Ag approps incoming

Jun 10, 2024

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With help from Marcia Brown

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.).

The House Appropriations Ag-FDA subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Andy Harris, is scheduled to meet tomorrow to mark up its FY 2025 bill. | Al Drago/Getty Images

QUICK FIX

— The House Appropriations Ag-FDA subcommittee is set to unveil its draft bill today and hold a markup tomorrow, kicking off another contentious spending fight.

— House appropriators are leaving out State Department funding for Mexico until the country resolves the missing delivery of water to the U.S. as required under a 1944 treaty.

— Scoop: Senate Ag Republicans are gearing up to release their farm bill plans this week. The stage is set for a bitter fight over an extension this fall given the prospect of a new reauthorization looking worse by the day.

IT’S MONDAY, JUNE 10. Welcome to Morning Agriculture! We’re your hosts Grace Yarrow and Meredith Lee Hill. Send tips to gyarrow@politico.com and meredithlee@politico.com and follow us at @Morning_Ag.

A message from the American Sugar Alliance:

America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers, together with our workers, produce an essential ingredient in the food supply for American households and our customers. We proudly support more than 151,000 jobs across the country. A strong, bipartisan five-year Farm Bill that delivers a strengthened safety net for sugar producers will help us keep it sweet in America. Get the facts on why a strong sugar policy matters to you.

Driving the day

MARKUP LOADING: The House Appropriations Ag-FDA subcommittee is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 6 p.m. to mark up its FY 2025 bill. Republican appropriators are expected to unveil the bill draft today.

What we’re watching: Most GOP members — centrists and hardliners — aren’t expecting the base text to include the controversial abortion pill rider that doomed last year’s approps debate, lawmakers told Meredith last week.

Centrist Republicans have been pushing senior GOP leaders to leave out that mail delivery ban of mifepristone to avoid an internal GOP fight over the issue, and a heated battle over a key election issue.

On SNAP: Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), however, has still been pushing for a pilot program to restrict the types of foods low-income Americans can buy with their SNAP benefits. Most Hill Democrats strongly oppose such a move.

WATER TENSIONS: In a separate appropriations fight, the House Appropriations State Department bill includes a measure to withhold funds from Mexico until they enter into an agreement with the U.S. to balance the deficit of water deliveries as required under a 1944 water treaty.

The inclusion of that measure follows a letter from Texas lawmakers led by Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to State operations appropriators requesting they withhold financial support for Mexico until the ongoing water dispute is resolved.

Mexico’s falling behind on water deliveries as required under the decades-old treaty led to the closure of the last sugar mill in Texas and is threatening the state’s citrus industry.

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FARM BILL BATTLES

NEW PLANS INCOMING: As we reported last week, Senate Ag Republicans are preparing to unveil their own farm bill plans in the coming days. They’re set to release that framework this week, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

It will include policies similar to the GOP-led House farm bill which passed out of committee last month, with an emphasis on the farm safety net.

Extension: Amid stark partisan disagreements, lawmakers are set to miss the Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize a new farm bill. All eyes are on the lame duck session for a bitter fight over another extension or a possible new reauthorization. That’s despite vulnerable House Democrats anxiously pushing for action on their side.

Ag lawmakers generally don’t think they need to pass an extension before Sept. 30, with the real deadline being Dec. 31 when key farm programs expire.

What to watch: The outcome of the fall elections will be critical in determining the way forward in November, and possibly persuade lawmakers to seriously consider a two-year extension.

Another long-shot option: Lawmakers, if in a tight enough bind, could try to attach parts or a whole, slimmed down farm bill to any year-end, must-pass federal spending package. The NDAA is another very longshot legislative vehicle they could add some farm bill pieces to, though lawmakers aren’t seriously talking about that option.

In the House: Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) told us last week that he’s “not interested” in passing another extension at this point.

Some House Democrats are eyeing possibly sidelining ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) as they try to restart talks.

Keep an eye on: House Ag member Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) has been one of the few senior Democratic members talking about the farm bill publicly in recent days. But barring Democrats coming up with new pay-fors this summer, real movement is unlikely. Expect the House Ag Committee to return to other business in the meantime.

On the Senate side: Retiring Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) told MA last week that “we don’t have a timeline, per se” on a farm bill. As we’ve reported, she has yet to talk with Thompson about any way forward for the farm bill. In the meantime, she’s pushing forward on her crypto legislation, though Republicans still seem skeptical about whether they’ll sign on.

Senate Democrats seem eager to jam the House with a Senate-led farm bill in the lame duck, but it’s very unlikely Senate Republicans would provide enough votes to advance such an effort if the bill doesn’t contain a significant boost for farm safety net programs.

A message from the American Sugar Alliance:

AROUND THE AGENCIES

USDA RESPONDS: Following our report last week that some Democrats are working to include a farm bill measure to ban USDA from contracting with companies that incur child labor violations, USDA said it is continuing to coordinate with the Labor Department to curb “inexcusable” child labor.

USDA has developed child labor training for Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack pitched a new enforcement strategy last year to combat child labor in meat and poultry processing supply chains.

More on labor: At a town hall event in Asheville, N.C., Vilsack told producers who expressed concern about high labor costs that he and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su had met with leaders of several commodity groups on the issue.

“I suspect that they would come back and suggest that there needs to be changes in the information and data that is collected so that there's a better understanding of the cost of things on the farm and that the farm labor survey is more reflective of what takes place,” Vilsack said.

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Row Crops

— The U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas, granted part of a motion to block USDA from making some Emergency Relief Program payments to agricultural producers based on sex and race.

— The International Fresh Produce Association is highlighting the impact of the “agricultural labor crisis” in a new report ahead of its annual conference this week.

— First in MA: The Association of Equipment Manufacturers is releasing an analysis today of the economic impact of the industrial bioeconomy following the Biden administration’s National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative.

— Environmental organization Carbon180 is leading a letter today from key groups urging the Forest Service to fill vacant staff positions at the National Agroforestry Center.

THAT’S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line and send us your agriculture job announcements or events: gyarrow@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com.

A message from the American Sugar Alliance:

America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers are proud to help feed America. Yet, high production costs over a sustained period have made it very difficult for our family farms to survive. Since the 2018 Farm Bill, the costs of growing sugarbeets and sugarcane have drastically increased by more than 30%.

U.S. sugar policy is designed to cost taxpayers nothing. It supports family farmers, provides good jobs, generates more than $23 billion in annual economic activity, and shields American farmers from unfair trade practices and rising foreign subsidies. The result is a sustainable and affordable supply of an essential food ingredient for American families.

Strengthening the farm safety net for American-made sugar in the Farm Bill is critical to the stability of farming families and our national food security. Learn why the Farm Bill must keep it sweet in America.