Federal Legislative Report by CWA

Fate of Infrastructure, Reconciliation Bills Varies “Hour by Hour”

A friendly Congressional baseball game hosted at the Washington Nationals stadium on Wednesday evening wasn’t enough to overcome a growing political divide on both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and the “Build Back Better” reconciliation bill.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Wednesday night that Democratic leaders would take things “hour by hour” leading up to the planned infrastructure vote. “The plan is to bring the bill to the floor [on Thursday],” she said.

In a special procedural maneuver, the House delayed a vote on the infrastructure bill but remained in session overnight – which means it is technically still Thursday for the purposes of the legislative calendar.

“A great deal of progress has been made, and we are closer to an agreement than ever,” the White House said in the statement late Thursday evening. “But we are not there yet, and so, we will need some additional time to finish the work, starting [Friday] morning first thing.”

POLITICO Huddle reports that the entire package is at risk as progressives continue to use the Senate-passed infrastructure proposal as a bargaining chip, threatening to vote it down to preserve the Democrats’ sweeping $3.5 trillion social spending package that Senate centrists Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) say they want to significantly scale back.

If Speaker Pelosi pulls the infrastructure package from the floor or it is voted down, both chambers will need to take up a standalone measure to reauthorize federal transportation programs before they expire - and that would trigger several thousand furloughs across various federal agencies.

Government Shutdown Averted

With only hours to spare, Congress on Thursday passed legislation to avoid a government shutdown. The continuing resolution, which funds the government through December 3, passed the Senate 65-35 and cleared the House on a 254-175 vote.

The measure temporarily extends authority for the Livestock Mandatory Reporting program through December 3. Additionally, it provides $10 billion in producer assistance for 2020 and 2021 losses, including broader coverage of drought losses and the addition of excessive heat and freeze as covered events. It also expands the Department of Agriculture’s Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) to include coverage for losses of crops due to wildfires occurring in calendar year 2020.

While the House has passed all twelve of its appropriations bills, the Senate has only considered three of its bills and none have been passed by the full chamber. The funding extension through December 3 gives the Senate more time to advance their appropriations priorities.

NCBA, Farm Bureau Offer Assurances That Reconciliation Bill Won’t Tax Cattle, Pig Emissions

The $3.5 trillion reconciliation package approved by the House Budget Committee includes a methane tax provision targeted at the oil and gas industry. The text of the bill contains a fee of $1,500 per ton of methane emitted by petroleum and natural gas facilities. But recent comments by some House Republicans led to a concern among some producers that the provision would result in a tax of $6,500 per dairy cow, $2,600 per beef cow, and $500 per pig.

The issue stems from an analysis conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation that has been used by GOP members of Congress in their opposition to the methane tax. Sam Kieffer, AFBF’s vice president for public affairs, told Agri-Pulse that an economic analysis was requested by congressional committee staff “to determine the potential impact if agriculture were to be included in legislation imposing such a tax.” But Kieffer also noted “the current language of the reconciliation bill does not impose a methane tax on agriculture.”

Danielle Beck, a senior executive director of government affairs with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, agreed that the existing language in the bill “would not grant EPA the authority to impose fees on any industry not referenced in that specific provision.”

House AG Holds Hearing on Voluntary Carbon Markets

The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on voluntary carbon markets that highlighted farmers’ and environmentalists’ hopes for the benefits of those markets, but also the difficulties in establishing them writes The Hagstrom Report.

“These markets have the potential to create new economic opportunities while also tackling the greatest challenge of our time — climate change,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.), said in an opening statement.

“However, given the significant variation that exists in today’s markets, serious questions remain over the quality of some of the carbon credits that are currently generated,” Scott said. “Likewise, many questions remain about producer participation in markets — including how to fairly compensate producers, the ability of small farms to participate, and how to reward existing stewardship, among others.” In his opening statement, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (RPa.), the ranking member on the committee, repeated his previous statements critical of the Senate-passed Growing Climate Solutions Act.

Thompson said that “with the Senate’s insistence on instituting what is essentially a new regulatory regime through the Growing Climate Solutions Act, that body is forcing the House to evaluate the efficacy of these markets now. Without government intervention, the marketplace could answer questions of permanence, science, or fairness of the markets.”

“If we provide market information through a USDA website, as the Growing Climate Solutions Act requires, the government becomes a certifier of middlemen. We need to be more diligent in our oversight of these markets and its players now before we legislate in this space.”

Dakota Lawmakers Back Sunflower Crop Insurance Tweak

Agri-Pulse reports that the four senators and two representatives representing the Dakotas are pressing the Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency to make a change to the crop insurance provisions for sunflowers.

The lawmakers say the current treatment of sunflowers in the enterprise unit structure of crop insurance puts sunflower producers at a disadvantage and hinders their potential for increased production. They say producers are unable to protect oilseed and confectionery sunflowers differently despite the separate types of sunflowers having their own yield history and RMA adjustment factors to determine loss.

“This treatment disadvantages producers because when a crop insurance adjuster determines loss they use the total combined yield rather than differentiating between types,” Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and John Thune (R-S.D.), as well as Reps. Kelly Armstrong, (R-N.D.), and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), said in a letter to Acting RMA Administrator Richard Flournoy.

The letter follows a similar request from National Sunflower Association leadership in July. RMA took a similar action in June to allow enterprise units by type of wheat and dry beans and peas for 2022.

Vilsack Announces ASF, School Supply Chain, Climate Initiatives With CCC Funding

The Hagstrom Report writes that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Wednesday $3 billion in USDA expenditures associated with drought, animal health, market disruptions for agricultural commodities, and school food supply chain issues with money coming from the Commodity Credit Corporation, plus a climatesmart initiative that he said “could” be funded through the CCC.

Vilsack made the announcement as part of a speech at Colorado State University.

Up to $500 million will be made available to support drought recovery and encourage the adoption of watersmart management practices. This assistance will enable USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation agencies to deliver much needed relief and design drought resilience efforts responsive to the magnitude of this crisis, USDA said, but the announcement did not include the ways in which the aid will be delivered.

Up to $500 million will be spent to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF) via robust expansion and coordination of monitoring, surveillance, prevention, quarantine, and eradication activities through USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The National Pork Producers Council immediately praised the announcement, with Bob Acord, an NPPC consultant and former APHIS administrator, adding, “To paraphrase then-Vice President Biden, this is a big freakin’ deal. This is unprecedented both in terms of the amount dedicated to one animal disease and of getting the funds upfront, before we have the disease in the U.S.”

Up to $1.5 billion will be provided to help schools respond to supply chain disruptions. These funds will support procurement of agricultural commodities and enable USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to enhance the toolbox for school nutrition professionals ensuring students have reliable access to healthy meals.

Nearly $500 million will be set aside to provide relief from agricultural market disruption, such as increased transportation challenges, availability and cost of certain materials, and other near-term obstacles related to the marketing and distribution of certain commodities. The announcement did not include details on how this aid would be delivered though.

USDA ERS Issues Report on Stepped-up Basis Tax Proposal Impacts

Recently published research from USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that nearly 20 percent of farms could have an increased tax liability under proposed changes to the U.S. tax code.

In a report titled The Effect on Family Farms of Changing Capital Gains Taxation at Death, ERS found that of the estimated 32,174 family farm estates in 2021, 1.1% would owe capital gains taxes at death, 18.2% would not owe capital gains taxes at death but could have deferred tax liability if the farm assets do not remain family-owned and operated, and 80.7% would have no change to their capital gains tax liability.

ERS’ results show 15.5% of small farm estates (GCFI less than $350,000), 63.9% of midsize farm estates (GCFI between $350,000 and $1 million), 77.5% of large farm estates (GCFI between $1 million and $5 million), and 93.9% of very large farm estates (GCFI greater than $5 million) would have a deferred capital gains tax liability but no tax at death assuming an heir continues to operate the farm.

About 1.1% of all primary-operator family farm estates would owe capital gains tax at death. For these farm estates that would owe capital gains taxes on nonfarm assets at death, the average tax rate was estimated to be 11% of the value of total nonfarm assets.

The report evaluates changes in the American Families Plan, which proposes to eliminate stepped-up basis for inherited assets greater than $1 million for individuals’ estates and $2 million for married couples’ estates while deferring capital gains tax liability on business assets as long as the business remains family operated.

USDA Vaccine Candidate Successful In Blocking ASF

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced Sept. 30 that one of its African Swine Fever Virus (ASF) vaccine candidates has been shown to prevent and effectively protect both European and Asian bred swine against the current circulating Asian strain of the virus, writes Feedstuffs.

Newly published USDA research, as highlighted in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, shows that ARS scientists have developed a vaccine candidate with the ability to be commercially produced while still maintaining its vaccine efficacy against Asian ASF strains when tested in both European and Asian breeds of swine. The findings also show that a commercial partner can replicate experimental level results and prevent the spread of the virus.

“We are excited that our team’s research has resulted in promising vaccine results that are able to be repeated on a commercial level, in different pig breeds, and by using a recent ASFV isolate,” said ARS researcher Douglas Gladue. “This signals that the live attenuated vaccine candidate could play an important role in controlling the ongoing outbreak threatening the global pork supply.”

China Phosphate Fertilizer Export Freeze Adds to Global Supply Challenges

DTN Progressive Farmer writes that the move by China to ban phosphate exports until at least June of next year puts even more pressure on global phosphate trade. The U.S. doesn’t buy much phosphate from China, but the country represents about 30% of world trade. Now China’s traditional buyers will be looking elsewhere.

The ripple effect won’t be positive for growers, said Samuel Taylor, a farm inputs analyst for Rabobank. “You are likely to see pressure on urea, and the MAP and DAP, in particular. Those are the pricing products that were kind of really concerning.”

As the 2021 corn and soybean crops are coming out of the fields, the supply situation for fertilizer and other chemicals is shaping up to make 2022 an expensive year for inputs.

USDA Announces Intent to Establish An Equity Commission, Solicits Nominations For Membership

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will establish an Equity Commission and is requesting nominations for membership on the Equity Commission Advisory Committee and Equity Commission Subcommittee on Agriculture.

The Equity Commission will advise the Secretary of Agriculture by identifying USDA programs, policies, systems, structures, and practices that contribute to barriers to inclusion or access, systemic discrimination, or exacerbate or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities. The Subcommittee on Agriculture will be formed concurrently and will report back to the Equity Commission and provide recommendations on issues of concern related to agriculture. Subsequent subcommittees will focus on other policy areas, such as rural community and economic development. The Equity Commission will deliver an interim report and provide actionable recommendations no later than 12 months after inception. A final report will be generated within a two-year timeframe.

Nominations will be accepted until October 27, 2021.

Congress Pleads With Biden on RFS Volumes

Congressional members from both sides of the aisle are reminding President Joe Biden about his past promises to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard as rumors continue to float about significantly lower RFS mandated volumes in the years ahead, reports Feedstuffs.

Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill), Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar(D-Minn.), led a bicameral group of Congressional members spanning seven states in a letter urging the administration to increase biofuels usage and reject any reduction in biofuel blending requirements.

“Specifically, we have strong reservations about the potential for the Administration to destroy over 5 billion gallons of biofuel volume from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 RVOs. This action would directly undermine your commitment to address climate change and restore integrity to the Renewable Fuel Standard,” the members wrote.

House Biofuels Caucus Co-Chairs Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), and Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), along with Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), and Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), also led a letter along with 16 of their colleagues to urge President Biden to uphold campaign promises.

The House Biofuels Caucus letter stated, “If your administration makes the unprecedented move to reopen the finalized 2020 RVO, and strip the demand for billions of gallons, the industry will certainly be devastated. As you stated, ‘Lip service won’t make up for nearly four years of retroactive damage that’s decimated our trade economy and forced ethanol plants to shutter.’ If these rumors are correct, demand for over 5 billion gallons of renewable, clean fuels will be lost.”

Paraquat Lawsuit Filed in Federal Appeals Court

Agri-Pulse writes that a new lawsuit is challenging the EPA’s recent re-approval of paraquat, a herbicide that is the subject of numerous personal-injury lawsuits across the nation. The herbicide is banned in 32 countries, including member states of the European Union, the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups said in filing the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. They claim scientific studies strongly link exposure to paraquat to neurological harm, including Parkinson’s disease.

In reapproving it for use in August, EPA said, “After a thorough review of the best available science … EPA has not found a clear link between paraquat exposure from labeled uses and adverse health outcomes such as Parkinson’s disease and cancer.”

Paraquat registrant Syngenta says the company has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars in improving product formulations and safening methods for use of paraquat which involve no direct human contact.”

Comment Period Closes Soon on EPA Proposed Interim Decision on Pyrethrins And Piperonyl

The National Association of State Animal Health Officials (NASAHO) shared with its membership that the EPA proposed interim decisions (PID) on pyrethrins and piperonyl that will have significant impacts on animal agriculture. Pyrethrins are one of a few insecticides that are allowed to be used in organic livestock production.

Products containing pyrethrins are recommended for use in animal housing (presises poultry houses, stables barns dairy housing). They are also used in direct application to livestock for the control of nuisance pests and disease vectoring pests (mosquitoes and ticks).

EPA is proposing to cancel the registrations of certain products for which no other mitigation strategies are available. EPA is also recommending to prohibit the use of liquid trigger spray bottles, pressurized aerosols and liquids, dust shaker cans, and misting systems for applications to companion animals and livestock.

The public comment period closes on October 4, but several national livestock organizations have requested an extension of that deadline for a proper review period of the proposed changes.

Pork Producers, Farm Bureau Go to Supreme Court Over California’s Prop 12

Agri-Pulse reports that a fight over California’s animal housing law, Proposition 12, could be decided by the Supreme Court if it takes up a petition submitted Monday by the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation.

The groups are seeking review of a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that found the law did not violate the “dormant Commerce Clause” by imposing housing requirements for pork shipped into the state.

The “dormant Commerce Clause” “refers to the prohibition, implicit in the Commerce Clause, against states passing legislation that discriminates against or excessively burdens interstate commerce,” according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

The petition says the law “substantially burdens interstate commerce,” noting that California residents consume 13% of the nation’s pork, but “99.9% of pork sold in the state derives from sows raised out-of-state.” A previous attempt to get the issue before the court failed in June when the court turned down a petition filed in a separate case by the North American Meat Institute.

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Source: California Women for Agriculture

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