President Joe Biden makes his case for reelection in tonight’s State of the Union. Look for him to say the administration is taking on inflation in food, farm inputs and other areas.
To that end, USDA this week announced its latest set of regulations on meat and poultry processors. Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters Biden “is in the fight for the long haul when it comes to lowering costs for American consumers. Congressional Republicans should join this effort instead of standing in the way.”
By the way: In support of the president’s message, House Ag Committee member Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, will have as her guest Heather Paquette, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine.
“Anyone who has been in a grocery store lately has seen how big food companies are squeezing consumers by shrinking the size of their products while keeping their prices high,” Pingree says.
Republicans blame government spending for inflation.
Keep in mind: Food inflation has slowed considerably. USDA is forecasting grocery prices will rise 1.6% this year, well under the 20-year historical rate of 2.7%
Spending minibus sails through House
It looks like Congress is going to avoid a government shutdown once again. The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a package of spending bills that cover six sections of the government, including USDA, the Interior Department and EPA.
The House approved the bill, 339-85. Some 132 Republicans joined 207 Democrats in voting for the package, which should easily get Senate approval.
The legislation fully funds the WIC nutrition program and includes new provisions intended to address concerns about foreign acquisition of U.S. farmland, but there’s also cuts to a variety of other programs and departments.
Ag groups prevail: SEC scales back climate regs
Farm groups are cheering the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to soften the blow of a climate disclosure rule. As had been expected for some time, the final regulations for corporations require disclosure only of what are known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 3 emissions, those that occur in a company’s supply chain, will be exempt.
“Farmers are committed to protecting the natural resources they’ve been entrusted with, and they continue to advance climate-smart agriculture, but they cannot afford to hire compliance officers just to handle SEC reporting requirements,” says Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “This is especially true for small farms that would have likely been squeezed out of the supply chain.”
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler downplayed the rule’s potential impact on farmers when it was introduced two years ago, but he was nevertheless forced to drop the Scope 3 coverage. The final rule only applies to greenhouse gas emissions a company produces itself and those associated with its energy consumption.
Upper and Lower Colorado River basins submit dueling post-2026 proposals
An Upper vs. Lower Basin feud over a framework for Colorado River water cuts following current guidelines’ 2026 expiration reached a new milestone Wednesday with states on both sides submitting clashing proposals to the Bureau of Reclamation.
The Lower Basin plan, backed by negotiators from California, Nevada and Arizona, calls for all seven Colorado River states to share the burden of future cuts. In contrast, the proposal from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, the Upper Basin states, recommends that any reductions to their users’ water allocations be voluntary and separate from any final guidelines.
Keep in mind: Each half of the basin is entitled to 7.5 million acre-feet of water under the Colorado River compact of 1922, though both are also subject to their own framework for reductions. The Upper Basin states’ cuts vary based on snowpack and runoff; these states are required to leave at least 7.5 million acre-feet of water per year in Lakes Powell and Mead.
This has led the Upper Basin to use less water in recent years. For example, these states utilized only 3.5 million acre-feet of their 7.5 million-acre-foot allocation in 2021, while the Lower Basin states used around 7 million acre-feet.
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House Aggies press CFTC head to get workers back to the office
Many of the questions posed to Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam at Wednesday’s House Ag Committee hearing focused less on the work of the CFTC’s employees and more on where they’re doing it.
Several on the panel pressed for clarity on when the commission would return its employees to consistent in-office work.
“COVID’s over and America needs to get back to work,” Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said at the hearing before asking Behnam to “keep us apprised of the CFTC plan for staff to return in-person to the office.”
Behnam largely agreed with the calls for a pre-pandemic office schedule, but noted he was in negotiations with CFTC’s employees union and wants to play the “long game” on how the agency returns to the office.
EPA OKs some use of existing stocks of streptomycin
EPA is allowing use of existing stocks of streptomycin products on pears and apples but not on citrus – except for Florida, where citrus growers in possession of AGRI-SEED 50 WP can use it until Aug. 31.
The order was issued in response to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that vacated EPA’s 2021 approval of the pesticide because the agency did not adequately evaluate the impact on pollinators or endangered species.
The 9th Circuit decision did not address pears or apples.
He said it: “I’m also mindful of the current work environment – that hybrid does work – and that we have to give some level of balance, so I’m trying to strike the right balance and bring folks back, but negotiate in good faith with patience and ultimately come up with an outcome that’s suitable for everyone.” – Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam at the House Ag Committee Wednesday.
