The Senate starts the process of writing a new farm bill today, holding the first of four hearings. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be the leadoff witness and it’s a good bet he’ll hear about the administration’s proposal to cut farm spending by $32 billion. The top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota’s Collin Peterson, says the size of the proposal will give House Republicans a reason to seek deeper cuts than farm-state lawmakers want.
After Vilsack’s appearance, the hearing will focus on renewable-energy policy, an administration priority. The proposals the House and Senate Agriculture committee leaders drafted for the deficit-reduction supercommittee last fall included little funding for bioenergy development and specifically barred funding for ethanol infrastructure. Today’s witnesses will include Steve Flick, who uses biomass to make pellets for home heating and industrial boilers. He won the first grant under the Agriculture Department’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program to produce energy crops. The supercommittee proposal would have reauthorized BCAP but slashed the payment rate and provided no mandatory funding.
Senate Ag Chair Says Budget Means Action Needed. Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., says the proposed cut in ag spending should be all the motivation she and colleagues need to finish a new farm bill this year, reports CQ’s Ellyn Ferguson. The current authorization (PL 110-246) expires Sept. 30, but there are doubts lawmakers can complete their work by that deadline, given the pressures of a tight budget and election year politics. The president’s proposal would save $9 billion more over the decade in mandatory spending on farm and nutrition programs than the $23 billion in cuts contained in the proposals for the supercommittee. Farm groups worry that cuts will have to be even deeper if a new bill is delayed until 2013. The budget “reinforces the need for Congress to pass a strong, fiscally responsible farm bill immediately this year, to provide farmers with the certainty they need to continue being successful,” Stabenow says.
Peterson Says House Waiting on Senate. “We decided some time ago, even during the supercommittee process, that the Senate would go first,” Peterson tells me. “Frankly, my take is that we’ll get a better bill out of the Senate because they’re not as hung up about cutting so much out of the budget.” Peterson adds, “If they move something out of committee, then we’ll move something out of committee in the House.” He says it is hard know whether a bill can pass this year because “there are so many variables.”
Next-Gen Ethanol Wants Money in Farm Bill. Biofuel developers have different priorities depending on what type of product they want to produce. A group representing cellulosic ethanol developers is appealing to the Senate Agriculture Committee to extend a loan guarantee program and include subsidies for ethanol pumps in the next farm bill. Some companies making other fuels, such as biomass-based versions of gasoline or diesel, don’t want federal aid going to ethanol infrastructure. The fuels they plan to make don’t need special pumps. But all the companies likely would agree with this sentiment in a letter (PDF) the Advanced Ethanol Council has sent to the committee: “Several billion dollars have been invested in advanced biofuels development with the expectation that Congress will stay the course with regard to its commitment to the industry.”
Inhofe Seeks Hearing on Fake Biofuel Credits. The top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee wants the panel to hold a hearing on the sale of fraudulent biodiesel credits. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., said in a letter (PDF) to Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that “it has become clear that numerous bad actors have participated in the generation of fake” credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs. The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring oil refiners who were stuck with the fraudulent RINs to buy valid ones to replace them. Refiners need RINs to meet federal usage mandates.
Aid Advocates Hope to Save Local Purchase Pilot. Advocacy groups are lowering their sights when it comes to changing the way the United States provides foreign aid. They’ve long pushed for scrapping the requirement that food be purchased in the United States and shipped overseas on U.S. carriers. Now, the groups would be happy to preserve a small pilot program authorized by the 2008 farm bill. The bill provided for $60 million in aid to be purchased near where the food is distributed. “We’re pushing for the protection of this pilot program,” said Paul O’Brien of Oxfam America. “If you don’t have this pilot as an entrenched part of the next farm bill we may lose that flexibility.”
Shipping food from the United States drives up the cost of the aid and can add delivery time. A Cornell University study found that buying food locally saves nearly 14 weeks on average compared with transoceanic deliveries. Groups that receive the U.S. food have long fought to preserve the existing system, in part because it ensures political support for food aid spending from U.S. agribusiness and shipping interests.
Oxfam, Bread for the World and American Jewish World Service plan to send a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee requesting a hearing on the international implications of the next farm bill.
The Salt Wars. Foodnavigator.com has the latest in the war of words over the Obama administration’s effort to reduce sodium consumption. The piece summarizes comments to the Agriculture Department from the American Heart Association, which defends the initiative, as well as from food industry interests that argue the reduction is unrealistic.
China’s Farm Belt Pitch. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports on how Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to Iowa on Thursday could sell the idea that China is good for the U.S. farm economy.
Farmer Ordered to Prison Over Manure Spill. A federal judge has sentenced North Carolina hog producer William B. Freedman (yes, that’s his name) to six months in prison for dumping manure into a stream. Freedman’s farming operation was ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines and restitution. An Environmental Protection Agency official says concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, such as Freedman’s are an enforcement priority.
Email the editor at philipbrasher@cqrollcall.com or call 202-650-6551.
