Ag Policy Blog

Reporting from Harrisburg, Pa., Kim de Bourbon, editor for the Hagstrom Report, detailed a listening session at the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Saturday with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., the new committee ranking member.

Joining the two-hour session were Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, a member of the committee, and Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, who has served in the position for more than 17 years in total under three Democratic governors. Pennsylvania is the only state that has enacted its own program-authorizing farm bill, which was established under Redding.

In answering questions and responding to comments from some of the more than 100 people attending, the panel emphasized the Ag Committee's ability to work in a harmonious manner.

"Agriculture is one of those areas that is very bipartisan," said Pingree, who also serves on the House Agricultural Appropriations Committee. "The farm bill covers so much of rural America."

Thompson told the crowd he considered working on the farm bill a "tripartisan" effort, involving "Democrats, Republicans and you."

Both Thompson and Craig pledged efforts to get a new bill passed in the next two years.

"Our goal is to get a bipartisan farm bill across the finish line this Congress," Craig said in her opening remarks.

Craig did not vote for Thompson's version of the farm bill last year in committee. The bill passed out of committee in May mainly with Republican support and four Democratic votes, but was never brought to the floor for a vote.

Craig introduced herself as having grown up in Arkansas, the granddaughter of a soybean and rice farmer who lost his farm during the 1980 farm crisis. Now, she said, she represents a southeastern Minnesota area she described as "the most evenly divided political district in America," providing her with the experience to serve as ranking member and work with all sides.

IMMIGRATION ISSUES

Workforce issues came up a number of times in conversations with the audience, most of whom represented agricultural industry or producers.

Bob Garrett, president/CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, noted that he works with agricultural businesses in a large section of rural central Pennsylvania. He talked about the frustrations of ag businesses hiring foreign-born workers who "are not here illegally," but who may become illegal when legislative action changes H-2A immigrant worker regulations.

"We need a strong H-2A for the workforce," Craig agreed. "We also need strong borders. We need to do both, but we need more legal immigration for the agricultural workforce."

Thompson noted that a 16-member committee taskforce spent about eight months in the last Congress coming up with recommendations for H-2A reforms, but with the law in the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee, controlled by Democrats, they went nowhere.

"I'd love to see it go to USDA," Thompson said, but he held out hope that it might be taken up by the Labor Department and then overseen by Labor secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican whom he described as a former colleague.

Chavez-DeRemer represented an Oregon district in Congress the last two years, and served on Thompson's Agriculture Committee during that time.

Redding noted that the farm bill has no title dealing with labor, although "we can't talk about farming without it." He described visiting a Pennsylvania plant where more than a dozen languages were represented on an employee bulletin board.

"It's a reminder of who is here. They need a voice. These are the people who are finishing up what we produce," Redding said.

When a member of the audience asked about whether the Agriculture Department is likely to be downsized under Trump and noted that USDA lost personnel in the first Trump administration, Thompson said "a lot" were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and added that "everyone is dealing with workforce issues."

Pingree brought up the loss of USDA employees when former Secretary Sonny Perdue relocated some jobs in the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and in the Economic Research Service out of Washington to Kansas City, and she expressed "real concern" that jobs will be an issue again in the new Trump administration.

Thompson agreed that having policies change with new administrations is frustrating, because "four years isn't certainty."

But he criticized Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's use of USDA's access to Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA's line of credit at the Treasury, to establish policies and programs that he said "should have gone through the Agriculture Committee" as legislation.

WHOLE MILK

An activist with the Grassroots Pennsylvania Dairy Advisory Committee asked "what now?" about the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act that Thompson worked to get passed in the House last year, but failed to move forward in the Senate. The bill would have allowed whole milk to be offered as a healthy choice in schools.

"We came so close," Thompson said, blaming former Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., for being "completely wrong on this one" and blocking its passage.

Thompson expressed optimism about getting the bill through in the new Congress, with Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., a co-sponsor of the bill, now serving as chair of the Senate Ag Committee, and Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., now serving as the chair of the House Education & the Workforce Committee, which Thompson also serves on and has jurisdiction over school lunch and child nutrition programs.

Craig, a cosponsor of the Whole Milk act, said that she and new Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., "will work together on this."

Pingree noted she is "a strong supporter of whole milk," and that when visiting her brother in Lancaster, Pa., she has seen many "Drink Whole Milk" signs.

Thompson said, "an overhaul of the school lunch bill is long overdue," and also criticized the Dietary Guidelines for Americans updating process for having a tendency to "pick on particular commodities."

AVIAN INFLUENZA

A question was raised about the avian flu situation, with Thompson saying the farm bill needs to do a better job addressing animal health.

He noted there is financial assistance for producers operating in quarantine zones, but others outside the zone are affected as well, and are also in need of help. Thompson also mentioned the need to provide incentives for large animal veterinarians, saying there aren't enough in practice.

Craig noted avian flu is a big issue in Minnesota, which has a significant turkey industry, but questioned "How do we do it without overburdening producers" with regulations.

Redding said preventative biosecurity measures are the most important part of fighting disease, and that they need to be adopted as part of the culture of agriculture on every farm, as well as by backyard hobbyists with "pleasure birds," who are being overlooked in disease prevention measures.

The Hagstrom Report is by DTN Political Correspondent Jerry Hagstrom. Kim de Bourbon is editor of the Hagstrom Report.

See, "Ag Secretary Defends USDA Spending and Points to Challenges Trying to Make Cuts," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Also see, "Health Officials Ramp Up H5N1 Funding as USDA Tightens Biosecurity Rules,"

https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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