CDFA is asking lawmakers to approve $6 million for disease response, with around $5 million in ongoing funding.
During a budget subcommittee hearing this week, CDFA Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs Rachael O’Brien explained the “extraordinary year” that was 2024. Avian influenza jumped species and entered the state’s dairy herds, along with infestations in 26 other states. It has hit more than 770 herds in California and 73 poultry flocks, with 150 herds still in quarantine.
Meanwhile: New World screwworm has crossed the border and is getting “very close to home,” traveling from Mexico to New Mexico and Texas. O’Brien also pointed to new findings of foot-and-mouth disease in Eastern Europe. Both diseases “could easily cross into human populations,” particularly at dairies.
She added that 400 of USDA’s 1,400 employees in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have left their positions, making the state even more vulnerable.
But: Racing to respond over the weekend to a flurry of new proposals, the Legislative Analyst’s Office recommended lawmakers reject CDFA's request. They reasoned that $5 million in federal spending is available and the state is grappling with a $12 billion deficit. The LAO later walked back that advice somewhat, after learning the USDA money is only for emergencies and CDFA still needs to staff up ahead of time.
Industry take: The Milk Producers Council stressed to lawmakers that its early partnership with CDFA to streamline testing, communications, outreach and education is why “the outbreak has not been worse than it already has been today.”
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Legislature kicks off ‘Alternative Protein Innovation’ committee
A new Assembly select committee will center around innovations in alternative protein options. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas appointed Asm. Ash Kalra of San Jose to chair the committee.
Kalra said the select committee will focus on “vibrant alternative protein research and economy” while targeting state climate goals.
In 2022 Kalra pushed for $5 million in state funding for University of California alternative protein research and development. That same year he expressed committee support for a measure that would have subsidized plant-based meal options in schools.
Avocado industry warns of foreign pest threats
The California Avocado Commission is warning that recent inspection changes for Mexico-grown avocados pose an immediate threat to California’s pest-free orchards.
The commission is asking the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to reinstate inspectors across Mexican avocado orchards and packinghouses due to a reported influx of avocado seed weevils. CAC also wants security enhancements to support U.S. inspectors and coordination between APHIS and Mexican officials on U.S. phytosanitary standards.
CAC first flagged the inspection issue after foreign media outlets reported the Biden administration’s withdrawal of inspectors due to cartel-driven safety concerns. The commission cited USDA data showing an increase in mass pest larvae detections across Mexican avocado facilities from last October to March 11 of this year.
USDA nominees questioned on research, regulatory staff cuts
Nominees to lead the Agriculture Department’s regulatory and research programs faced questioning from the Senate Ag Committee Monday about how they would deal with brain drain resulting from the loss of staff through recent buyouts.
The committee’s top Democrat, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, told Scott Hutchins, President Donald Trump’s pick to be USDA’s undersecretary for research, education and economics, that 1,600 staff had been lost from department’s research agencies, including 1,200 from the Agricultural Research Service, an 18% reduction.
Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
MAHA report expected today
The Trump administration is to release a report today from the Make America Healthy Again Commission – with notes on how pesticides and ultraprocessed foods allegedly connect to childhood chronic diseases.
The panel, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to lay out findings on potential contributors to chronic diseases among children. While this report is not expected to include policy recommendations, the commission is expected to draft a federal strategy to combat childhood chronic diseases later this year.
Keep in mind: Leading up to the release, farm groups and lawmakers expressed concern about what the report would say about pesticides, specifically glyphosate. They argue these products have been thoroughly reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency and transitioning away from them would not only hurt farmers but also drive up food costs.
Kennedy assured senators this week that the drafts of the report he’s seen wouldn’t hurt farmers. But some aren’t convinced.
Speaking to reporters on a call sponsored by the industry coalition Modern Ag Alliance, Missouri farmer Blake Hurst said, “I don’t believe that we have nothing to worry about.”
“It’s hard to have been compared to al-Qaida in the past and then be told that I’m a partner now,” said Scott Henry, an Iowa farmer. (RFK Jr. once compared hog farmers to Osama bin Laden.)
Meanwhile: About 360 MAHA leaders, including 30 farmers, wrote to Kennedy to defend the commission’s work and urged him to stand firm in the wake of “mounting pressure” from stakeholder interests and lawmakers.
They urged the commission and administration to publicly reject a letter from members of Congress that encouraged the panel to follow “sound science.” The MAHA leaders argue this letter puts “corporate protection over public health.”
Additionally, the MAHA advocates encouraged the panel to oppose efforts to shield pesticide companies from legal liability for health or environmental harms. They also recommended President Donald Trump issue a statement affirming the administration opposes federal preemption laws on chemical products.
Reorg plans at issue in federal court hearing today
The Trump administration’s plans to overhaul the federal government hang in the balance today in a courtroom in San Francisco.
That’s where U.S. District Judge Susan Illston will be hearing from Justice Department lawyers and those representing unions and other parties seeking to halt the planned reorganization of 20 agencies, including USDA.
Illston has already issued an order temporarily stopping reorganization. She’s been asked to turn that into a preliminary injunction, but the government is seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
The hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PDT (1:30 p.m. EDT) and can be viewed on the Northern District of California website.
UK’s EU reset leaves future stance on gene editing uncertain
The United Kingdom’s pledge to create a single sanitary and phytosanitary area with the European Union has some lawmakers nervous that the country could reverse its progress on gene editing.
Gene editing is one of the few areas where U.K. and EU regulations have diverged since Brexit. New regulations signed into law earlier this month greenlit the cultivation of gene edited crops in the U.K., while the EU maintains strict limits.
The chair of a U.K. parliamentary group on ag science and technology has appealed to the government to ensure the regulations won’t be diluted by the EU SPS deal. In a letter, the MP stressed the need to preserve autonomy in gene editing, citing new trade opportunities with countries like the U.S.
Take note: The U.K. could push for a GE carveout in the coming negotiations. The U.K.-EU documentation announcing the SPS agreement said both sides will negotiate some “limited exceptions” to future regulatory alignment.
Steve Reed, the U.K. minister for environment, food and rural affairs, said in a parliamentary meeting this week that “the door remains open to an agreement” with the EU around gene editing.
States spar with Trump administration over limits to tariff powers
Lawyers representing a group of states challenging the president’s use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs are clashing with Justice Department officials over the limits of presidential tariff powers.
In a hearing before the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday, Brian Marshall, an Oregon state attorney speaking on behalf of the 12 states, argued that duties imposed on Mexico, Canada and China have no direct link to remedying the fentanyl crisis.
Allowing the tariffs to stand, he said, would signal that as “long as the president wants to impose a tariff, he can do it for any reason he says, so long as he says it's an ‘unusual and extraordinary’ threat.”
But, but, but: The Justice Department’s Brett Shumate, who spoke on behalf of the administration, argued that it is up to Congress to set limits on the president’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, including by striking down an emergency declaration.
The Senate has had two such votes; only one passed — but lacked a veto-proof majority. The House has blocked efforts to force a vote on the tariffs.
Marshall to introduce food additive bill
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is introducing a bill today that would establish a new category of animal food additives that can be approved through a petition process.
He will be joined in introducing the bill by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. The new category in the petition process would cover ingredients that address animal health, food safety or environmental benefits in an animal’s diet.
Read the text of the bill here.
Brown introduces bill to continue healthy food initiative
Lawmakers have introduced a measure to reauthorize a USDA and Treasury Department initiative to increase access to fresh, healthy foods in underserved urban and rural communities.
A senior member of the House Ag Committee, Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, co-authored a bill to reauthorize the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and sent letters requesting annual appropriations.
The program is administered through USDA’s Rural Development Office and Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. It provides loans, grants and technical assistance to improve access to fresh, healthy foods through public-private partnerships.
