USDA watchdog launches listeria investigation

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Oct 15, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Grace Yarrow and Marcia Brown

With help from Meredith Lee Hill

The USDA headquarters is pictured.

Boar’s Head has recalled millions of pounds of its deli meat, which has been linked to 10 deaths and 59 hospitalizations in 19 states, per USDA. | John Shinkle/POLITICO | John Shinkle/POLITICO

QUICK FIX

— USDA’s inspector general is opening an investigation into whether federal and state inspectors enforced corrective actions after finding food safety violations tied to a listeria outbreak in deli meat.

— Kamala Harris’ campaign is bumping up rural outreach efforts in battleground states with just three weeks left until the election.

— A Minnesota-based poultry operation that received USDA funds filed bankruptcy earlier this month and ran out of money to buy chicken feed for over a million birds now starving.

IT’S TUESDAY, OCT. 15. Welcome to Morning Agriculture. We’re your hosts Grace Yarrow and Marcia Brown, belatedly wishing you a Happy National Farmer’s Day! Send tips and ag policy-related Halloween costume ideas to gyarrow@politico.com and marciabrown@politico.com and follow us at @Morning_Ag.

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Driving the day

LATEST IN LISTERIA: USDA’s Office of the Inspector General has opened an investigation to determine if inspectors established corrective and enforcement actions after finding food safety violations at a Boar’s Head plant linked to a listeria outbreak.

The inspector at USDA will determine if the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and Virginia state inspectors “established an effective process” to address the recurring violations at Boar’s Head and reduce the risk of contaminated products affecting consumers, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-Conn.) office.

USDA sent the update to Blumenthal following a letter he and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) sent last month, which pushed for USDA and the DOJ to consider bringing criminal charges against Boar’s Head.

Boar’s Head has recalled millions of pounds of its deli meat, which has been linked to 10 deaths and 59 hospitalizations in 19 states from listeria, per USDA.

2024 ELECTION

RAMPING UP RURAL MESSAGING? As rural advocates have asked the Harris campaign to dedicate more time and resources to shoring up rural support — a top factor in Democrats’ hopes of winning presidential and down-ballot races — the Harris campaign stepped up its outreach in these areas over the weekend.

During Vice President Kamala Harris’ stop in Greenville, North Carolina, on Sunday, she met with Black farmers to discuss her “Opportunity Economy” plans, per a campaign announcement. Campaign representatives did not respond to a request for comment about details of the discussions with farmers.

The Harris campaign also kicked off a “Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz” coalition of “hunters, fishers, conservationists and responsible gun owners,” per an announcement sent by the campaign’s National Director of Rural Engagement Matt Hildreth. However, unlike a similar group President Joe Biden’s campaign launched in 2020, the Harris announcement did not include any names of leaders running the coalition.

“For those of us from small towns and rural communities, we know that hunting and fishing and outdoor activities are not just about hobbies, they’re about a way of life and also about our economy,” Hildreth said during a virtual meeting of the coalition Monday night. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) also spoke at the meeting.

Harris’ team is navigating a slew of competing asks from interest and demographic groups to solidify support in the final weeks before Nov. 5. Campaign officials have emphasized she’s made stops in rural areas of swing states, which rural advocates see as a positive step.

Democratic rural organizing: The DNC is hosting a press call this afternoon with Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason Carter, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, DNC Rural Coalitions Director Bre Maxwell and Wisconsin farmer Dylan Bruce.

The call will focus on countering rural policy proposals — like slashing the farm safety net — outlined in the conservative Project 2025 proposal, a plan drafted by GOP allies at the Heritage Foundation that Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from.

Context: Biden administration officials and Harris allies touted Democratic-led conservation, trade and ag policies under President Joe Biden at a White House event last Tuesday. That push received some mixed reviews from ag groups but was generally well-received by attendees who flew in from across the country.

Rob Lee, a member of the South Dakota Farmers Union who grows soybeans and corn and has a small herd of cattle, told MA that the White House event caused him to “reflect” on changes to his farm that are a “pretty direct result of the efforts of the administration,” like rural broadband access and conservation funding.

Asked how Democrats’ appeal to farmers is going ahead of the election, Lee assessed it as, “OK.”

“Of course, you want more. You’d like to see more engagement,” he continued. “But man, how can I complain about the idea that they’re not engaging enough when I get invited out here to come talk to them, right?”

Trump’s strategy: The former president held a farmer-focused roundtable in Pennsylvania last month, during which he threatened John Deere with a 200-percent tariff and focused on trade policies.

A related read:These Rural Voters Picked Tim Walz Six Times. And They’re Done,” our David Siders writes.

AROUND THE AGENCIES

RESPONDERS EVACUATED: Forest Service officials responding to Hurricane Helene’s damage in North Carolina were evacuated due to threats from an “armed militia” that was “hunting” FEMA workers, the Washington Post reported.

A Forest Service official told the Washington Post that the subagency paused work in Rutherford County, including clearing trees off blocked roads for search-and-rescue crews and easier delivery of supplies.

In a Monday social media post, local law enforcement said the threat came from a single man with an assault rifle who had made comments about “possibly harming FEMA employees” — contradicting early reports that there were “truck loads” of militia accompanying him. USDA had deployed 200 employees to Southeastern states to help with damage assessment and aid as of last Tuesday. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has warned top USDA officials to be conscious of and combat misinformation in the hurricane recovery process, echoing concerns from other federal heads including FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

POULTRY PROBLEMS: Over a million broiler chickens — birds raised for their meat — were left starving after Pure Prairie Poultry Inc., chicken processor in Iowa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month and ran out of money to buy feed.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship was granted an emergency court order to take over care and control of the chickens. In its bankruptcy filing, the company reported at least $38 million in losses. The processing facility, located in Charles City, Iowa, employs 138 full-time workers.

USDA financing : In April 2022, USDA had awarded the company, which focuses on a “premium and organic” market, a $38.7 million loan through the Food Supply Chain Guarantee Loan Program as part of the department’s financing to revive a previously shuttered plant.

But a drop in poultry prices and lingering supply chain problems delayed the company’s plant refurbishment plans, contributing to problems receiving the proceeds from the loan. Pure Prairie didn’t start drawing on the loan until April 2023.

In the interim, USDA awarded Pure Prairie a nearly $7 million grant from USDA as part of its Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, a Biden administration initiative designed to spur competition and boost upstart companies in a highly consolidated meat industry. The administration allocated over $1 billion in grants and loans toward the effort.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the money helped fill the gap but wasn’t enough to prevent nearly $38 million in losses from November 2023 to the present.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship declined to comment beyond a previous press release announcing the court order. According to Allen Sommerfeld, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, all of the approximately 300,000 birds on farms in Minnesota “have either been processed, moved off the farms, or depopulated.”

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What’s next for the growers? USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez wrote in a statement that “USDA has been made aware of an emerging situation” for the roughly 50 growers that raise birds for Pure Prairie.

“We are in close contact with the departments of agriculture from each respective state to provide support for growers who relied on this market under state indemnity programs, or through USDA’s statutorily mandated poultry trust established by the Packers and Stockyards Act,” he wrote, adding that USDA encourages contract growers to contact their state ag departments “or otherwise file a written notice of a claim through USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.”

He added: “At the same time, the number of producers who relied on this market underscores the need to explore how the facility might continue with a return to profitability, which USDA will continue to assist with in conjunction with the company and its state partners.”

Context : The Biden administration has made tackling monopolies, especially in meat and poultry markets, a central focus of his administration, ratcheting up antitrust enforcement and spending billions to support small and mid-sized businesses.

But anti-monopoly advocates, who have enthusiastically supported Biden’s work, have long warned that spending on small meatpackers — without cracking down on illegal anticompetitive conduct — won’t be enough to reshape the market and could leave new businesses vulnerable to bankruptcy.

Row Crops

— A federal judge on Friday rejected a California company’s request to block Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat, which was the first in the nation, our Bruce Ritchie reports.

— The CDC confirmed two new human bird flu infections in workers with exposure to infected dairy cows, bringing the total number of cases in California to six, the California Department of Public Health said Friday.

— Sales of tractors and combines in the U.S. fell in September compared to the year before, decreasing 19.2 and 40.7 percent respectively, according to data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers published Friday.

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.

 

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