BIDEN DROPS OUT: After Joe Biden’s bombshell announcement Sunday afternoon, a number of DNC delegates and other top Democrats — including the president himself — quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the top of the ticket. Harris said Sunday she intends to win the nomination, giving her the responsibility to decide the Democratic Party’s biggest priorities. And if you’re anything like us here at Morning Ag, your first question might be: What does this all mean for agriculture? The vice president’s track record as a California attorney general, U.S. senator and Biden’s second-in-command gives us limited clues about how she might lead. Though her native California ranks first in agricultural production, Harris hasn’t been too vocal on any federal ag policy. Animal welfare history: Harris’ past position aligning with aggressive positions on animal welfare laws could put her at odds with politically powerful agriculture groups during the campaign, Meredith reported. As California’s attorney general, Harris appealed a federal ruling that struck down California’s ban on the sale of foie gras. She also defended state laws that said eggs sold in California must come from free-range or similarly humanely raised hens. Other end of the spectrum: Biden’s Justice Department in 2022 backed a move to block a new California livestock welfare law, and his administration filed a brief to back two major agriculture groups’ challenge of the California law. The Supreme Court ultimately allowed it to stand. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, a close Biden ally, has since said that he favors Congress pursuing legislation to clarify that law to avoid chaos in the national markets. Power players of ag industry groups are still trying to overturn the California animal welfare law, which dictates how farmers elsewhere in the country can raise pigs and other animals destined to be sold inside the state’s borders. Harris may be more inclined to direct USDA to press Congress to allow the California law and similar state measures to stand, while pushing for new animal welfare regulations. At USDA: Vilsack, who returned for a second stint as secretary in 2021 at Biden’s request, released a lengthy statement Sunday, praising Biden as “one of our most consequential American presidents.” He pointed to Biden’s record on the economy, support for Ukraine and other American allies and work reviving the economy from the pandemic. “I am immensely proud to play a role in the Biden-Harris Administration, under which USDA has advanced food and nutrition security for tens of millions, invested in new, better and more markets to create a fairer and better marketplace for all farmers, improved the health and resilience of our national forests and grasslands, made our food safer, and centered equity in all that we do,” he added. NERVES HEIGHTENED: The Democratic Party’s unprecedented turmoil has prompted USDA employees to game out how to prepare for a change at the White House, as Meredith and our other colleagues reported. As Biden contemplated dropping out in recent weeks, some USDA staff openly talked with colleagues about making plans to leave their posts early, according to the three current and former USDA officials. “One set of folks that seem to be the most concerned and bewildered would be the civil servants within USDA, who have endured so much and that really went out of their way to carry out the Biden rural agenda,” said one of the USDA officials. “Because they just cannot endure another phase of uncertainty.” Several USDA branches have already had significant turnover of senior career staff this year and are currently operating with a number of vacancies.
| 
