Declaring it was “an appropriate utilization” of resources, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack allotted nearly $2.7 billion in USDA funds for school meals, food banks, and domestic fertilizer production. House Republicans are trying to block Vilsack’s access to the $30 billion account that was the source of the funding.
Vilsack said the funding announced on Friday would help schools cope with high food prices, give food banks a hand in meeting demand for aid, and encourage more production of fertilizer in the United States.
“This is an appropriate utilization of CCC” funds, he told reporters, referring to the Commodity Credit Corp., created during the Great Depression with broad authority to support commodity prices, farm income, and land stewardship. By law, Vilsack chairs the CCC.
Schools would share in $1.3 billion for additional purchase of U.S.-grown food for their meal programs. Some $1 billion was added to The Emergency Food Assistance Program for donation of food to food banks and community kitchens. And $400 million was made available for the Fertilizer Product Expansion Program, raising total funding to $900 million. In a statement, Vilsack said the “comprehensive set of investments will help producers by increasing commodity purchases for schools and emergency food providers and supporting expanded domestic fertilizer capacity to lower costs.”
The House could vote as soon as early July on the annual USDA-FDA spending bill, which includes a rider that would block Vilsack from using CCC money for non-emergency purposes without congressional approval. Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, was irked particularly by the Biden administration’s use of the CCC to launch its $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. With 141 pilot projects, the climate-smart initiative is intended to encourage producers to adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands and develop markets for climate-smart products.
With Republicans in the majority, Congress restricted USDA’s power to tap the CCC during President Obama’s second term, from 2012-17, when Vilsack also was agriculture secretary. The limitations were removed while President Trump was in office, giving him the freedom to spend $23 billion on trade war payments to farmers in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
In a jibe at the Trump administration, Vilsack said, “We don’t want to do what previous administrations have done and over-commit” on spending from the $30 billion reserve. Trump “drained the entire amount” in the CCC, he said, but the Biden administration was leaving ample funds for commodity supports and conservation payments. Congress replenishes the CCC from time to time.
Vilsack said Congress was notified in advance of Friday’s announcement.
The fertilizer program was given additional funding because of high interest, said Vilsack. Some 350 applications were received so far. The USDA invited public comment on “66 worthy projects” that were under consideration for the program’s second round of awards.