In this issue:
FDA Told Its Regulation of Animal Food Ingredient Claims Must Follow the Science on Animal Nutrition
AFIA Urges Congress to Invest in Food and Ag Research
Ongoing EPA Review of Formaldehyde Exposure
FDA Releases Guidance on Use of Tracers in Feed
AFIA Collaborates With EU, USDA on GHG Reductions
Industry Stakeholders Convene to Advance Feed Sustainability
Join Us for Facility Inspection Package Training by USDA-APHIS
In this issue:
Breaking News! Rail Labor Agreement Reached
Senate Committee to Examine SEC Climate Disclosure Proposal
USDA Should Press CVM on Label Claims
EPA Looks to Designate PFAS As 'Hazardous' Under Superfund Law
USDA Announces Climate-Smart Ag Grants
Vilsack Discusses Ongoing Projects at FFAR
AAFCO Announces New Executive Director
US, 13 Indo-Pacific Nations Take Part in IPEF Ministerial
Section 301 Tariffs on Chinese Imports to Remain, For Now
US-Kenya Partnership Could Be Marker for Further Trade in Africa
AFIA's Constance Cullman Comments on State of US Feed Industry
Apply for AFIA's Premix/Ingredient FFY Program
Registration Will Soon Open for 2023 IPPE Educational Programs
In this issue:
Capitol Hill Heats Up with Ingredient Review Actions, Discussions
Agricultural Research Programs Need Funding Boost
New Bill Will Expand U.S. Brigade of Disease- and Pest-Sniffing Beagles
HHS Renews COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
APHIS Updates Swine Disease Response Plans
AFIA Briefs FAS Staff at Seminar
GOP Senators Press USTR Nominee to Change Administration's Course on Trade
U.S. and Kenya Pursue Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership
Summer Sustainability Web Series Kicks Off Friday
Calling All AFIA Member Commercial Dry Feed Manufacturing Facilities: Apply to FFY
You Can Still Register for LFS!
Register Now for Fall KSU Course
Charting the path forward - that was the theme of the May meeting of the Institute for Feed Education and Research's Board of Trustees. They welcomed four new Board members and approved three new research projects for the upcoming year, as well as conducted other business.
The American Feed Industry Association recently participated in a policy forum, "The Evolving Landscape of Agricultural Policy," at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). AFIA President and CEO-elect Constance Cullman spoke on a panel where she discussed the need for science-based policies to support new innovations for the U.S. and global feed sector and support for members when needed.
One of the animal food industry's sustainability pillars focuses on how companies are supporting their local communities. Last year, the American Feed Industry Association found through its annual charitable giving survey that its members donated over $44 million to an expansive list of community causes and a whopping 92,000 volunteer hours in 2017.
After several months of negotiations, lawmakers made history this week by introducing and passing a new Farm Bill in the same year, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1990.
Farm Bill negotiators said Thursday that they have reached an "agreement in principle," boosting confidence that they have settled disputes around food stamps, commodity programs and forestry issues, making it more likely that Congress can send the bill to President Donald Trump for signature before the end of the year.
Now that Congress has returned from recess, Senate and House leaders are putting pressure on lawmakers to sort out their differences to send a farm bill through both chambers.
Congress has until Dec. 7 to pass the seven remaining fiscal 2019 appropriations bills, including one that funds the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration. If nothing else, Congress will need to pass another short-term stopgap bill, which will buy another deadline extension.
The chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee have been working together on legislation to provide farm aid to producers reeling from Hurricanes Florence and Michael, as well as the wildfires out West. In a joint letter to the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee, the subcommittee leaders addressed Congress' "responsibility" to find solutions and provide relief to those in need.
The 2014 Farm Bill expired at midnight, Sept. 30, with Congress nowhere near a compromise needed to pass a new law. Now, it is up to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pick up the pieces while farm bill negotiators seek common ground on tough issues.
House and Senate agriculture leaders have not made any headway leading into a crucial week for meeting their goal of passing a farm bill by Sept. 30, the date the current farm bill expires. The House has been on recess this week, making scheduling all the more difficult.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, submitted a comprehensive farm bill proposal to his Senate counterparts last week that made what he described as "significant compromises" on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a key sticking point for democrats.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said last week "the sky isn't going to fall" if Congress doesn't pass a farm bill by the Sept. 30 deadline. But, he added that he has faith that Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., will get the legislation finished on time.
Before going home for two weeks, last week, the Senate leadership named nine senators to the farm bill conference committee. The Senate will return on Aug. 14, and the farm bill will no doubt be on their immediate "to-do" list. The House is on recess through the end of August, setting up a tight and unlikely timeline to get a farm bill done before it expires on Sept. 30.
House and Senate agriculture members will soon be discussing the differences between their respective chambers' farm bills as part of the farm bill conference period, which began last week. The members will be charged with ironing out the differences between the bills so that Congress can vote on one package before the current bill expires Sept. 30.
Members of Congress are gearing up for a farm bill showdown as conference negotiations on the bill will soon take place. The first task will be to determine which lawmakers will sit on the committee. House and Senate agriculture staffers have likely already begun working behind the scenes to start merging the bills.
Thursday, the Senate passed its version of the farm bill by a vote of 86-11. The next step will be for conference committee to reconcile differences with the House's version of the farm bill.
The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Senate's version of the farm bill this week, which would provide additional support for dairy farmers and establish a vaccine bank for livestock diseases, though it would leave funding for the vaccine initiative up to congressional appropriators. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is eyeing voting on the bill before the July 4th congressional recess.
The Senate Appropriations Committee sent to the full chamber Thursday a bill that provides $23.235 billion in discretionary funding for a host of programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. The Agriculture and FDA spending bill (S. 2975) is $225 million above fiscal 2018 enacted levels. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hopes to move some of the federal government spending bills quickly and is teeing them up for a June vote on the Senate floor.
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee advanced the fiscal 2019 Agriculture-Food and Drug Administration Appropriations bill by a vote of 31-20, following the addition of eight new amendments.
The farm bill debate got off to a heated start Wednesday with Democrats forcefully opposing it and Republicans warning against amendments that could threaten the bill's fate in the House. "Our farmers and our people need us," pleaded Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga.
The House draft of the farm bill is slowly progressing due to concerns with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-related provisions that encourage people not to marry. Some anti-poverty experts say SNAP already penalizes marriage because recipients face a potential drop in benefits when they combine incomes. They argue the proposed work requirements in the House farm bill could compound the problem by requiring both parents to work at least 20 hours per week after their children reach the age of six.
On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee passed H.R. 2, or the farm bill, introduced by Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas. The farm bill is unusually contentious this year, with Democrats opposed to changes to the food stamp program. During the short markup period, Republicans introduced and passed 20 amendments.
To get a 2018 Farm Bill finished, House Agriculture Committee Chair Mike Conaway, R-Texas, must convince ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and the other committee Democrats to help him find a solution to the committee's battle over a Republican move to rewrite eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Upcoming farm bill negotiations and hearings came to a halt last week as House Democrats delivered a letter to Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, demanding to see the legislative text of the farm bill, especially the nutrition title, before negotiating further. Democrats have voiced their opposition to tentative provisions in the bill that would limit some eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including some work requirements for able-bodied adults.