USDA TO RESPOND TO DEBT RELIEF HALT THIS WEEK: The Agriculture Department has until Friday to respond to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty's motion for a preliminary injunction that has temporarily halted the process of paying off the loans of thousands of farmers of color as part of a program issued by Congress in a Covid relief bill, reports our Helena Bottemiller Evich. Morning Ag readers may remember that a federal court in Wisconsin issued the temporary nationwide restraining order on Thursday in response to the lawsuit brought on behalf of 12 white farmers and ranchers by a group that bills itself as a conservative and personal freedom organization. Immediate reaction: Dozens of groups signed onto a statement released over the weekend by the Rural Coalition against the order. USDA will "continue to forcefully defend our ability to carry out this act of Congress and deliver debt relief to socially disadvantaged borrowers," a department spokesperson said in an email. The court order by U.S. District Judge William Griesbach says that USDA has failed to establish that the loan-forgiveness program "targets a specific episode of past or present discrimination.'' The ruling argues that any anecdotal or statistical evidence so far provided is not enough to prove intentional discriminiation, even in pandemic relief efforts and subsidies. Meanwhile in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and two Black legislators on Friday joined in on the criticism, of banking groups for asking USDA to revise how it plans to issue payments in order to reduce how much profit smaller banks could lose. Fried noted that agriculture is one of the largest industries in the state but the number of farmers in Florida has dwindled from 13,000 a century ago to 2,000 now. TRADE TALKS IN BRUSSELS: Trade issues pushed to the back burner at the G-7 meeting will take center stage as U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai travels to Brussels this week. She will attend the U.S.-EU summit with President Joe Biden on Tuesday before heading to London on Wednesday for meetings with U.K. trade chief Liz Truss. Two sets of tariffs and retaliatory duties are on the table impacting food and agriculture products. One set governs the Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs in effect since 2018. EU's retaliation on that action includes steep duties on bourbon, rice, orange juice, fruits and other U.S. agriculture products. Another has to do with the long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies that the World Trade Organization has ruled on, but which has resulted in tit-for-tat tariffs on scores of U.S. and European products. U.S. goods subject to EU duties on that matter include fish, cheese, cotton and tractors. Clock is ticking: EU has some limits to its patience. The EU and the U.S. had agreed to suspend the retaliatory aircraft tariffs for four months, but that pause expires next month. On Friday, Morning Trade reported that 113 U.S. and EU business groups urged negotiators to reach a deal as soon as possible to permanently remove the tariffs. They also requested a further suspension of the duties if more time is needed to conclude the talks so that shipments crossing the Atlantic aren't hit by surprise. "Indeed, products across a range of sectors continue to face destructive tariffs that are harming competitiveness and negatively impacting manufacturers, producers, farmers and logistics providers and many others on both sides of the Atlantic," said the statement. VILSACK TALKS CLIMATE IN MICHIGAN: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in a roundtable on Friday with Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) focused on the need for more resources for conservation and to help producers make sense of the emerging landscape of carbon marketplaces, according to a press release. "We heard from a broad range of producers and conservation groups that they're doing groundbreaking work on climate within their own operations already, and if we can scale that work up on more acres across the country, we can start to see a real difference," Stabenow said. "That's going to take serious investment in climate-smart agriculture, forestry and research programs." USDA TO TACKLE ANTITRUST CONCERNS: USDA is readying to strengthen antitrust rules enforcement, our Ryan McCrimmon reports, a move that comes after a series of supply chain disruptions have led to increased pressure to reduce concentration in the meat market. In addition, the agency is re-proposing a rule that could allow producers to easily seek action under the Packers and Stockyards Act. Farmer advocates say the current requirements for producers to demonstrate harm to competition are too difficult to meet and effectively shield processors from legal action. Mixed response: The Justice Department, and several agricultural groups, came out in support of the effort. But the North American Meat Institute, which represents meat and poultry processors, said it would oppose "unnecessary and burdensome government intervention in livestock markets." What's next: The regulatory action comes alongside a $4 billion program that USDA is developing to bolster America's food supply chain and ensure fairness in the livestock market. That includes money for small and mid-size processing plants looking to gain a foothold in the market. USDA said it will fill in the details on new financial programs and the three regulatory actions in the months ahead. BIDEN LOOKS TO REIN LOGGING IN ALASKA: The USDA is looking to reverse a Trump administration's rule that would open over half of Alaska's Tongass National Forest to logging, mining and development, reports our Tatyana Monnay. The back-and-forth tussle: The U.S. Forest Service, a branch of the USDA, said in a regulatory notice that it plans to "repeal or replace" the Trump administration change from October, which overrode the so-called Clinton-era Roadless Rule that barred logging and road construction on some 58 million acres of national forest lands. But not all are on board. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tweeted Friday that he was disappointed in the Biden administration's decision to roll back commercial activity, noting it could prevent jobs creation in the state. Potential impact: Tongass is the nation's largest national forest and is the largest intact temperate rainforest. It is also home to Alaskan bears and salmon. What's next: The move is in line with the Biden administration's renewed focus on climate and agriculture but must go through USDA's rulemaking process, which is in the public comment period. | 
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