Washington, D.C. Update

July 15, 2022

The House continues work on the upcoming farm bill. This week, the House Agriculture Committee held two hearings on the bill’s forestry provisions and the state of credit for underserved farmers and Ranchers. The House Agriculture Committee announced a hearing next week on Title XI crop insurance programs. The Committee also has two upcoming listening sessions: one in Washington on July 22 and one in Minnesota on July 25. In addition, the Committee has opened a public feedback form to solicit input from producers, stakeholders, and consumers on the farm bill’s programs.

This week, members of Congress advocated to the Administration to take action to improve access to fertilizer and pesticides. First, the Ranking Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, Rep. Thompson (R-PA) and Sen. Boozman (R-AR), wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to call on the EPA to cease the politicization of crop protection tools. The letter advocates for science-based and transparent regulatory processes for pesticides. This letter can be found here. In addition, over 30 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden urging him to waive duties on fertilizer imports from Morocco and Trinidad and Tobago. The letter notes the potential impacts of the fertilizer shortage on domestic agricultural production and calls on the Administration to amend current trade policy to improve access to fertilizer. This letter can be found here.

Over 20 Republican Senators sent a letter to Doug McKalip, the nominee for the chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative. The letter congratulates Mr. McKalip on his nomination and urges him to provide support to domestic producers if confirmed. The letter argues that improving market access for U.S. exports would reduce some of the pressure currently facing farmers and ranchers and help the U.S. remain competitive in the global market. The letter can be found here.

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