Does not matter: Stimulus and a secretary on the way to USDA — Some personnel news

Feb 22, 2021

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Quick Fix

TWO KEY PIECES of President Joe Biden's food and agriculture agenda start falling into place this week, from policy to personnel: The House is set to advance his coronavirus rescue package, and the Senate will vote on his nominee for Agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack. Let's zoom in on the latter.

Vilsack set to sail? The former USDA chief is expected to be confirmed by a comfortable margin on Tuesday after breezing through his confirmation hearing on Feb. 2. That would put him in office two months earlier than his predecessor, Sonny Perdue, who was confirmed on April 24, 2017.

But it's a month later than Vilsack was confirmed his first time around — on Inauguration Day in 2009 — despite the Senate Agriculture Committee's attempt to fast-track his nomination at the beginning of February, as we pointed out in POLITICO's Transition Playbook.

Why it matters: Once Vilsack is sworn in, the department's pandemic relief efforts can kick into high gear. The Biden administration has already taken executive action to expand food assistance, extend a moratorium on evictions under USDA rural housing programs, pause farm loan debt collection for struggling borrowers and deploy staff to help with vaccinations.

— But other efforts have been on ice without a secretary to sign off, including a batch of farm rescue payments that have been frozen since January. Those funds were meant to reach producers who struggled to access prior rounds of aid.

Bottom line: "There are a lot of important decisions awaiting feedback from an eventual Secretary of Agriculture, including the direction of the [farm relief] program," says USDA spokesman Matt Herrick.

HAPPY MONDAY, FEB. 22! Welcome to your Weekly Ag report, where we're ready for winter to be over. Send tips to rmccrimmon@politico.com and @ryanmccrimmon, and follow us @Morning_Ag.

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DRIVING THE WEEK

PUTTING THE STIMULUS PIECES TOGETHER: After House committees wrote up their individual coronavirus relief measures throughout February, the chamber wrapped them all up in a $1.9 trillion economic rescue package that Democrats are aiming to send over to the Senate by the end of this week.

As a reminder, the legislation includes more than $16 billion in nutrition and agricultural aid. But in a break from previous aid packages, the bill contains less direct aid to producers with no strings attached and it's focused more toward supply chain upgrades, protections for food and ag workers and sweeping financial relief for historically underserved producers.

Besides the ag provisions, the measure would deliver $1,400 stimulus checks, expand unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour — an issue that has divided Democrats and might run afoul of budget rules. There's also growing anxiety that the relief isn't moving fast enough to help the most needy Americans.

On tap today: The Budget panel meets at 1 p.m. to debate the combined aid package. The markup might drag on for hours, but no substantial changes to the legislation are expected. Tune in here.

Also worth watching this week: The House Agriculture Committee will launch its work on tackling climate change with a virtual hearing on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. (note the new date and time!) as Democrats get the ball rolling toward Biden's ambitious goal of making America's farm sector the first to reach net-zero carbon emissions.

— The hearing should shed more light on USDA's ability to create a "carbon bank" through the Commodity Credit Corporation to facilitate payments to producers who sequester greenhouse gases in their soil.

— That idea has been a focal point in recent ag-climate discussions, but lawmakers also will likely delve into existing programs and new options that haven't received as much attention but could be more beneficial for farmers and the environment.

Transition 2021

SOME PERSONNEL NEWS: Today is the first day on the job for two high-level USDA officials who will oversee key farm programs, including delivery of coronavirus relief checks to producers. The Biden administration on Friday tapped Gloria Montaño Greene for deputy under secretary for farm production and conservation and Zach Ducheneaux for administrator of the Farm Service Agency. (Neither job requires Senate confirmation.)

Their background: Montaño Greene was the FSA's executive director in Arizona from 2014 to 2017 and spearheaded the implementation of recent farm bill programs across the state. She's also a former chief of staff for Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee.

— Ducheneaux was executive director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council, the largest and oldest Native American ag organization in the country, representing 80,000 producers. He also helps run his family's ranch on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Priorities: In a statement announcing the appointments, USDA Chief of Staff Katharine Ferguson laid out key objectives for the new officials, like bringing equity to USDA programs, boosting local and regional food systems and creating new farm income sources that help producers confront climate change.

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In Case You Missed It

What's next for farm subsidies? Swaths of the ag sector are enjoying a major rebound lately as market prices surge for top commodities like corn and soybeans. That new reality is on a collision course with Washington's habit of reflexively pouring money into the industry, which was in a downturn for years before the recent uptick, your host reports.

Ag exports bounce back: Fueling the farm economy is a flood of exports to China, which are projected by USDA to hit a record $31.5 billion during Biden's first year in office. That would be a stark turnaround from the last few years when farm sales plummeted amid the Trump administration's trade war with Beijing. Pro Trade's Doug Palmer has the details.

The new House Ag chief: Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) in January became the first Black lawmaker to chair the House Agriculture Committee, an important turning point as the industry and USDA seek to address decades of discrimination against farmers of color. Scott chatted with our Liz Crampton about climate change, racial equity and confronting the pandemic.

JOIN US TUESDAY TO MEET THE FRESHMEN: The freshman class of the 117th Congress took office just three days before an armed mob stormed Capitol Hill and in the middle of a once per century pandemic, making its first month in office just a bit different from any previous class. Join POLITICO for "Red, Fresh and Blue," featuring live interviews with newly elected members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. Huddle newsletter author Olivia Beavers will moderate back-to-back live interviews with Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.). REGISTER HERE.

Row Crops

— Plant workers at some of the largest U.S. pork slaughterhouses say meatpackers need to ratchet down the speed of their processing lines, as a higher number of employees report workplace injuries. Amid heavy global demand for pork, facilities have accelerated their line speeds since USDA raised the hourly processing cap in late 2019 despite warnings from labor and food safety advocates. Reuters has the story.

— The House Energy and Commerce Committee will draft a sweeping climate change package in March, Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said on Friday. The timing suggests Democrats are aiming to have the climate package ready to go when Congress begins work on a broader infrastructure overhaul, writes Pro Energy's Anthony Adragna.

— Biden called on the EU and other allies to help him confront China over its "economic abuses" and disregard for global trade rules, during his remarks at the virtual Munich Security Conference last week. He also stressed the need to rebuild transatlantic relations that were strained under the Trump administration, Doug reports.

— Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) will chair the Senate Commerce subcommittee that oversees broadband policy, giving the freshman (who also sits on Senate Ag) a central role in legislative efforts to expand internet access and close the digital divide in many rural areas, per Pro Tech's John Hendel.

— Cannabis companies have already raised about $2 billion from investors this year, up 60 percent from this point in 2020, as financial firms become increasingly comfortable making big bets on an industry that remains illegal under federal law. Our Pro Cannabis colleagues have the details.

— Deere & Co. is projecting higher earnings as rising crop prices spur farmers to spend more money on their machinery, including many producers who avoided repairing or replacing older equipment for years as the farm economy sputtered. More from Bloomberg.

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THAT'S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: rmccrimmon@politico.com; hbottemiller@politico.com; lcrampton@politico.com; jyearwood@politico.com and pjoshi@politico.com.