June 11, 2024

Contents

• What We’re Watching
• Notable News
• This Week’s Legislation
• Upcoming Hearings
• Contact the Team

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Appropriations

The House Appropriations Subcommittees are continuing to markup their respective appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2025 this week. The Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee will hold their subcommittee markup on Tuesday, June 11 at 6:00 PM. The bill allocates $25.873 billion in discretionary funding, which is a 1.35% cut from FY24, with $22 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and $6.75 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Notably, the bill includes a pilot program restricting what can be purchased within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), similar to the initial text of the FY24 appropriations bill, and $7.23 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The bill provides no new funds for new programs requested by the Administration and rejected funding requests for climate hubs. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission received $345 million in funding, and $625 million will go toward Community Project Funding for 471 projects. Text can be found here, and a summary can be found here. Full committee markup will be held on July 10 and floor action is expected the week of July 22. 

Markups will continue throughout the rest of this month, with the Interior-Environment and Energy-Water Development Subcommittees both holding subcommittee markups on June 28. Full Committee business will take place in July. The full schedule can be found here.

Farm Bill

In the Senate, Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) has released his own farm bill priorities, including a key priorities summary, an overall summary, and title by title highlights. A few highlights include, increasing statutory reference prices for all covered commodities by 15%; increasing funding for conservation programs by over 25%, and doubling funding for trade promotion programs. The framework also includes provisions to require any updates to the Thrifty Food Plan to be cost neutral, removes the climate-smart requirements on conservation funding moved into Farm Bill baseline from the IRA, and restricts the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority.

Front-of-Pack Labeling Letter from Congress

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), led nine other Democratic colleagues in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to prioritize the development of a mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling system. In December, the Congresswoman introduced the TRUTH in Labeling Act, which would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require a standardized front-of-package nutrition label that helps consumers differentiate between foods of greater or lesser nutritional value.

Administration

USDA Proposes Rule on Poultry Grower Payment Systems

The USDA announced a new proposal for the rule Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems, which would aim to address issues with grower ranking payment systems and capital investment requirements that poultry companies ask of their contract growers for broiler chicken. If finalized, the rule would prohibit deductions from the base price in contracts for broiler chicken growers, permitting only bonuses for performance. The comment period will be open for 60 days after the rule is posted to the federal register.

President Biden Releases Executive Order on Immigration

President Biden announced he will be rolling out an executive order on securing the border, which includes a number of measures addressed at migrants crossing the southern border. The EO will be in effect as high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed capacity and will be removed when there are lower rates of crossings.

USDA Rolls Out Funding for Indigenous Foods in School Meals

USDA announced the use of $2.3 million to expand the procurement and use of Indigenous foods in school meal programs. The grant program funding was provided to 5 different recipients, which will help bring nutrition education and the use of traditional Indigenous foods in school and summer meals and snacks.

H5N1 Updates

Minnesota and Wyoming became the latest states to report avian flu in cattle, after Iowa had also announced an infected herd. Other states that have seen infections include Texas, Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, Michigan and Ohio.

USDA and HHS are continuing to monitor the outbreak and are reiterating that the food supply remains safe with ongoing research and responses. APHIS rolled out an HPAI Dairy Herd Status pilot program, which will allow for voluntary involvement and provides an alternative to Federal Order required premovement testing. 

Notable News

• Congress Weighs Delaying Farm Bill Over SNAP and Climate Disputes – Washington Post
• Cattle are a Major Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Hawaii Seaweed Could Change That – AP
• ‘Circular Economy’ In Agriculture Can Yield New Products, Cut Food Waste – AgriPulse
• The International Food Information Council Releases New Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling Research To Help Consumers Make Healthier Food and Beverage Choices – International Food Information Council
• Canada Border Agents Threaten Strike Action Starting Friday Afternoon – Wall Street Journal

This Week’s Legislation

• Congresswoman Hayes (D-CT) introduced the Save Our Small (SOS) Farms Act of 2024, which would expand crop insurance policies to small farms by creating a streamlined application process for the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), expansion of the Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program, and directs USDA to develop an index-based insurance policy that is responsive to crop and income losses due to extreme weather events.
• Senators Cruz (R-TX) and Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Fire Ready Nation Act, which would reform the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and deploy more federal meteorologists to wildfire frontlines.
• Senator Hirono (D-HI) and Congressman Quigley (D-IL) introduced the National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center Establishment Act, which would create and fund a National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).
• Representatives Norcross (D-NJ), Smith (R-NJ), Stevens (D-MI), and Lawler (R-NY) introduced the Warehouse Worker Protection Act which would require companies with large warehouses to disclose quotas to workers and prohibiting quotas that interfere with health and safety.
• Senator Welch (D-VT) introduced the Rural Recovery Act, which would create a new program at USDA Rural Development (RD) to provide RD state offices with automatic funding for emergency recovery technical assistance after Presidential declared disasters take place in their jurisdiction. 

Upcoming Hearings

Tuesday, June 11

• 6:00 PM: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies will hold a markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations bill.

Wednesday, June 12

• 10:00 AM: House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled “Environmentalism Off the Rails: How CARB will Cripple the National Rail Network”
• 10:15 AM: The House Education and Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing on “NLRB Overreach: Trampling on Workers’ Rights and Fostering Unfairness”
• 10:30 AM: The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing on “Climate Control: Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing”
• 2:30 PM: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety will hold a hearing on “Digging Deeper: Building Our Critical Minerals Workforce”
• 3:00 PM: The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on “Made in America:  The Boom in U.S. Manufacturing Investment”

Contact the Team

Feel free to contact Michael Torrey, Tara Smith, Cassandra Kuball, Barbara Patterson, Katie Naessens, Julie McClure, Nona McCoy, Danielle Nelson, Ashley Smith, Olivia Lucanie, Caroline Snell, Heath Brandt, or Tracy Boyle with any questions or comments.

Food and agricultural organizations that need the right results in Washington, D.C. can trust Torrey Advisory Group to put its relationships, reputation, and expertise to work on your issue. Since 2005, the firm has successfully provided legislative and regulatory guidance, issues management, and association management services to a wide variety of clients. Learn more about us at torreydc.com.