With time running out, the Senate passed and sent to the House a bill to reauthorize federal inspection of export grain and a requirement for meatpackers to report purchase prices of cattle, hogs and sheep. Authorization for both programs expires on Sept. 30. “I’m proud to lead a committee that gets things done in a timely manner,” said Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts. The committee approved HR 2051 last week.
The bill requires the USDA to offer inspection services even if state inspectors are unable to perform the job. The language is a responses to a 36-day shutdown of inspections at the port of Vancouver, Washington, in 2014 during a labor dispute. In that instance, the Washington State Agriculture Department, authorized by the USDA to carry out inspections, withdrew its inspectors, saying it could not assure their safety. The USDA said it could not send federal inspectors for the same reason.
The United States is the world’s largest agricultural exporter, and farm and agribusiness groups called for action to prevent interruption in inspections. Nearly 4.5 billion bushels of U.S. corn, wheat and soybeans will be exported this marketing year, according to the USDA – equal to four of every 10 acres of wheat and soybeans and more than one of every 10 acres of corn.