued even against the EPA authority that the law
requires. Were you consulted on that in any way?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we were not. We continue to
work with the EPA in terms of crop protection programs or
products in an effort to try to make sure that farmers and
ranchers have what they need.
Senator Grassley. Yes. I think it is clear in the law that
the EPA has this sole authority, and I think it is going to be
a problem if the Supreme Court would not take this case because
State law is trying to go beyond what the FIFRA law allows.
Let us just suppose that they would take this case and they
would somehow say that this California law is a legitimate law.
Is the USDA doing any analysis that removing these products
like Roundup from the marketplace would do to U.S. grain
production, because, you know, this seems to me that this has a
big thing to do with the productivity of our American
agriculture.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I am not sure that I know the
answer to that question. I am more than happy to go back and
ask our folks if they are in the process of reviewing that. We
obviously have had a lot on our plate recently with global food
security concerns, and that has been my focus. I would be more
than happy to check with our folks and see whether or not they
have done that. Depending upon the outcome of the case and
depending upon the nature of the decision that may be
forthcoming we will take a look at it.
Senator Grassley. I would like to put in the record, Madam
Chairman, a letter I wrote to the President on that subject.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Without objection.
[The letter can be found on page 62 in the appendix.]
Senator Grassley. The next one is, because of this
possibility that we are going to run short of grain worldwide,
probably not in the United States but worldwide, and increased
U.S. production would have something to do with the shortage,
mostly caused now because of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, has
USDA discussed opening up the Conservation Reserve Program so
that farmers can plant on those acres under these conditions
that we have now?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, first of all, Senator, we
announced the fact that in terms of the general sign-up,
approximately a little over 1 million acres that was in the
program is coming out of the program, so that 1 million acres
is going to be available.
Second, we announced an effort to try to encourage those
whose acres are coming out of the program to be able to access
their fields more quickly. As you know, they cannot, based on
the rules, go into the fields and take activities prior to
October 1st. Well, we are basically suggesting that they can
now voluntarily terminate, without penalty, for those acres
that are now coming out of the program so that they would be in
a position to do work now on that land, to either prepare it
for a crop or to potentially even think about other crops that
could be grown during the course of the winter.
We have looked for ways in which we can provide help and
assistance.
Senator Grassley. My time is out. I may submit some
questions for answer in writing on other subjects. Thank you,
Madam Chairman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Lujan and
then Senator Marshall.
Senator Lujan. Thank you very much, Madam Chair and Ranking
Member. Secretary Vilsack, good to see you sir.
As you know, New Mexico is currently facing the largest
fire in our State's history, having now burned over 311,000
acres, and directly impacting farmers, ranchers, families, and
rural communities across the State.
I want to thank you and the United States Forest Service
for the decision this week to pause all prescribed burns for 90
days while the Department reviews the process, and also for the
exemption that allows ranchers to be able to access U.S. forest
lands where they have grazing permits.
As you know, this was a prescribed burn, and recognizing
that, over 95 percent, 97 percent of prescribed burns do not
result in this, I am more interested in the two percent that
do, because this has destroyed lives.
Accessing grazing still remains a top concern with a lot of
families in these communities, Secretary Vilsack. What I am
hoping is that I can have your commitment that you and the
Department will do all in your power to ensure ranchers in New
Mexico have access to all available grazing and feed options,
including allowing the emergency haying and grazing of land
enrolled in CRP.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we will be happy to work with
you to make sure that we are responsive to the needs of your
producers. It is a commitment that I make to you, and it is a
commitment I made to your Governor when we met last week--I
think it was last week, or the week before last. Very difficult
situation. I totally understand the concerns and stress that
you and the folks in New Mexico are feeling right now.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that, Mr. Secretary. The other
area that I have been hearing from farmers is that they are
being told they are not eligible for preventive plant payments
this growing season because of changes to the crop insurance
program made by the Trump administration. As farmers and
ranchers across the West, and especially in New Mexico,
continue to deal with historic drought and now wildfires. I
find it very concerning that this vital risk management tool
would remain unavailable to the producers who need it most.
Mr. Secretary, has the Biden administration examined the
Trump administration's change to this program, and if so, why
was the decision made to keep the change in place?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I think you are referring to
preventive planning and the 1 in 4 rule. We have looked at it,
and we actually have made changes in some areas, for some
commodities. I would say to you that our review is not
finished. We need to continue to look for ways in which we can
create flexibility, for the very reason that you have
addressed.
Yes, changes have been made, and I suspect and anticipate
that there will be additional changes forthcoming.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. Where there is a lot of
rain and water I can understand with what the goals was, to try
to phase a little bit of this out. Back west, where we do not
have water, and now where families are devastated because of
fire, if they were in three years of drought, the formula is
kicking in, it is just a kick in the face. I appreciate the
work you are doing in this space and I look forward to working
with you in there as well.
The watersheds back in New Mexico, as you know, our water,
for the most part, from small communities comes from watersheds
up in the mountains. We depend on that snowpack, and we do our
due diligence to keep it clean and keep it flowing and get it
to the plants so we can it to families.
Now small, historically underserved communities in New
Mexico are not only continuing to combat active fires but as
monsoon season approaches, having to quickly pivot to examine
the damage done to our watersheds. Concerns range from the
cumbersome process of having to seek cost-share assistance
waivers to fix problems the Federal Government caused to
uncertainty related to administrative and technical assistance
necessary to effectively deploy the resources once they are
delivered.
Mr. Secretary, do I have your commitment to work with me
and fellow New Mexicans to ensure that our communities have
your and the agency's full support to provide the necessary
financial, technical, and administrative support to recover
from these fires, mainly in that water space?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, you do.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. Will you direct all the
offices under your jurisdiction to prioritize making the
appropriate determination in a thorough and timely manner that
allows aid to be released?
Secretary Vilsack. I think that has already been done, but
I will continue to emphasize it.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. The last question I have
is around PFAS and dairy cattle. Because of all the challenges
that have already occurred from being able to move forward from
the previous administration, who did not want to do anything--I
want to thank you for immediately taking this on as soon as you
took office--but now there is a question over the formula, and
determining when accounts to get paid.
Now because of the reality, if you can explain to me how
USDA came to the decision associated with the timing of
payments for cattle versus when these cows were determined to
be contaminated, it is a little different than, you know, a
healthy cow, I would say, or a healthy dairy cow. This is very
different. Explain why the dairy should not be paid the day the
cows were deemed contaminated.
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, I appreciate the question.
First of all, as you know, we inherited a rule that would not
have allowed for reimbursement for the value of the cow, and,
in fact, what was done was basically pay for the milk that was
contaminated. We continued to do that until we finally realized
that really what we had to do was to actually pay for the cow.
Dairies have received a significant amount of resources, in
some cases millions of dollars of resources, for the milk that
was contaminated.
We are using the Livestock Indemnity Program structure
which basically provides for the way in which the valuation is
calculated. The difference between that and the Livestock
Indemnity Program is that instead of 75 percent of the value we
are awarding 100 percent of the value. We also made a decision
to allow for reimbursement of cattle that were contaminated,
even before the rule was in place.
We think we have taken three steps: providing compensation
for the milk, 100 percent of the loss, as well as covering cows
that were contaminated before the rule was put into place,
which we think is a fair and reasonable allocation of resources
and fairness to the dairy industry in your State.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that. Madam Chair, I see my
time has more than expired. There are a few others that I will
submit into the record, but thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you
for what you are doing, and please, everyone, pray for our
State and the people with the fires that they are being
impacted with. We need your help on this, so thank you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Very serious.
Senator Marshall.
Senator Marshall. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary, it
is great and we are honored to have you here in person for the
first time this Congress.
You mentioned in your written testimony that under
President Biden's leadership America is building back better.
Mr. Secretary, I am here to fight for American Agriculture for
Kansas farmers. As you know, farmers and ranchers are facing
record inflation. Fertilizer prices have quadrupled. The price
of diesel has doubled. Farmers cannot find inputs, pesticide
inputs. They cannot find tractor parts. We feel, many farmers
feel that these supply chain issues have been exacerbated by
President Biden's policies.
Parents cannot find baby formula. The hope for new ag trade
deals is bleak. We do not have a USTR for ag nominee. The EPA
continues to push non-science-based decisions that eliminate
pesticide tools that help produce higher yields but yet
decrease their carbon footprint. Based upon your written
statement I do not know which producers you are talking to but
they are not producers I have been seeing in Kansas.
You have been Secretary of Agriculture now for almost 10
years, on and off. We expect you to be a loud voice, a voice
for farmers, for agriculture producers in the White House.
I want to followup with Senator Grassley's comment about
the U.S. Solicitor General statement on Federal presumption of
pesticide labels, emphasizing that glyphosate is reused in
roughly 40 percent of acreage. It troubles me. I think you said
you were not consulted on this issue. We expect you to be
proactive. Did you not speak to the President or the EPA about
this? Are you not urging them? Do they not understand how
important these pesticides are to decrease the carbon footprint
and increase the production of our land?
Again, you have been doing this for 10 years. We expected a
loud voice. Or maybe you agree with the Administration. Maybe
you agree with the EPA.
Secretary Vilsack. I am sorry. I am not sure what the
question is, Senator.
Senator Marshall. Yes. Why are you not a louder voice? Why
are you not being proactive? It troubles me that you are not
willing to speak up for American agriculture with this
Administration and push back on the EPA to push back on the
White House's policies in regard to this glyphosate.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, Senator, in fairness let's take a
look at the record. You mentioned exports and trade. We have
had a record export year.
Senator Marshall. Can you speak to my question? Could you
answer my question?
Secretary Vilsack. Yes, I----
Senator Marshall. Are you pushing back on the glyphosate
issue?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I have actually talked to the EPA
about crop protection and encouraged the EPA to continue to
follow the science. That is what American agriculture has asked
me to do.
Senator Marshall. You testified to Senator Grassley that
you were not consulted, but now you are saying you were being
proactive?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, you asked me if I was consulted,
and basically I have talked to the EPA about crop protection
activities and products and encouraged the EPA to continue to
follow the science, and encouraged them to listen to farmers
and the farmers' concerns, and frankly, they have.
With all due respect, I am representing farmers. We are
representing farmers on things like E15. We are representing
farmers on record trade. We are representing farmers on
climate-smart agriculture and providing resources. We are
representing farmers in terms of disaster assistance. Six
billion dollars of pandemic assistance came out from this
debate----
Senator Marshall. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I want to go on
to my next question. I want to talk about fertilizers just for
a second. As you know, nitrogen-based fertilizers are dependent
upon natural gas as a substrate as well as to heat the process
up. Natural gas has doubled. Nitrogen-based fertilizers have
quadrupled.
One of the things we could do is to maybe decrease some of
the tariffs on fertilizers coming into this country. Have you
spoken out as a strong voice for agriculture to the President
as well as ITC chair about maybe decreasing those tariffs? This
administration has done a really incredible job, I guess you
would say, decreasing tariffs on solar panels. What are we
doing to help lower the tariffs on fertilizers?
Secretary Vilsack. We have talked about that issue. We have
also pushed back on export bans that have exacerbated the
problem. I have been very vocal about that. We have created
alternative risk management tools for farmers to be able to
reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer that they need and be
able to be compensated for the crops that they may not be able
to produce. We have talked about conservation programs in terms
of precision agriculture. We----
Senator Marshall. I need to get one more question in here
if I can. 3030 is a big issue back home. When we spoke to you
before, your plan was more CRP, but now we are talking about
taking CRP out of the program. How do you balance those goals
in this Administration? What does that look like going forward
to you?
Secretary Vilsack. Trust in the farmers. Farmers are
basically speaking to us in terms of what their needs are. We
are seeing an expansion of conservation practices with the EQIP
and CSP, and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, the
Climate-Smart Agriculture Product----
Senator Marshall. Previously you said your plan for the 30
program was more CRP, but it looks like more CRP is going to
come out. How do you get to your goal of 3030?
Secretary Vilsack. The 3030 goal, Senator, includes
conservation programs. It is not just simply CRP. I would also
point out to you that we are making an effort, in terms of
grasslands. We are seeing an increased activity in terms of CRP
on grasslands. Farmers, however, we trust farmers to make the
right choice and set of decisions for their operation. This
year they are taking roughly a million acres out of the program
and putting it into production. That is their choice. That is
their decision. We respect that.
In the meantime, we are looking for ways in which we can
provide more resources from conservation programs, EQIP, CSP,
RCPP, the Climate-Smart Agriculture Initiatives. All of that is
a significant amount of investment in conservation programs,
all of which falls within the rubric of the voluntary, farmer-
led 30x30 effort.
Senator Marshall. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Madam Chair, I
yield back. Thank you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Next we have
Senator Klobuchar virtually and then Senator Fischer, and I
will say that one of two votes that we will be having has
begun, but I believe we will be able to get through all of our
members wanting to ask questions before the first vote is
completed.
Senator Klobuchar, welcome.
Senator Klobuchar. Well, thank you so much, Chairwoman, for
your great work, and Secretary, it is so good to see you again.
I wanted to reiterate what I told you in person, just the
fantastic work the USDA has done with regard to avian flu. It
is finally going down. I described it to the people in my State
that the waterfowl were taking too long of a spring break in
our State, hanging out before flying north, and we had a real
outbreak. Your people, working with our State, were just
fantastic, and we are in a better place than we were a while
ago, so I want to thank you for that.
I want to focus a little on ag disaster aid. I know you
know about these two separate storm systems that passed through
Minnesota with heavy rains recently, on May 11th and 12th,
tornadoes destroying barns and grain bins, flooded fields, left
several rural communities without power.
Our FSA executive director has requested disaster
designations for 62 counties. Do you have a timeline for
reviewing that request? I led a letter this week with the
Minnesota delegation, supporting the request, and hoping you
can look at it quickly.
Secretary Vilsack. I will be happy to, Senator, and we will
try to get that approved as quickly as possible.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, late
planting flexibility. I know that Senator Hoeven raised this
with you. It is really along the same lines because the storms
have created significant challenges for farmers who are already
behind on spring planting. In Minnesota, completed planting for
corn is at 60 percent, soybeans 32 percent, wheat 11 percent,
sugar beets 27 percent, are all significantly behind our five-
year average. Hoping that you will review the suggestions that
Senator Hoeven and I have made and work with us to provide
certainty and support to our farmers during this time of delay.
Secretary Vilsack. We will certainly take a look at the
correspondence we received yesterday and make a decision as
quickly as we can.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Thank you very much. I also want
to thank you for all your work on climate change. As we know,
part of what we are seeing, it is not just serendipity that
this is going on, these strange weather events. It is exactly
what was predicted. Of course, in the area of ag that means
everything from conservation to cover crops on, and I want to
thank you for that.
I thought I would end here by focusing some on some supply
chain issues with ocean shipping. We have seen vulnerabilities
for U.S. exporters, including our ag exporters, who have seen
the price of shipping containers increase four-fold.
Senator Thune and I passed our Ocean Shipping Reform Act of
2022 through the Senate. The House has a similar version, led
by Representatives Garamendi and Johnson. It looks like we are
going to be able to reach some agreement so that our goods are
actually taken by these international shipping conglomerates
and that we get some fair prices by some rules that we are
going to push through with the Maritime Commission.
Can you talk about the impact of shipping container
disruptions particularly on ag exports and whether or not you
think cracking down on some of these international shipping
conglomerates' rates and practices would be helpful?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I had an opportunity yesterday to
speak to four of the major shippers about this very issue,
asking them to create and provide a greater consistency in
terms of access to containers and the ability of empty
containers that currently leave our ports to be filled with
agricultural exports. I received commitments from all four of
them to basically take a look at doing a better job.
This has been a difficult challenge for American
agriculture. We have seen some improvement recently by virtue
of the resources that we have put in play to create a pop-up
site in Oakland. We have also provided incentives to move empty
containers, financial incentives. We also recently opened up
another pop-up opportunity in Seattle.
We are going to continue to work on this, and obviously I
think the legislation that is going through the process is
sending a strong message that we are not satisfied, we are
frustrated with the progress up to this point.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Just quick last, can you talk
about the biofuel infrastructure investments that USDA has
made. I am continuing to push on some of these issues, and I
know you are an ally.
Secretary Vilsack. Well, we anticipate in the very near
future announcing the availability of another $100 million to
expand access to pumping systems and distribution systems that
would allow for E15 and B20 to be more readily available. That
is going to continue.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Thank you so much, Secretary.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. All right. Next
we have Senator Thune, then Senator Warnock, Senator Fischer,
Senator Booker, and then Senator Hyde-Smith. Senator Thune.
Senator Thune. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary,
welcome. It is nice to have you here. I appreciate the
Committee turning its focus to the challenges that our farmers
and ranchers and rural communities are facing, among those high
inflation, rising food and energy costs, commodity market
volatility, and supply chain constraints--I think all of which
have been referenced at some level today--coming at a time when
producers are working to ramp up production to address global
food shortage concerns.
We have got, in South Dakota, I think as you know,
producers who are dealing with difficult weather conditions
this spring, including, depending on where you are in the
State, drought, severe drought, excess moisture, and
significant storm damage. I would urge USDA to provide
expedited assistance to those affected producers.
Mr. Secretary, many of the commodity prices are high.
Inflation has sent farm production expenses skyrocketing. As a
result, net farm income is expected to decline this year. To
make matters worse, some producers in my State recently had
significant weather-related storm damage to their property,
including farm equipment, buildings, and grain bins. There is a
deep concern about replacing these critical elements of their
operations and how expensive it will be, given the soaring
costs that we are experiencing.
What is USDA doing to address inflation and its effect on
agriculture and what can USDA do to help producers mitigate the
sharply increasing costs of these weather-related damage
repairs?
Secretary Vilsack. I would say, Senator, that our primarily
focus is trying to make sure that the disaster assistance
programs that are in place, that have been funded and financed
by Congress, are made available as quickly as possible.
An example of that is the WHIP+ program that folks refer
to. We basically redesigned the way in which that program
operates so we could get resources out to farmers as quickly as
possible, making it much easier and much simpler for them to
apply for those resources. That is going to continue, as is in
terms of getting pandemic assistance out, over $6 billion of
resources provided.
We will continue to look for ways in which we can utilize
the Livestock Forage Program and the Livestock Indemnity
Program, Crop Insurance, NAP, all of those programs, to
basically make sure that we are doing everything we possibly
can to provide assistance and help.
You know, in terms of some of the challenges, the
fertilizer issue, I think there is an opportunity here for us
to begin the process of being more self-reliant when it comes
to the ingredients that go into fertilizer, which is why the
$500 million is going to be allocated. We think there is going
to be great interest in that effort, which we hope to be able
to launch this summer.
We think there is an opportunity for us to use the
conservation programs effectively and efficiently to advance
precision agriculture, that will help to reduce costs. We think
there is research that is suggesting that perhaps some of our
acres are potentially over-fertilized, and to the extent that
we can give farmers that information they can make more
informed decisions about their operation. There is a wide
variety of things that we are attempting to do.
Senator Thune. Well, and a lot of those programs you
mentioned are programs in previous farm bills that I and others
have been involved in creating, and hopefully they will work
effectively in times when we really need them, like right now.
I want to hit on the Black Hills National Forest and other
forests which provide recreational opportunities and contribute
significantly to local and regional economies. In the last few
years we have seen enormous wildfires across the West. Those
fires were, in many cases, devastating to local communities and
have lasting effects on water quality, wildlife, recreation,
and tourism.
Proper forest management is as important now as it has ever
been, and it plays a critical role in maintaining forest health
and reducing the threat of catastrophic fires. In the Black
Hills, the forest products industry has been a reliable partner
in the proper management of the forest.
Unfortunately, last year we had a sawmill in the Black
Hills that closed due to a lack of timber availability, and I
am concerned that more mill closures could be imminent if the
Forest Service does not take action to maintain the forest
timber sale program.
Numerous concerns have been raised with the Forest
Service's publication of a general technical report on the
forest timber sale program and the agency's failure to uphold
its commitment to work collaboratively with industry and State
and local officials through consideration of the science-based
recommendations from the formal Black Hills National Forest
Advisory Board and State foresters.
Following the Grain Transportation Report (GTR), we have
seen a drastic reduction in timber sales and loss of milling
infrastructure that is critical in meeting the goals outlined
in the Forest Service's 10-year wildlife reduction strategy.
What steps are you taking to make sure the Forest Service
upholds its commitment to collaborate and to avoid additional
mill closures?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, one thing we have done, Senator,
is to establish a NEPA strike team directed to the Black Hills
to make sure that we are determining the appropriate volume
estimates for the next three years. We also have a national
team working on a timber pilot transfer program, basically
bringing in potential timber from the West for processing in
South Dakota.
As you know, you have asked--not you--the folks have asked
for a reconsideration of the GTR report, and we are in the
process of completing that reconsideration. I anticipate
decisions on that in June.
Senator Thune. Yes, and you are right. We have asked for
that, so thank you.
Madam Chair, my time has expired. Thanks.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Warnock.
Senator Warnock. Thank you so very much, Chair Stabenow.
Mr. Secretary, before I start with my questions about farmers
in Georgia I want to ask a brief question about the baby
formula crisis facing Georgia families. My question is simple.
From USDA's perspective when will families in Georgia who are
searching for formula start to see more products on the
shelves?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, our hope and belief is that we
are beginning the process of turning the corner on this. I
announced yesterday, or today rather, the opportunity for
Gerber and Nestle and Mead Johnson to basically be able to have
the ability to work with State health commissioners to provide
greater flexibility, to substitute product, whether it is
contract brand product, whether it is unauthorized contract
brand product, or whether it is a competitor's brand, to be
able to access and expand in the WIC program more product.
As you well know, we are also bringing more product in from
overseas through a series of flights that are currently being
financed, in part, by USDA. We had one in Indianapolis over the
weekend, which I attended. Yesterday there was one in Dulles.
We also have been encouraging the FDA to continue to work with
providers who have not yet been authorized to do business in
this country, to be able to expand the capacity of imports.
All of that, I think, together with bringing the Sturgis
plant back online, hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we
should begin to see some progress on this, and hopefully over
the course of several weeks we will see more product on the
shelves.
Senator Warnock. Good. The next couple weeks they will
start to see more product aid----
Secretary Vilsack. The next couple of weeks. Now it is not
going to solve the problem. There are still going to be issues.
Senator Warnock. Right.
Secretary Vilsack. There are still going to be areas where
there are going to be challenges. There are still going to be
places where people are going to have to use the social media
and the networks that they have created to try to identify
where product is and be able to make sure that product gets
delivered where it needs to be. I think we are going to begin
to see some progress on this, and hopefully, as the spring and
summer wears on, that we are in a much different circumstance.
The Sturgis plant is important. The imports are important.
The ability to substitute product in the WIC program is
important. All of those are important.
Senator Warnock. Thank you. Obviously, for folks who are
trying to feed their children it cannot come soon enough.
Secretary Vilsack. Understand.
Senator Warnock. Thank you for traveling with me to Georgia
earlier this year to hear directly from farmers who have been
left behind by the USDA. Those farmers spoke to the two of us
about the need for urgent debt relief, debt relief which I
remain committed to delivering. They also spoke of the need for
USDA to do more to support farmers who have faced historic
discrimination and to protect them from adverse actions.
I appreciate that the USDA responded to my call to suspend
past due debt collections and foreclosures for these farmers,
but many farmers who stopped making payments, because Congress
promised them relief, are now considered delinquent, through no
fault of their own. It is estimated that over 24,000 borrowers
have deferred payments or are currently considered economically
distressed.
What is the plan, Secretary Vilsack? What are you going to
do to ensure these farmers are not forced out of their business
or off of their land?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, currently there is no capacity to
force them off the land. There is no ability to foreclose. We
have basically got a moratorium in terms of adverse actions for
farmers, No. 1. No. 2, we continue to obviously going through
the courts process on the 12 cases that are pending against
Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan, and we will continue
to vigorously support and defend that action by Congress.
There are ways in which the definition of those who are
able to get debt relief could be adjusted by Congress, and we
have provided technical assistance on how that might happen.
Senator Warnock. The farmers I am hearing from in Georgia
who are very worried about being forced off their land, you are
saying there is no need for them to worry.
Secretary Vilsack. There is no need for them to worry at
this point in time. Then finally I would say we also are
encouraging folks to take a look, in the long term, there is an
opportunity for loan servicing. Depending upon how all this
shakes out, depending on what the courts ultimately decide,
depending upon what Congress can or cannot do relative to the
definition of those who are covered for debt relief, depending
upon our ability, at USDA, to provide help and assistance there
are also debt servicing opportunities, ways in which we can
help farmers stay on the land, and that is the goal.
Senator Warnock. One other question. I know I am running
out time here, Madam Chair. I sent a letter on December 10th,
raising the concerns of farmers who are concerned about the
lack of transparency at the USDA. It took three months for me
to get a response, and I am still very concerned about the
Department's outreach and engagement plan for these farmers.
These farmers often hear about funding opportunities well past
the application deadline, or when a funding announcement is
made they feel consistently left out.
Secretary Vilsack, your response to my letter acknowledged
that USDA still has work to do here, and I appreciate that
acknowledgment. What will USDA do differently to address
systemic discrimination, and specifically, how have you
improved outreach and engagement to historically underserved
farmers?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, the first thing that we did is to
take resources from the American Rescue Plan and invest them
with community-building organizations that are trusted by those
producers, to be able to provide the technical assistance, the
information about the programs, and the ability to work with
those producers to be able to successfully access the programs.
Sometimes it can be difficult and complex to be able to get
into our programs, and the reality is, I think, with technical
assistance we are going to see more participation. That is the
first thing.
Now that was 20 organizations received $75 million to
provide that level of assistance over the course of the next
couple of years. We also recognize that there are smaller
organizations that deal with smaller groups of these
disadvantaged and historically underserved producers, and so
there is currently a minimum of $25 million available under the
American Rescue Plan for agreements with those organizations as
well.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has an
additional $50 million which they allocated to 108
organizations to expand outreach. That is the first thing. The
second thing is each mission area of USDA has put together an
equity plan in an effort to try to create an equity lens for
everything we do. They have come up with over 500
recommendations. Each mission area is going to have a chief
diversity office.
This is really important, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. I realize that. Absolutely.
Secretary Vilsack. Also the Equity Commission. The Equity
Commission is an outside look at trying to reduce systemic
barriers, and we expect and anticipate recommendations coming
from the Equity Commission sometime this summer.
There is a lot more I could say but time.
Chairwoman Stabenow. This is very, very important, and we
certainly want to followup with that. We have four members
left. There is a vote open and four members who have been
patiently waiting as well, so I just want to make sure
everybody gets a chance to ask questions.
Senator Warnock. Thank you for your indulgence, Madam
Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Senator Warnock, obviously this is
critically important and we are going to followup together on
this, so thank you very much.
Senator Fischer and then Senator Booker.
Senator Fischer. Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Senators Grassley,
Tester, and I had the opportunity to visit with you in March
about the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act. I have
appreciated the more than 40 hours of technical assistance that
you and your staff at USDA have provided on that legislation.
This bipartisan legislation is co-sponsored by half of the
members of this Committee. Our legislation is focused on two
main policies: price discovery and transparency in the market.
Do you agree that a robust, competitive, negotiated market
is essential to ensuring price discovery takes place in the
cattle market?
Secretary Vilsack. Yes.
Senator Fischer. Some folks have expressed concern about
this, so briefly can you reassure us that when implementing the
bill USDA would conduct a notice and comment rulemaking and a
cost-benefit analysis when setting the regional minimums as
explicitly required by the legislation?
Secretary Vilsack. We will follow whatever Congress directs
us to do.
Senator Fischer. Thank you. At our legislative hearing
exactly 1 month ago, USDA officials testified that our bill
would make the cattle markets more competitive, transparent,
and fair. Do you agree with that statement?
Secretary Vilsack. I do, and I think it is important as
well for us to increase capacity, to have more competition as
well. I think there is a combination of both legislation and
increasing capacity.
Senator Fischer. Thank you. International trade is critical
for my State's economy. We exported $7.1 billion in
agricultural products in 2020. I have heard continuously from
Nebraska's ag producers who are frustrated about the lack of
trade agenda from this Administration. We have seen no push
from the Administration to work with Congress on trade
promotion authority. We have seen no push for the
Administration to pursue new agreements that provide market
access. That is true just this week with the announced Indo-
Pacific Economic Framework, and we have seen no push to name a
qualified nominee to be USTR's chief ag negotiator.
With that said, I would like to ask about a specific trade
issue impacting Nebraska corn growers. I have concern about
Mexico's policy on ag biotechnology which is set to bank
biotech corn for human consumption as soon as January 2024.
This policy is out of step with their commitments under the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It will restrict
Nebraskans' access to innovative agricultural tools and
increase costs for consumers on both sides of the border,
something we do not need with current out-of-control inflation.
Mexico is the top export destination for Nebraska's corn.
We are the top producer of white corn, used in corn chips,
tortillas, and other food products. Planting decisions will
begin soon for the 2023 corn crop that will be exported in
2024. That means that Nebraska farmers need certainty from this
important trading partner right now.
Secretary Vilsack, how is the Administration working with
Mexico to ensure continued market access, in particular for
white corn used in food products? Is the Administration
prepared to use all relevant bilateral and multilateral policy
mechanisms at its disposal, including dispute resolution if
Mexico does not make any progress in fulfilling its commitments
under USMCA?
Secretary Vilsack. I recently had a conversation directly
with the President of Mexico about this issue of corner, and I
am confident that exports of corn that your farmers and farmers
across the country are relying on are going to continue. We
will continue to work with our trading partner. You know, the
fact is we have finally got potatoes across the border after 15
years, and I think we are going to continue to focus on
developing a strong, confident relationships with the Mexicans,
and I am confident that is going to result in us continuing to
have very, very strong exports with Mexico.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, and I hope you will be able to
use the tools at your disposal with current trade agreements in
order to be stern and resolute with Mexico on this white corn
issue.
Secretary Vilsack. We have not shown a reluctance to do
that with our Canadian friends on dairy, so----
Senator Fischer. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Booker.
Senator Booker. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Ranking
Member. Mr. Secretary, we have talked a lot about the terrible
history of discrimination amongst Black farmers. We know the
discrimination within the USDA Farm Assistance and Lending
Programs caused Black farmers to lose millions of acres of
farmlands and rob farmers and their families of hundreds of
billions of dollars of intergenerational wealth that land
really represented.
We know that one of the main sources of USDA discrimination
against Black farmers, historically and still today, is
discrimination in the county committee system. Can you talk
about the actions you have taken or that you intend to take to
root out and bring to an end, finally, the discrimination in
the USDA county committee system?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, the thing I can do is to make
sure that there is minority representation on all those county
committees. When I was Secretary before I exercised that power
for the first time ever, to make sure that in 300 counties
where there was not minority representation that we had a
minority representative.
The Equity Commission that I alluded to earlier is in the
process of taking a look at all of the issues, and I know the
county committees is one of the areas that they are looking at.
I am encouraged and hopeful that they will make a set of
recommendations relative to the county committee structure that
we can then utilize as a basis for going forward. In the
meantime we will make sure that there is minority
representation on every one of those county committees.
Senator Booker. You are waiting for your strategy to come
from the commission that you have created?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I think it is important. We have
asked them to take a look at the systemic barriers that have
existed and make a set of recommendations concerning--well,
actually, the Equity Commission was a result of the American
Rescue Plan. You all basically directed us to put this Equity
Commission together. In respecting the serious thinkers that
are on that committee I am looking forward to their
recommendations.
We started first with FPAC. We started first with the Farm
Service Agency review, because we knew that was the area of
most concern. We are looking forward to the recommendations
that they will make.
Senator Booker. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. A recent
inspector general report found that in 2019, the average time
for a civil rights complaint to be processed by the USDA was
799 days. Justice delayed is justice denied. What steps are you
taking to address this issue?
Secretary Vilsack. It has been cut in half since we took
back control of the Civil Rights Office, Senator. I get a
report on this every month. We are seeing more timely
investigations, more timely reviews, and more timely
decisionmaking at the Office of Civil Rights. I am very, very
concerned about this, and we actually have seen that cut in
half.
Senator Booker. Could your staff reach out to mine and just
let us know----
Secretary Vilsack. Sure.
Senator Booker [continuing]. a little bit deeper in the
things that you are doing?
Secretary Vilsack. You bet.
Senator Booker. I appreciate your attention and I
appreciate that.
We know that the Amazon rainforest is being burned down
primarily for animal grazing, and beef that is being produced
out of Brazil, big companies like JBS then take that meat, ship
it into the United States, and repackage it here, and then sell
it in our stores labeled as ``Product of the USA.'' That is
outrageous, and it is a fraudulent practice that hurts our
consumers, hurts ranchers here in the United States. ``Product
of the USA'' label claims should only be allowed on meat that
comes from animals that were born, raised, and slaughtered in
the United States.
A petition, I think you know, has been pending at the USDA
for four years, asking for the USDA to look into the issue.
When do you anticipate taking action on this?
Secretary Vilsack. We are in the process of conducting a
rather extensive survey, Senator, on this very issue. We are
asking consumers across the United States two questions,
essentially: What do you think this means when you see
``Product of the USA''? What do you think this means? Do you
place value on it?
That would basically form the basis for us to be able to
utilize the power that we have to avoid misrepresentation and
deception in labeling, and to make sure that the standard for
use of that label, on a voluntary basis, is consistent with
what people's expectations are. I would anticipate and expect,
hopefully sometime this fall, we will have the results of the
survey, and from that we will then begin to look at how we
might be able to strengthen significantly the ``Product of the
USA.''
Senator Booker. Thank you. Again, I would really appreciate
you keeping in touch with my team on this as well.
Finally, the last question. I know the USDA is working on a
new proposed rule on organic livestock and poultry standards
that will clarify outdoor access requirements for organic
livestock. Organic farms with high animal welfare standards in
New Jersey and around the country have been waiting a long time
for this rule, and they are being hurt by competitors with
animal welfare standards that are lower than the public expects
from an organic product.
In the final rule that you released during the Obama
Administration in 2017, the implementation period for egg
producers was five years. I assume that the new rule coming
more than four years later will take effect very quickly, much
more so.
When do you anticipate the new rule to be released, and can
you confirm that this rule will have a very short phase-in
period?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, we want to make sure that
whatever we do is able to withstand legal challenge, and so
that is going into the process. It is currently at OMB, and
obviously it is not finalized until it gets through the
process. Our hope is that it gets done sometime this summer.
In terms of the time, you know, I think we are looking at
making sure that we are structuring it in a way that is the
most defensible, from a legal standpoint. Honestly, as I am
sitting here, I do not remember what the timeline is, but I
know that it is a timeline that we think is more defensible.
Senator Booker. You will followup with us on that as well?
Secretary Vilsack. Sure.
Senator Booker. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. Senator Hyde-Smith.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank
you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today, and I certainly
appreciate your willingness to serve. I enjoyed our
relationship when I was Commissioner of Agriculture in
Mississippi.
I want to talk about poultry production in Mississippi and
processing in Mississippi, because it supports thousands of
jobs and generates billions in economic output annually. It
consistently ranks at the top of Mississippi's diverse list of
agriculture commodities, No. 6 nationwide.
It is my understanding that today, this morning, USDA
announced a proposed rule titled ``Poultry Growing Tournament
Systems: Fairness and Related Concerns.'' I have not read all
150-something pages of it yet, but the industry stakeholders in
Mississippi, they have been quick to share their concerns with
me over this.
My question is concerning the poultry growing tournament
system's fairness and related concerns. Is it possible that
what USDA is proposing could push billions in additional cost
onto poultry companies at a time of record inflation and sky-
high input costs, which would further threaten food security
and raise food cost?
Secretary Vilsack. Senator, that is surprising to me
because what we are asking the integrators to do is to provide
information, to provide information to producers before they
sign a contract on flocks, on density, on the expectation from
previous tournaments, what the farmer could potentially expect
in terms of a return, the ability to share that information
with their financial advisor. We are asking them to give
information concerning the stock that they are providing, the
age, the gender, the facility where it was raised.
I do not think that you are talking about a significant
increase in expense to integrators, but what you are providing
is greater transparency and more information so as farmers make
that decision to incur debt, to go into a contract, that they
have a sense that they are actually going to be able to pay
that debt off.
Now we did ask a series of questions as part of this, and
it may very well be that what you are reacting to are the
questions that we are asking in terms of whether or not the
system, as it is operating, is fair, and that is why we are
asking the questions. We want to get input from people.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay. We are still, like I said, trying
to fully assess and understand these rules, because it is my
understanding today's rule is the first of three.
Secretary Vilsack. That is correct. That is correct.
Senator Hyde-Smith. The concern is could it end up costing
farmers and companies and American consumers, and is USDA
planning to conduct a thorough economic analysis on the
tournament system rule or other Packers and Stockyards Act
rules pertaining to the poultry industry?
Secretary Vilsack. We have done an analysis of this
particular rule that we have announced today and believe that
the benefits far outweigh the costs. We will continue to do
that because it is obviously part of the regulatory process.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay. I have a moment left that I want
to switch to glyphosate. As you know, glyphosate is a widely
used, proven, safe herbicide that combats weeds and grasses
that threaten agriculture productivity. I certainly remember
when it came on the market in the form of Roundup.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently took a new,
unprecedented position on glyphosate that could cripple the
effective use of this very important ag product that we count
on. If our farmers cannot use safe, common-sense, and effective
products what would happen to U.S. crop yields if we had to go
back to till instead of no-till?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, I think it would obviously impact
and affect production, and I think it would obviously affect
and impact our ability to deal with climate. One of the
strategies for dealing with climate is, obviously, no till
activities.
You know, this is a personal injury case that they are
involved with, and as I said earlier, I do not know precisely
the reasoning and rationale behind the Solicitor General's
decision. I would say that we have been very clear with the EPA
in our conversations about these crop protection tools that we
have to follow the science. Whatever the science says, that is
what we should follow.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Is it your opinion that it could have
an impact on domestic food prices?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, there are a lot of things that go
into food prices. The reality is that farmers, unfortunately,
as you well know from your days as commissioner, gets so little
of the food dollar, roughly 16 cents of every food dollar. I am
not sure that it necessarily results in food cost increases in
the same way that we are seeing with some of the supply chain
challenges, but it may have an impact on it.
Senator Hyde-Smith. What might the long-term impact be on
our ongoing challenge to meet the growing global demand for
food?
Secretary Vilsack. Well, the challenge would be for
American agriculture to innovate, and what we have to do is we
have to continue to look for ways in which we can invest in and
encourage additional research and development on a wide variety
of initiatives, including crop protection. We need to continue
to work with our industry to make sure that we invest in
innovation.
Chairwoman Stabenow. On that note, Senator, I am going to
thank Senator Vilsack. They are calling us on the floor,
because if we are going to make this vote we are going to have
to go now. The meeting is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:11 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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