President Trump will sign an executive order today for a government-wide review of regulations, policies and laws “that hinder economic growth in agriculture,” said White House agriculture adviser Ray Starling. Ag groups typically regard USDA as their advocate in the federal government and generally say their problems come from other agencies, EPA most prominently.
Starling described the 180-day review as a conversation about how to “improve agriculture’s relationship” with other agencies and how to “move the economic needle for agriculture?”
During a White House briefing and at the North American Agricultural Journalists meeting, Starling said agriculture was an economic engine for the rural economy despite the comparatively small farm population of 3 million or so — a commonly held view in agriculture.
Roughly 15 percent of Americans, about 60 million people, live in rural areas. A 2015 USDA report identified 444 “farming dependent” counties, mostly in the Plains, out of 3,143 counties nationwide, meaning a quarter of labor and proprietors’ earnings were derived from agriculture.
The executive order will list some areas for attention during the review, said Starling. One would be U.S. regulation of agricultural biotechnology and international acceptance of U.S. development. Another area for review would be FDA’s introduction of a new, proactive food-safety system that reaches onto farms with the goal of preventing food contamination. Pesticide regulation and access to farm labor are other areas, he said.