Federal News
USMCA will cause US ag exports to decline by $1.8B
Watt AgNet | Posted on November 22, 2018A new report says the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will expand U.S. agricultural exports by $450 million, but those gains will be negated by retaliatory tariffs by Canada and Mexico against the U.S. The study, “How U.S. Agriculture Will Fare Under the USMCA and Retaliatory Tariffs,” was commissioned by agricultural policy institute Farm Foundation and completed by Purdue University agricultural economists Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, Ph.D., Wallace Tyner, Ph.D., and Maksym Chepeliev, Ph.D.The analysis says retaliatory tariffs will cause U.S. agricultural exports to decline by $1.8 billion and that, with continued tariffs from China and other trading partners, “the United States would see a decline in agricultural exports of $7.9 billion, thus overwhelming the small positive gains from USMCA.”
Beijing issues rare public warning on 'serious' swine fever crisis
CNN | Posted on November 22, 2018Chinese authorities have announced strict new measures in an attempt to halt the country's fast-growing African swine fever crisis, which has spread to 18 provinces and led to the culling of more than 200,000 pigs.Days after acknowledging the situation was "serious," the Chinese Agricultural Ministry on Friday reported the first outbreak of the disease in the southwestern province of Sichuan in a farm of 40 pigs.The news is especially concerning for officials as Sichuan is the top swine-producing region in China -- a country that produces half of the world's pigs with a current population of around 500 million swine.Although the disease poses no direct danger to human health, its arrival and spread in China have increasingly threatened the pork industry, with major potential impact on supplies and prices in coming months.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the census citizenship case. Here’s why that matters.
Washington Post | Posted on November 22, 2018Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March that a question about citizenship would be added to the 2020 Census. Wide-ranging opposition followed — from local and state government officials, members of Congress and former Census Bureau directors, all citing consequences for decades to come. Historically, the Census Bureau has worked to guarantee the most accurate count of the entire United States population, notwithstanding citizenship. Census-recorded data has been used to determine how to draw congressional districts, allocate federal funds, and for national disaster and epidemic preparedness.Ross, embroiled in a multistate lawsuit to block the question, has been accused of adding it for partisan purposes. Key issues in the case have made their way to the Supreme Court.The census, which is mandated by the Constitution, may be necessary to a well-functioning democracy, but can this last-minute addition to the survey truly have such dramatic costs?Yes, and one that affects all U.S. residents, including legally documented populations.The most commonly discussed consequences of an undercount are its effect on congressional districts and federal funding. Robert Shapiro, senior policy fellow at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, estimates that more than 24 million people could avoid the 2020 Census to keep their information from being shared with law enforcement. This would affect federal programs, such as Medicaid, Section 8 Housing and school lunch programs.
Immigration and the dairy industry
Daily Sentinel | Posted on November 22, 2018As dairy operations increase animal numbers, they have also increased dependence on a larger labor pool. That labor pool has become less dominated by family members, and more dependent on foreign born labor. There undoubtedly would be benefits, however, there is significant risk for the dairy industry in any immigration legislation.The most recent significant immigration legislation was the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. In 2013, the full U.S. Senate passed the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” a bipartisan, comprehensive reform bill (S 744).This bill was never given a vote in the House even though it was widely viewed as having sufficient support to pass. The agricultural portion of S 744 was negotiated between agricultural organizations and farm labor representatives to address the needs of agriculture.One more recent proposal was the 2018 “AG and Legal Workforce Act,” HR 6417. This bill would have eliminated the H-2A visa and created an H-2C visa encompassing not only agricultural jobs, but also meat processing and food manufacturing. The bill would have authorized employers to pay below the FLSA minimum wage by imposing deductions and charges on workers.
A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few
The New York Times | Posted on November 22, 2018America’s farmers have been shut out of foreign markets, hit with retaliatory tariffs and lost lucrative contracts in the face of President Trump’s trade war. But a $12 billion bailout program Mr. Trump created to “make it up” to farmers has done little to cushion the blow, with red tape and long waiting periods resulting in few payouts so far. According to the Department of Agriculture, just $838 million has been paid out to farmers since the first $6 billion pot of money was made available in September. Another pool of up to $6 billion is expected to become available next month. The government is unlikely to offer additional money beyond the $12 billion, according to Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary.The program’s limitations are beginning to test farmers’ patience. The trade war shows no signs of easing, with China and the United States locked in a stalemate that has reduced American farmers’ access to a critical market for soybeans, farm equipment and other products. Europe is planning more retaliatory tariffs on top of those already imposed on American peanut butter and orange juice, and Canada and Mexico continue to levy taxes on American goods, including on pork and cheese.
Mexico authorizes 26 Brazilian meat plants to export chicken
Reuters | Posted on November 21, 2018Mexico has authorized 26 Brazilian meat plants to export chicken products into the country, Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said on Monday, as the two nations seek to strengthen commercial ties amid a realignment of global trade partnerships.
Canada can enter trade deal with China, says agriculture minister
IPolitics | Posted on November 21, 2018The United States and Mexico can’t exclude Canada from entering formal trade negotiation with China, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay says — despite an ongoing global trade war and questions about a clause in the trilateral trade deal. MacAulay was asked by reporters on Monday about a clause in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that allows any member of the trade pact to veto a free trade agreement with a “non-market economy” — including China.A non-market country is a country that doesn’t operate on free-market principles that go beyond traditional trade protections. As a result, pricing doesn’t reflect the true value of a product.
USDA says nearly $840 million in aid paid to farmers to date
Reuters | Posted on November 21, 2018U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid out nearly $840 million to farmers to date as part of a promised $12 billion aid program rolled out by President Donald Trump last July to offset losses from the imposition of tariffs on American exports. A total of $837.8 million to date has been paid out with the top five commodities being soybeans, wheat, corn, dairy and hogs, USDA told Reuters. The five states that received the highest amount of aid were Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Indiana and Minnesota.The aid delivered remains a fraction of the promised amount at a time when the American farmers are struggling with loss of export markets from trade wars.Several trade groups such as dairy farmers have complained that the amount they received was far below their losses.The Trump administration in late May announced tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports, prompting retaliation from top trading partners that have spilled into agriculture.
Farm bill negotiators struggle with forestry, other issues in closing deal
Agri-Pulse | Posted on November 20, 2018Farm bill negotiators are struggling to work out deals on forestry regulations, commodity program eligibility rules and other issues with a goal of finalizing an agreement that Congress can vote on before adjourning in December. Conaway said he was gearing up to pitch the final bill to his fellow Republicans, who will lose control of the House in January. The final legislation won't include the tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients that had been a priority for many conservatives. Asked whether GOP leaders would require the bill to have the support of a majority of Republicans, an informal requirement known as the "Hastert rule" for a former House speaker, Conaway indicated that his only goal was to get 218 votes, a majority of the House. "I'd love to have the Hastert rule apply, but I'm going to get to 218," Conaway said.Conaway declined to discuss details of the remaining disputes, but he indicated that forestry provisions were still up in the air, and he said he has been pushing back against efforts to tighten farm bill eligibility rules.
A $12 billion program to help farmers stung by Trump's trade war has aided few
The New York Times | Posted on November 20, 2018America’s farmers have been shut out of foreign markets, hit with retaliatory tariffs and lost lucrative contracts in the face of President Trump’s trade war. But a $12 billion bailout program Mr. Trump created to “make it up” to farmers has done little to cushion the blow, with red tape and long waiting periods resulting in few payouts so far.According to the Department of Agriculture, just $838 million has been paid out to farmers since the first $6 billion pot of money was made available in September. Another pool of up to $6 billion is expected to become available next month. The government is unlikely to offer additional money beyond the $12 billion, according to Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary.The program’s limitations are beginning to test farmers’ patience. The trade war shows no signs of easing, with China and the United States locked in a stalemate that has reduced American farmers’ access to a critical market for soybeans, farm equipment and other products. Europe is planning more retaliatory tariffs on top of those already imposed on American peanut butter and orange juice, and Canada and Mexico continue to levy taxes on American goods, including on pork and cheese.“I don’t think this is going to be enough to compensate them,” said Eric Belasco, an economist at Montana State University and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “It seems like there’s not really an end in sight.”So far, farmers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota have been the biggest recipients of assistance, the U.S.D.A. said, with soybeans, wheat, corn, dairy and hogs being the goods most in need of support.The bailout has also benefited two United States senators who continue to run active farms: Charles E. Grassley, the Republican of Iowa, and John Tester, a Montana Democrat.Like any program offering free money, there are also opportunities to game the system. On Monday, the watchdog organization Environmental Working Group is expected to release a report that shows city residents who own shares in farms and relatives of farmers have been capitalizing on the bailout.