USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor will lead an agribusiness trade mission to Colombia on August 13-15. USDA is now accepting applications from current and potential U.S. exporters who have interest in joining the delegation.

“Colombia represents a top-tier food and agricultural destination for American farmers, ranchers, and processors,” says Taylor. “As the second-most populous country in South America, Colombia enjoys highly favorable demographics coupled with 20 years of continuous economic growth,” she says.

Colombia is the largest South American market for U.S. agricultural products and the seventh-largest market for U.S. food and beverage exports globally. Since the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement was implemented in 2012, U.S. ag exports to Colombia have grown 237 percent, reaching a record $3.7 billion in 2023. Export opportunities to Colombia include healthy foods, fresh fruit, meat and meat products, beans, seafood, dairy products, and more. For more information, go to fas.usda.gov.

WASHINGTON (April 19, 2024) – Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) concluded another successful Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day event brings cattle producers from across the country to Washington to meet with federal agencies and elected members of Congress.

“This Legislative Conference was a great opportunity to meet with our representatives in Congress and discuss issues with agencies like USDA, EPA, and the Fish and Wildlife Service,” said NCBA President Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher. “I am thankful for the work that NCBA’s team does every day in Washington, and meetings like this are so valuable for showing policymakers how the decisions they make here in Washington impact our farms and ranches thousands of miles away.”

This year, more than 300 cattle producers traveled to Washington and participated in 170 meetings on Capitol Hill. Attendees also met with officials from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Farm Service Agency. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also shared valuable updates on the inspections that occur at ports of entry to prevent diseases and pests from entering the United States.

“The Legislative Conference is a testament to NCBA’s grassroots leadership and role as a member-driven organization,” said Idaho rancher and NCBA Policy Division Chair Kim Brackett. “Unlike activist-led groups that are little more than a fundraising website and a lobbyist, NCBA represents real farming and ranching families across the country. We showed that to members of Congress and agency staff, and delivered the message that policymakers need to listen to real cattle producers when making decisions that impact our livelihood. I have seen firsthand how NCBA’s work in Washington benefits our industry and I encourage you to join us and support that work too.”

During the event, NCBA members discussed their priorities for the next Farm Bill, including the need for animal health, disaster relief, risk management, and voluntary conservation programs. Producers also urged policymakers to reduce red tape on farms and ranches by reeling in overreaching regulations from federal agencies. Additionally, members discussed the need to protect the cattle industry from the threat of a foreign animal disease and defend the Beef Checkoff from animal rights activist attacks.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) — As rumored on social media this week, the Environmental Protection Agency and White House on Friday announced an emergency waiver to allow the sales of summertime E-15 gasoline, ending uncertainty for drivers and the industry as we near the summer driving season.

Multiple agriculture groups have been voicing their concerns for weeks to the EPA that an emergency waiver was needed to continue sales of E-15 for this upcoming driving season and many of those groups are thanking EPA and the Biden Administration on Friday.

“We commend EPA Administrator Regan, Secretary Vilsack, and the Biden administration for easing pain at the pump this summer by protecting access to lower-carbon, more affordable E15,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “Given ongoing supply threats stemming from unrest in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Red Sea shipping routes, this waiver will serve as a valuable shield against volatile fuel costs and help more working families benefit from E15, which has been saving drivers 10 to 30 cents per gallon.

“With gas prices on the rise again and geopolitical conflict roiling global energy markets, we applaud President Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan for taking decisive action to combat potential fuel shortages and keep a lid on gas prices this summer,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “Allowing uninterrupted sales of E15 will help extend gasoline supplies, prevent fuel shortages, protect air quality and reduce carbon emissions. We also appreciate the efforts of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and the many ethanol supporters in Congress who advocated for continued access to E15 this summer.”

The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee held annual hearings this week regarding the president’s trade agenda.

Dave Salmonsen, American Farm Bureau Federation Senior Government Affairs Director, says its an opportunity for the administration and Congress to collaborate. He says, “This is a required report in which the administration lays out what their accomplishments have been and what they plan on doing in the upcoming year. And this year you had the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai came before the committee’s and laid out their ideas on trade for the year. So, it provides an opportunity for some real interaction between the administration and the Congress on trade and the trade agenda going forward.”

Salmonsen says there was bipartisan concern that the administration isn’t doing enough to improve trade. Salmonsen says, “A lot of the discussion was about the fact that this administration does not pursue the traditional trade agreements. There was a lot of discussion about the fact that ag exports aren’t keeping up with the volume and dollar value of ag imports. And also, the lack of enforcement, especially in bringing trade cases with China. So, there was an awful lot of, let us say, suggestions for improvement.”

Salmonson says AFBF seeks more effort from the administration on trade.

He says, “We’re not having the growth that we were used to having, going backwards some. We’re not expanding our markets in a way that we want to. We need to diversify. More than half of our ag exports only go to five regions. We would like to sell more to a greater variety of countries, but unless we have an administration that’s really willing to get in there and negotiate trade agreements, and lower barriers that other countries have, we just really can’t use that approach to grow our exports.”

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Finance Committee Senators of both parties stepped up attacks on the White House’s trade policy, or some said, the lack of one—especially in agriculture.

Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and top panel Republican Mike Crapo (R-ID) launched a fusillade of criticism at Biden trade chief Katherine Tai on a lack of trade enforcement and Crapo had this to say on refusing to do trade deals. Crapo said, “Australia and New Zealand each negotiated free trade agreements with Thailand. And since then, demand for premium US beef fell by 30 percent because our cattlemen face a 50 percent tariff while those two partners face none.”

Senate Ag Chair Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan was more muted but echoed a similar call for free trade deals. Stabenow said, “I know there are a number of agriculture stakeholders that sent you a letter earlier this week, urging you to commit to an aggressive agriculture trade agenda. It’s so important that we have those markets. We need those markets, and we need the trade agreements.”

Republicans, as expected, were much harder on Tai. Texas’ John Cornyn said he had to do a double-take on the hearing’s title. Cornyn said, “I think it’d be more accurate to say, ‘The President’s 2024 non-Trade Policy Agenda.’”

A point Oklahoma’s James Lankford made more subtly in this exchange with Ambassador Tai on her efforts for farmers. Lankford said, “We are working for them every single day. We are scoring wins for them without having to do the long negotiations in a free trade agreement. So, the short answer to be responsive to you is, no, we’re not doing the big, comprehensive agreements that are great for Ag and terrible for our industries. But, we are nevertheless securing wins, 21 billion dollars over the last three years.” Lankford “The challenge is when it’s not an FTA, there’s no certainty on it. And that executive agreements come and go with administrations.”

Tai, early in her tenure called FTAs an ‘outdated, 20th Century tool.’ She now more openly underscores the political importance to the president of organized labor, stating, “We don’t want to play Americans against Americans or sectors against sectors.”

Story courtesy of NAFB News Service and Matt Kaye/Berns Bureau Washington

USDA has confirmed an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in dairy cattle in eight states. Dr. Beth Thompson, South Dakota State Veterinarian, talks about a number of the common signs of infection that producers need to watch for.

Dr. Thompson says, “So, it’s decreased milk production, abnormal milk, and the cow might dry off early. There might be a fever. The cow is going to have a decreased feed consumption. Her rumen is going to slow down. Well, she’s not eating, so her rumen’s gonna slow down. Then, on the back end, so to speak, she’s going to have either diarrhea or a change in the manure consistency. There have been a few talking about a nasal discharge, but this virus in dairy doesn’t seem to be causing respiratory issues. The virus is going for the mammary tissue, and we’re finding it in the milk.”

The onset of the disease seems to happen quickly. The good news is that HPAI can be treated and so far hasn’t caused large numbers of cattle to die after infection. She says, “My understanding – I haven’t seen the data – is it can be treated. Dairies, they’ve got hands-on, eyes on dairy cattle every day, a couple of times when they come through the milking parlor. So, generally speaking, the dairy will pull her off and put her in the sick pen, give her supportive care, give her fluid make sure she’s eating, maybe give her some boluses, and she’ll come back around. In a couple of weeks or a little bit more, she’ll come back. It’s my understanding that these dairy cows, for the most part, are coming back into production. There have been a few mortalities, but nothing significant at all.”

That’s good news when you compare it to the devastation the disease wreaks on poultry farms. While it’s not completely surprising, it’s not often a virus will jump between species.

Dr. Thompson says, “It’s not all that common, but we are talking about influenza, and that’s a virus. Viruses are smart. They will adapt if they don’t find enough hosts or their hosts aren’t providing a home for them. Viruses will get into a host and then start replicating. That’s what viruses do. Now, why this virus is now being found in dairy, I go down the road of we’ve got so much environmental contamination out there with the wild waterfowl and other wildlife.”

She says protecting dairy herds from wild birds can be a big challenge. She says, “I think the last few years with our poultry farmers dealing with that conundrum of how to keep anything to do with wild birds from entering into their barns, the same is true of dairies, and they’re much more open, especially up here in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and other places. It’s hard to keep wild birds away from any of the domestic animals. Cleaning up feed spills and making sure there are no ponds around that the wild birds might congregate around are just a couple of the examples of things that farmers can be doing.”

Story courtesy of the NAFB News Service

CNH Industrial plans to lay off over 200 employees at its Racine, Wisconsin facility and shift that work to Mexico. That’s according to a statement from Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. CNH Industrial, a manufacturer of agricultural equipment, intends to reduce costs by $150 million as part of a company-wide reorganization.

“Agricultural machinery has been made in Racine for over 175 years and made Case-New Holland into an international manufacturing powerhouse,” Baldwin wrote in a letter to Scott Wine, CEO of CNH Industrial. “Moving production to Mexico is a slap in the face to the workers who have given so much, and it would destroy the institutional knowledge that your workforce has developed over decades.”

Over 1,000 United Auto Workers members ratified a new contract with CNH in January 2023 after a strike lasted over 260 days. Baldwin questioned if this round of layoffs was “retribution” following the UAW strike.

The USDA has a new Livestock Indemnity Program Decision Tool and farm loan resources available to agricultural producers who help other producers access USDA disaster assistance and farm loan programs. The new LIP tool and the farm loan informational video resources were developed in partnership between FarmRaise and USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

“By providing a collaborative outreach and technical assistance to the agricultural community, the FSA’s partnerships with organizations like FarmRaise increase the awareness of and the broader participation in our extensive suite of farm and farm loan programs,” says FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Offering innovative tools and resources with help from our cooperators breaks down program delivery barriers ensuring equitable access to our programs for millions of rural, urban, and small-scale to mid-sized producers.”

The LIP Decision Tool helps producers who suffered losses, while the optional decision tool gives the producers guidance on needed documentation. For information, go to farmraise.com/usda-fsa.