Today is a critical day for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and hopes for the Make America Healthy Again movement. The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on Kennedy’s nomination this morning. But a key Republican committee member, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, wouldn’t tell reporters Monday how he was planning to vote. Cassidy would only say he and Kennedy had a “cordial” conversation over the weekend.
Take note: President Donald Trump during a news conference Monday said Kennedy would be looking into whether U.S. farmers use pesticides excessively.
Trump said, “we’re not the healthiest country, so maybe there is something to the fact that we shouldn’t be using so much chemical, and maybe that’ll stop. But Bobby Kennedy is the one, because he’s not a believer in all of the things we have done, and neither are the Europeans.”
No controversy there: The Senate Ag Committee voted 23-0 Monday evening to advance the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be secretary of agriculture. Ag Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., said he expects her nomination to come to the floor soon and be approved easily given the bipartisan support in committee.
Trump punts Mexico, Canada tariffs, as China’s take effect
Mexico and Canada have secured a one-month reprieve from Trump’s new tariffs that were set to take effect at midnight. A 10% additional duty on Chinese imports, however, goes into effect today.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both promised to bolster border security in exchange for the temporary pause.
Why it matters: Senators from rural states warn that, if imposed next month, the proposed tariffs will drive up costs for farmers.
In a call with reporters Monday, Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she had seen reports suggesting the new duties could lead to increased potash costs of $1.70 an acre for corn and $1.42 for soybeans.
Similarly, Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, a Republican, urged the administration to exempt fertilizer from any Canadian tariff, pointing out that the bulk of U.S. potash imports come from Canada.
Northern states could also face higher energy bills under the tariff plans, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., warned. Hassan told reporters that consumers in her state are already receiving notices from fuel companies that they will pass along the costs of any new tariffs
Cattle imports from Mexico restart under new protocols
USDA has resumed imports of Mexican livestock with new inspection protocols to protect against New World screwworm.
Cattle imports had been suspended since November after the parasite was detected in southern Mexico. Agri-Pulse recently reported on the establishment of preexport inspection pens in Mexico and treatment measures for inbound cattle.
In a statement Monday, APHIS said it has eased import restrictions for cattle that comply with the new protocols.
New temporary restraining order issued on funding freeze
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., imposed a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze distribution of federal grants and loans. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan applied the order to all “open awards.”
AliKhan ordered the government to “provide written notice of the court’s [TRO] to all agencies” to which the Office of Management and Budget memo issued last week was addressed.
“The written notice shall instruct those agencies that they may not take any steps to implement, give effect to, or reinstate under a different name the directives in [the memo] with respect to the disbursement of federal funds under all open awards. It shall also instruct those agencies to release any disbursements on open awards that were paused” due to the memorandum.
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In her opinion and order issued late Monday, AliKhan said nonprofit groups are at risk of suffering “irreparable injury,” a key consideration in deciding whether to issue a TRO.
Separately, a federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday issued a TRO, agreeing with claims made by 22 states that the funding freeze was likely illegal.
By the way: There’s considerable confusion among farm groups about USDA’s plans for the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative. At least one major project has seen its payments suspended.
CBO slashes cost estimate for dairy program, raises PLC forecast
The Congressional Budget Office has released its new 10-year projections for farm bill spending. CBO now estimates the programs will cost $1.4 trillion over the next decade, an increase of 3%, according to a brief analysis of the new baseline by Terrain.
Estimated payments under the Price Loss Coverage program were raised $4.3 billion to $33 billion over the 10-year period. The estimate for the Agriculture Risk Coverage was shaved by $312 million to $14.8 billion.
Take note: The Dairy Margin Coverage program is expected to cost considerably less than previously estimated due to higher milk prices and lower feed costs. The estimated cost for DMC was slashed by $2.3 billion to $800 million.
“For crop farmers, higher levels of support from commodity programs such as PLC and ARC will provide more assistance as we continue in this low-price environment,” writes John Newton, executive head of Terrain.
Tyson joins packaged foods group
Meatpacking giant Tyson Foods and packaged deli-meat company Land O’ Frost have joined Consumer Brands Association.
The group represents some of the top consumer packaged food and beverage products, such as IFF, a corporation specializing in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health and biosciences.
Cattle producer groups reach proposed settlement with JBS Foods
The National Farmers Union, R-CALF USA, and four cattle producers have agreed to a proposed $83.5 million class action settlement with meat giant JBS, resolving claims made against the company as part of a broader lawsuit accusing the nation’s largest beef packers of price fixing.
The money will be put into a settlement fund, which will be paid out to U.S. fed cattle producers who sold to the company between June 1, 2015, and Feb. 29, 2020.
While JBS denied ranchers’ price-fixing allegations and any other wrongdoing, it entered into the settlement “to avoid further expense, exposure, inconvenience, and the distraction of burdensome and protracted litigation,” according to court documents.
Judge halts project in Bears Ears national monument to ‘redistribute livestock’
An administrative law judge has blocked a Bureau of Land Management project to create 13 reservoirs for cattle on a grazing allotment in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
The judge said the project would cause “immediate and irreparable impacts” to the national monument lands.
The “only stated purpose” of the project, which also includes five fences, is to “redistribute livestock,” judge Dawn Perry said in her ruling, concluding BLM “had an obligation to analyze how optimized livestock distribution would impact rangeland health.”
The lessor who wants to construct the reservoirs is The Nature Conservancy.
Final word
“If confirmed, I’m ready to get to work immediately to protect and defend America’s farmers and ranchers and can think of no greater honor.” — Agriculture Secretary-nominee Brooke Rollins, in a statement after the Senate Ag Committee advanced her nomination.