Daybreak March 10: House GOP pushes full-year CR as deadline looms Friday

Lawmakers face a deadline of this Friday to avoid a government shutdown. But the partisan impasse over how to keep departments and agencies funded has yet to be resolved. 

President Trump this weekend endorsed a House GOP plan to fund the government through the rest of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. That continuing resolution, released Saturday, would need Democratic support to pass the Senate, and Democrats have come out strongly against the bill. 

Keep in mind: The Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Maine’s Susan Collins, said last week she’d like to see a short-term CR to give negotiators time to finish work on FY25 spending bills. In a statement this weekend, she said, “Government shutdowns are inherently a failure to govern effectively and have negative consequences all across government.”

For more on the CR wars, read our Washington Week Ahead. 

U.S. rice is still being disadvantaged abroad, congressional study finds

An International Trade Commission study finds that the U.S. rice industry continues to grapple with unfair trade practices abroad, hurting its market share.

India continues to offer extensive support to domestic producers, including for input costs like fertilizer and irrigation. China, India, Brazil and Bangladesh, among others, also offer price supports, while China, Bangladesh and Indonesia restrict imports.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said the findings are “deeply concerning.” Smith had requested the report at the behest of USA Rice.

Smith added he hopes the report will shape the Trump administration’s trade priorities as it seeks to reduce foreign trade barriers. Peter Bachmann, CEO of USA Rice, said he also hopes it will inform reciprocal tariffs slated for next month.  

Fuel retailer group to study market dynamics of biofuels

A group representing truck stops and travel centers will study the impact of the 45Z tax credit for clean fuel producers on consumer fuel prices.

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The National Association of Truck Stop Owners' government affairs committee adopted a set of 2025 policy priorities during its February meeting. Among those priorities is a study of 45Z’s impact on prices. The tax credit was included in the Inflation Reduction Act and consolidates now-expired credits for biofuel, sustainable aviation and other clean fuel production. 

The credit took effect Jan. 1 of this year, but preliminary guidance on how producers could obtain the credit did not come out until the final days of the Biden administration. Final guidance has not been released by the Trump administration, which has led to some uncertainty in the biofuel market.

Some NATSO members report that 45Z has resulted in fewer gallons of biofuels being produced, which can translate to higher prices. Raina Shoemaker Fromm, chair of the government affairs committee, says this is “untenable” for fuel retailers and consumers. Unless this changes, she said it’s essential for NATSO to examine the market dynamic and “adjust our advocacy priorities accordingly.” 

Vaccines no longer part of bird flu strategy, Rollins says 

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins reportedly says the department’s bird flu strategy no longer includes vaccines for poultry and cows. Following President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress last week, Rollins told Breitbart.com that she had “pulled that off the table” after learning more about the ineffectiveness of vaccines in other countries.

Her comments came after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News that federal health agencies under his purview are opposed to poultry vaccines.

USDA hasn’t responded to a request for comment on the Breitbart report.

On Feb. 14, Zoetis received a conditional license from USDA for a poultry vaccine targeting the H5N2 subtype. However, the company noted that “the decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks against [highly pathogenic avian influenza] rests solely with national regulatory authorities in partnership with the poultry industry.”

In addition, on Feb. 25 Elanco and Medgene announced a commercialization agreement for Medgene’s HPAI vaccine in dairy cattle.

Antitrust cases pushed, reports say: On the egg front, meanwhile, numerous news outlets reported that the Justice Department is looking into possible anticompetitive conduct in the egg industry by Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms. The companies are the top two shell egg producers in the nation. The Wall Street Journal and Politico both cited sources with knowledge of the matter.

Food commodity prices jump in February

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s gauge of food commodity prices rose 1.6% last month, driven by higher costs for sugar, dairy products and vegetable oils. The FAO Food Price Index now sits at 127.1 points, 8.1% above its level a year but 20.7% below the peak in March 2022.

Sugar prices rose 6.6% in February, while the dairy price index was up 4%, and the cost of vegetable oils rose 2%. The meat price index was down slightly, while the index for cereal grains rose 0.7%.

By the way: FAO is separately forecasting a 1.9% decline in global stocks of cereal grains this year. FAO says higher stocks in Russia and Ukraine will offset declines elsewhere. Supplies should still be at comfortable levels, FAO says.  

Final word

“I always hear them say that they love small towns, they love rural America, they love puppies and they love rainbows and all the other great things. ... But here’s the deal — if you’re elected to these offices and you say you believe in rural America and you say you love small town America, you’ve gotta put your money where your mouth is. You’ve got to invest in those things.” — Chuck Hoskin Jr., the current principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, talking about members of Congress in front of a crowd of National Farmers Union members gathered in Oklahoma City.