From Washington with Karina Jones is brought to you by BillionAuto.com one of the nation’s largest automotive websites!
Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills, former Field Director for R-CalfUSA and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
Greetings farm and ranch country!
The House kicked off its holiday recess Thursday while the Senate will return to Washington next week as Congress faces a long to-do list but talks about the Farm Bill don’t seem to be top priority.
A massive military aid package for Israel and Ukraine remains stalled in Congress, where Republicans are pushing for major changes to border policy.
As pressure mounts to strike a deal, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will delay its holiday recess and return next week to continue negotiating the Ukraine funding supplemental bill that would include border policy provisions. In press interviews Senator Chuck Grassley is pressing his peers to make the Farm Bill a priority and secure 5-year legislation early in the new year.
Before the House left for Christmas break, they did pass legislation that effects the nation’s school lunch program. According to House Ag Committee Chairman, GT Thompson, along with 329 of his colleagues, voted in favor of H.R. 1147, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. This legislation, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, will restore the option of whole milk in school nutrition programs.
But companion legislation seems to be spoiling in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office is focusing on other priorities. The Senate has long been a legislative graveyard for partisan bills, and it remains to be seen whether support from Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will be enough to get the milk bill to the floor. According to the Washington Examiner, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) attempted to pass the bill Thursday using a unanimous consent procedure, but that effort was blocked by Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). It’s also unclear if President Joe Biden would sign the bill if it reached his desk.
This week, 62 organizations sent a letter to President Biden expressing concern that “that the pace of USDA’s progress on its [Packers and Stockyards] Act rulemakings could put them in jeopardy.”
President Biden’s historic executive order on competition (EO) directed USDA to revitalize the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act by issuing new rules to strengthen it. The P&S Act, a 100-year-old law protecting farmers and ranchers from concentrated monopoly power in the livestock industry, successfully leveled the economic playing field for decades before courts eroded its power.
“We support USDA’s recently finalized P&S Act rule to increase clarity and transparency in poultry growing contracts and the pending rule to provide stronger protections for market vulnerable individuals, but the most essential aspects of the work to strengthen the P&S Act remain in limbo,” the letter said. “USDA has yet to propose a more comprehensive rule addressing abuses in the contract poultry growing system and a rule clarifying USDA’s long-standing interpretation that it is unnecessary under the P&S Act to demonstrate industry-wide harm to establish a violation of the Act.”
The groups noted that the rules are “vulnerable to opponents of competitive agricultural markets” until they are finalized. Delays instigated by these opponents caused a similar attempt to strengthen the P&S Act to fail during the Obama-Biden administration.
“To ensure our nation’s farmers and ranchers can thrive, USDA must restore the P&S Act by swiftly finalizing a strong set of rules,” the letter said.
Join me right back here next week as I bring you more ag news from our nation’s capital.
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Tune in Fridays on The Hot Barn Report, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights industry reforms or listen to Ranch Raised with Karina Jones a slice of daily life on the Jones Ranch.
