WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2016 - Have a great National Farm
Safety and Health Week! The Obama Administration is more active than ever in
promoting the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, but the
president took time to officially declareSept. 18 through 24 as the week
to honor American farmers and call attention to the often dangerous jobs they
do.
“The best farmers in the world have enriched our nation and driven our
agriculture sector forward; it is our shared duty to ensure their health and
safety, because we all have a stake in the well-being of those who provide us
with food and energy,” President Barack Obama said in the proclamation.
Meanwhile, the Administration continues to press forward in its efforts to
convince Congress to ratify the 12-nation TPP. Obama gathered a group of trade
advocates like Ohio Governor John Kasich, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty to the White House Friday to
discuss the proposed trade deal.
A constant theme from the Administration and other TPP supporters is that the
deal is needed so the U.S. doesn’t lose a key leadership role in the Pacific
Rim to China. Obama doubled down on that message in a statement issued Friday:
“Right now, China is pushing hard to create their own trading regime out in
Asia. And I promise you that China is not going to be setting up a bunch
of rules that are going to be to the advantage of American companies and
American businesses. If we are not in there and making sure that fair
trade is established in the Asia market we're going to be cut out.”
TPP push continues this week. The TPP campaign continues Monday and
Tuesday in the Lone Star state. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman is
flying to Houston today and then on to Dallas where he will be collaborating
with former U.S. Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III, former USTR Susan
Schwab and others to laud the benefits of the trade pact.
Meanwhile USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Acting Deputy Secretary Michael Scuse
will be doing their parts to promote TPP on Friday at the National Association
of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) annual meeting in Omaha, Neb.
Tuesday hearing promises debate over consolidation. Recently proposed
mergers like Bayer’s buyout of Monsanto and the union of fertilizer companies
Agrium and the Potash Corporation have some farm groups and lawmakers worried
there will be negative effects for farmers. One sceptic is Sen. Charles
Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he’ll be holding a hearing on
consolidation Tuesday.
“Iowa farmers are concerned about rising input prices in a struggling
agriculture economy that doesn’t look to be turning around anytime soon,”
Grassley said in a recent statement. “Commodity prices are already at or below
the cost of production. The consolidation trend we’re seeing in the seed
and agrochemical industries has all of us concerned that less competition will
mean increased prices for seeds, chemicals and fertilizers for farmers. “
FMD vaccine bank likely part of NPPC farm bill push. The
National Pork Producers Council’s long-held belief that more should be done to
prepare the U.S. for an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) could be part
of the group’s priorities for the next farm bill. NPPC President John Weber
told a gathering of reporters at NPPC’s Washington office that the country’s
preparation for a potential FMD outbreak is “woefully inadequate,” and that a
push for a vaccine bank in the farm bill is not set in stone, but it’s “more
than likely.”
NPPC says the infrastructure is needed to distribute a massive amount of
vaccines in the event of an outbreak including preparing to fight all strains
circulating around the globe. Weber says they’ve heard about potentially as
many as 23 FMD strains worldwide, but only seven strains are kept at reserve at
USDA’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center.
Right now, it looks like NPPC’s message is being well received on Capitol Hill;
Weber said their members observed “little or no opposition” during Hill visits
this week. Liz Wagstrom, NPPC’s chief veterinarian, said USDA is also “very
supportive” and realizes the need “to have the type of bank we’re asking for
and the amount of doses we’re asking for.” However, she says the scale of bank
NPPC wants “cannot come out of existing veterinary services budget. That’s why
we’re kind of building momentum to start looking at the farm bill because it’s
not an insignificant amount of money.” NPPC is pushing for an authorization of
mandatory funding up to $150 million.
NPPC CEO Neil Dierks said the “dose of reality” provided by the outbreak of
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus in 2013 would pale in comparison to what an FMD
outbreak would do to animal agriculture from the angle of food safety, animal
health, and trade.
“People are starting to get a perspective of what this impact would be,” he
said.
For more on NPPC’s Weber’s outlook, listen to our new Agri-Pulse Open Mic
interview by clicking
here.
He said it: “I … urge Americans to honor our agricultural heritage and
express appreciation to our farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers for their
contributions to our Nation.” That was President Barack Obama in his
proclamation for National Farm Safety and Health Week.
Spencer Chase contributed to this report.
#30
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