House Ag Committee Approves Farm Bill After Marathon Markup
After working through amendments for nearly 15 hours, the House Agriculture Committee voted, 35-11, to approve the 2012 farm bill, H.R. 6083, The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act. The legislation would cut $35 billion from farm bill programs over the next decade by eliminating direct payments, cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by about $16 billion, and consolidating or eliminating over 100 programs.
The markup, though long, moved smoothly through many of the over 100 amendments filed to the bill. Two amendments to the commodity title that were strongly opposed by NCFC—the Goodlatte amendment to eliminate the sugar program and the Goodlatte-Scott amendment to remove the market stabilization provisions from the dairy reforms in the bill—were soundly defeated by votes of 36-10 and 29-17, respectively.
The nutrition title was by far the most contentious—and thus longest—portion of the markup, stretching on for nearly five hours. In the end, no substantive amendments were adopted that would have either restored funding or trimmed back eligibility requirements further.
The one amendment offered to the trade title was strongly supported by NCFC and adopted by a voice vote—the Rooney-Cardoza amendment to establish an Under Secretary of Agriculture for Foreign Agricultural Services at USDA.
In a statement released after the bill had been approved, NCFC President and CEO Chuck Conner said, “I would especially like to recognize the leadership of both Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) in drafting this bill and shepherding it through the committee process. From the first hearings looking at current programs up through the committee’s action this morning, both Chairman Lucas and Mr. Peterson have sought input from a broad range of stakeholders and have worked hard to ensure a bill meets the needs of farmers and ranchers across the country.”
The bill as passed by the House Committee includes many important priorities for America’s farmer-owned cooperatives, including dairy reform provisions, full funding for the Market Access Program, language to eliminate costly and duplicative pesticide permitting requirements, and expanding the fruit and vegetable program in schools to include, along with fresh, nutritionally-equivalent canned, frozen and dried fruits, vegetables and nuts.
As of Friday morning, no timetable has been announced by House GOP leadership on when the farm bill might be taken up on the floor.
NCFC Announces Staff Realignment
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President & CEO Chuck Conner today outlined arealignment in NCFC staff resources to help ensure that the organization continues to meet member needs in representing the business and policy interest of America’s farmer-owned cooperatives.
The changes will follow the departure of Stacey Satterlee, Vice President of Government Affairs, from NCFC. Satterlee will be returning to her home state of Idaho to work as the state director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
“I would like to thank Stacey for her hard work on behalf of farmer cooperatives these past several years, and congratulate her on moving back to Idaho, a place that I know is very close to her heart,” said Conner. “The knowledge, insight and enthusiasm that Stacey brought to NCFC will be sorely missed.”
The changes consist of shifting current staff roles to align more closely with NCFC’s policy needs. Conner announced the following changes to current staff:
- Kelsey Swango is promoted to Director, Government Affairs, and will handle issues related to energy, livestock, sustainability, and labor;
- Kathleen Heron will become Director, Government Affairs, and will work on issues related to specialty crops, nutrition, food safety, research, and immigration;
- Justin Darisse is promoted to Vice President, Communications will continue to oversee NCFC’s internal and external communications and will help manage the organization’s Farmer Co-ops: Providing for America public education campaign.
Swango and Heron will join Lisa Kelley, Vice President and Chief of Staff, Government Affairs, and Kevin Natz, Vice President, Government Affairs, as part of the NCFC lobbying team.
“I would like to congratulate Kelsey and Kathleen on their new roles at NCFC, and I know that they will be great representatives for farmer co-ops here in our nation’s capital,” said Conner. “I believe that this staff positions NCFC well to continue providing value for our members as a number of important legislative and regulatory issues impacting co-ops and their members continue to move forward.”
Ag Groups Weigh In on Fire Protection Group Proposal on Animal Housing
NCFC is working with animal agriculture groups to weigh in against a proposal by the members of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) with animal rights sympathies. The proposal would require fire sprinklers in all new or renovated poultry and livestock houses. Installing sprinklers in animal houses is complicated, challenging and very expensive. It appears that the incidence of fire and loss is very rare, relative to the number of animals under management, which makes requiring sprinklers very unwise.
The agriculture community believes that the NFPA can be convinced not to take this step as the NFPA technical committee that generally handles the animal house standard (the NFPA 150) continues to oppose this measure. The NFPA Standards Council will be meeting on August 7 to consider this matter. Representatives of animal agriculture will attend and speak against this measure and comments have been submitted.
Upcoming Events:
NCFC Meetings
- September 25-26, 2012—NCFC Executive Council Meeting—Liaison Hotel, Washington, D.C.
- October 4-5, 2012—NCFC LTA Subcommittee Chair & Vice Chair Meeting—Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, San Diego, Calif.
- November 14-16, 2012—NCFC Government Affairs Committee Meeting—Vintner’s Inn, Santa Rosa, Calif.
- February 6-8, 2013—NCFC 84th Annual Meeting—Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, Ariz.