USDA
Forceful Trump to press regulatory relief first, say farm policy hands
The Trump administration will focus on regulatory relief in its early days in office, said two farm-policy hands, who pointed to EPA's Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule as a prime example of federal over-reach. Chuck Conner, of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, said President-elect Trump will be forceful in rolling back regulations, and Dale Moore, of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the regulatory burden saps farmers' bottom lines.
An oil advocate for Interior, who for USDA?
More than a quarter of the land in the United States, mostly in the West and Alaska, is owned by the federal government, a massive stewardship challenge and a frequent cause of friction with local governments. President-elect Donald Trump apparently has settled on Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a proponent of oil and gas development, to run the Interior Department, which oversees 416 million acres. But transition officials are silent on his choice for the Agriculture Department, which controls nearly 193 million acres of forest and grassland.
USDA tweaks Conservation Reserve to protect water, wildlife, wetlands
With enrollment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve nearing its statutory limit of 24 million acres, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced revisions in the program to protect water quality and to benefit wildlife, pollinators and wetlands. Under one of the changes, USDA will pay up to 90 percent of the cost of environmentally beneficial practices, such as bioreactors and saturated buffers that clean up run-off from drainage lines running beneath cropland.
Stores in food-stamp program will have to carry wider variety of healthy foods
In a step to mollify Capitol Hill, the USDA said that stores participating in the food-stamp program will have to stock a wider and deeper variety of healthy foods than they do now — but only half as many as it originally proposed. And USDA relented for the most part on a provision that would have barred retailers that sell a lot of hot food.
EPA needs to work on rural image, says its chief
Often cast as the regulatory bogeyman in rural America, the EPA has not done a good job in battling its poor reputation, says administrator Gina McCarthy. The Morning Consult quotes McCarthy as telling reporters, "I think we have not done as well as we could developing a rural strategy in cooperation with other agencies, and certainly have more presence in rural communities."
Will agriculture be among ‘almost all’ of Trump nominees?
President-elect Donald Trump says "you'll be seeing almost all" of his cabinet nominees this week; he already has tabbed three of the four big posts — Defense, Treasury, Justice and State — and USDA usually is included in the second round of announcements. There were reports that Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad may become U.S. ambassador to China and Cathy Bertini, former head of the World Food Program, may be named head of the USAID.
House committee vows to address discrimination and harassment in Forest Service
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard conflicting testimony Wednesday during a hearing on longstanding allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination within the Forest Service. The agency, part of the USDA, has faced litigation for discrimination and harassment against female employees for over 40 years.
Heitkamp to meet Trump; mentioned for USDA or DOE chief
Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, expected to face a rugged re-election race in 2018, will meet President-elect Donald Trump today in New York amid speculation that the North Dakotan is under consideration to head the Agriculture or Energy departments, said Roll Call. Heitkamp told reporters she was responding to an invitation from Trump and "I don't even known if it's about a job."
USDA sees big crops, low prices ahead; farm income stress likely
In its first look at the coming year for the farm sector, USDA projects two of the largest corn and soybean crops ever and continued low commodity prices that have pulled down farm income since 2013. In USDA's most recent forecast, net farm income is forecast at $71.5 billion this year, the lowest in nine years. Outside experts expect little improvement in 2017.
Will friendship with Pence favor an Indianian for USDA chief?
Indiana farmer Don Villwock says he's a long-time friend of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, reports Agriculture.com, adding that Villwock "wouldn't confirm or deny that he's among those being vetted" for agriculture secretary. A grain farmer from Edwardsport in southwestern Indiana, Villwock was president of the state Farm Bureau for 14 years, ending in January, and was a proponent of free-markets during discussion of U.S. farm and trade policy.
Moran says he’s not in the mix for agriculture secretary
Just elected to a second term as senator from Kansas, Republican Jerry Moran quashed reports that President-elect Donald Trump wants him to serve as agriculture secretary. Moran told KWCH-TV in Wichita that he has not been offered the position.
As House panel concludes food-stamp review, Democrats warn against cuts
Senior Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee stood firm against cuts in the food stamp program at the end of two-year review inaugurated by chairman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican. The largest U.S. antihunger program is a popular target for Republicans, who say it costs too much — $74 billion in fiscal 2015 — because it provides benefits to too many people.
Obama food-policy team assesses the road ahead
Members of the Obama administration who helped shape food policy assessed their accomplishments over the past eight years, as well as the road ahead under President-elect Trump, at a briefing in Washington. They stressed that the new administration should consider food and ag policies through the lens of rural voters, food businesses and consumers that are already voting in the marketplace for the food they want.
Groups get $200 million to build markets for U.S. ag exports
The Agriculture Department awarded $200 million through two programs to help 70 agricultural organizations build overseas markets for U.S. farm exports, which generate 20 cents of each $1 in net cash farm income. Most of the money, $173.5 million, will flow through the cost-sharing Market Access Program (MAP).
Veteran lobbyist Torrey heads USDA transition team
Food and ag policy consultant Michael Torrey, a former Senate staffer and USDA official, is leading the Trump transition effort for the Agriculture Department, reports Politico, citing an organizational chart circulating on Capitol Hill. Torrey was was a deputy assistant agriculture secretary and later deputy USDA chief of staff during President George W. Bush's first term.
Annual audits, ethics training for Egg Board after crack-up
The farmer-funded American Egg Board will face annual audits and a round of ethics training for its undercover attempt to derail a vegan version of mayonnaise, say USDA regulators. Their report could bolster long-shot legislation to end compulsory participation in the two-dozen "checkoff" programs that promote farm goods, from watermelons and limes to beef, cotton and milk.
USDA releases $401 million to fight rural poverty
At Berea College in eastern Kentucky, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 26 community development organizations will be able to draw on $401 million in funding to reduce rural poverty through building or improving essential facilities and services such as education and health care.
USDA helps veterinarians pay off school debts
In exchange for working in rural areas with a shortage of veterinarians to treat food animals, 48 veterinarians will share in $4.3 million to retire part of their veterinary college loans, said USDA. The awards, made through a loan repayment program, will bring additional veterinarians to 27 states.