Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees continue to claim finishing a five-year farm bill is their top priority, but there is no immediate path forward. The general consensus is that the Senate will consider a package similar to the five-year extension it passed in the 112th Congress. But the House committee is expected to struggle crafting a bill acceptable to House leadership and House Republicans at large. There’s already speculation that lawmakers will extend the temporary authorization past its Sept. 30 expiration.
Delegates at American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting, which took place this week, reiterated the need for a five-year farm bill, voicing their support for strong safety net and risk management programs to protect farmers from catastrophes; emergency assistance for livestock and tree producers not covered by federal crop insurance programs; and risk-management protection for peanuts, rice, forage and specialty crops.
The House approved a relief package to assist those devastated by Superstorm Sandy. The bill provides a total of $50.5 billion for immediate and long-term relief. The package included:
The Senate will likely take up this measure when it returns from a two-week recess on January 22. The Senate has already passed a package, prior to the adjournment of the 112th Congress, which the House declined to consider.
Acting OMB Director Jeff Zients issued a memo on January 14 to agency heads, warning “Until Congress acts, agencies must continue to prepare for the possibility that they will need to operate with reduced budgetary resources.” The fiscal cliff compromise reached on December 31 only extended the sequestration deadline to March 1. The memo goes onto say “Federal agencies will likely need to furlough hundreds of thousands of employees and reduce essential services such as food inspections, air travel safety, prison security, border patrols, and other mission-critical activities.”
Last week, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said President Obama wants to eliminate all the pending sequestration cuts. In the Saturday GOP address, freshman Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) laid out a plan for permanently eradicating $500 million in Pentagon cuts, and offsetting that amount by cutting discretionary funding. Both sides of the aisle agree the sequestration cuts must be avoided, but have yet to find common ground. Given how narrowly the fiscal cliff was avoided over the new year’s holiday, Congress is not expected to take any major action until the end of February.
It has been widely reported that President Obama wants to make a hard push on immigration policy during the first months of his second term. After failing to enact comprehensive immigration reform during his first term, Obama used executive action to help as many as 1.7 million younger illegal immigrants stay in the country for up to two years. The President and many Democrats would like to see sweeping reform, but House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has stated he would like to see a “step by step” approach. But many House Republicans have stated that they would prefer to see improved border security and increased anti-fraud and workplace compliance programs prior to serious immigration reform.
Agriculture groups have responded by forming the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, which aspires to ensure that any final resolution addresses the need for farm workers. AWC members met with White House officials this week to discuss the needs of agriculture. AWC intends to create a framework that will respect the different needs of various sectors of the ag community. For example, the H-2A visa program that works for crops does not meet the needs of dairy farmers.
Tom Vilsack has announced he will be staying on board for a second term as Secretary of Agriculture. After leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the worst drought in several decades, the Obama Administration has asked him to stay in his position. Under his guidance, USDA’s crop insurance program financially backed more than 340,000 farmers who lost crops. President Obama and Vilsack share a common regard for the future potential of rural America and count the construction of more than 90,000 miles of electric line and 6,700 water-related project investments on their list of accomplishments. However, one issue that lingers in the air with those in the agriculture field is the Farm Bill. With a second term, many individuals are interested to see how fast Vilsack and the USDA hit the ground running to get a five-year farm bill, which Secretary Vilsack has been quoted saying is his “greatest disappointment.” Aside from the Farm Bill, Vilsack will be working on issues such as renewable energy and biofuels, continuing agricultural export growth, and the aftermath of the drought.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he will resign by the end of March to return to his home state of Colorado. Salazar has run the Interior Department throughout President Barack Obama's first term and changed its traditional focus on mining, forestry, and oil and gas development on public lands to a new emphasis on the development of renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Salazar also brought about the settlement of a longstanding royalty dispute with American Indians. Prior to his appointment as Interior Secretary, Salazar represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate.
Salazar’s exit, along with the announced resignation of Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and speculated departure of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, will leave vacant the critical cabinet posts dealing with climate change and energy. During his tenure at the Department, it has authorized 34 solar, wind and geothermal energy projects.
Next month, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on a patent infringement case regarding soybean seeds. Monsanto sued a farmer for continuing to use the seeds after the initial sale. Farmers have a long-standing tradition of saving seeds from one year to the next. Monsanto, the maker of the seeds and patent holder, has farmers sign an agreement stating that the seeds will only be used for one season, not resold, nor used for research. The biotech community is closely watching this case for the implications not just to ag-related products but also for the repercussions it could have to regenerative medicine, such as stem cells.
Republican Representative Bob Haefner has sponsored a bill that would require farm animal abuse to be reported within 24 hours of being witnessed. The legislation would also require that evidence of abuse must be turned over to police unedited, disgruntling animal rights activists. The intent of this bill is to stop animal activist from scoring political points and public support and assure that the abuse gets reported in a timely factual manner. This bill, although not technically an “ag gag” bill like other states have passed recently, has shaken animal rights organizations who are labeling it as so. They feel that this bill would keep documentation of abuse out of the public eye as well as prosecute those who report the abuse. The bill had strong bipartisan support prior to a public hearing last Monday.