The House Agriculture Committee in mid-May advanced several bills, including a bill that would create a special investigator office at USDA to investigate meatpacking market manipulation issues.
The bills included in this business meeting were:
• H.R. 7764, a bill to direct the secretary of Agriculture to provide additional payments under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program for implementation of a nutrient management practice and for other purposes.
• H.R. 2518, Producing Responsible Energy and Conservation Incentives and Solutions for the Environment Act, or the PRECISE Act.
• H.R. 2606, Sponsoring USDA Sustainability Targets in Agriculture to Incentivize Natural Solutions Act of 2021, or the SUSTAINS Act.
• H.R. 4140, the Butcher Block Act.
• H.R. 7675, to amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force and for other purposes.
• H.R. 7606, the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-GA-13) said in a news release, “Today’s package of important bills is a great step in our efforts to provide stable and fair markets for our agriculture producers and consumers. This bipartisan group of bills will collectively address high prices facing our agriculture producers and our nation’s consumers.
“These bills give USDA the appropriate tools to identify and correct problems in our supply chain and give producers the tools to ease the impact of fertilizer prices and availability.
“Furthermore, this legislative package encourages local and regional meat processing capacity while also addressing the anti-competitive practices in the industry to ensure a robust and resilient domestic and international food supply that will lower prices for consumers,” Scott said.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) said the Strengthening the Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act she introduced with Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD-At large) and others would create a task force at the USDA that would be responsible for evaluating the stability and reliability of the agriculture and food system, as well as identifying specific recommendations to improve the security, safety and resilience of the supply chain. The task force would be required to submit a report detailing its work and recommendations to Congress no later than 270 days after the enactment of the bill.
“In Congress, we must take immediate action to get products from ships to shelves faster—and to rebuild and strengthen our supply chains for future generations,” Craig said.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) said the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act she sponsored would establish a new Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters within USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division. This new USDA special investigator would focus on preventing shortages, enforcing America’s antitrust laws and holding bad actors in the meat and poultry industry accountable, she said.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-02) co-sponsored Spanberger’s bill. Their legislation is the companion bill to legislation introduced by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Rounds (R-SD).
The National Farmers Union (NFU) praised the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act.
“Laws intended to protect markets from monopolies and anti-competitive practices in agriculture are not being adequately enforced,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “Greater enforcement of competition laws by USDA will better ensure America’s independent family farmers and ranchers have a chance to succeed in today’s marketplace, now dominated by monopolies.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) condemned the bill as “unfunded and duplicative.”
“Cattle producers strongly support effective oversight of the meatpacking sector, but the special investigator bill does nothing to accomplish that goal. Rather than focusing on adequate staffing and funding for the woefully under-resourced Packers and Stockyards Division at USDA, this hasty proposal was rushed through the legislative process without consideration of the confusing bureaucratic mess it would create,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane.
“Arming USDA with unchecked subpoena and prosecutorial power while significantly undercutting the Department of Justice’s role in the process is poor practice.”
The committee also approved the Butcher Block Act, which Spanberger and Johnson introduced. Spanberger said the bill “would help rebalance the U.S. cattle market by easing regulatory barriers and improving access to meat processing grants for small processors.”
Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA-15) noted the committee approved two Republican-led bills: the SUSTAINS Act and the PRECISE Act. The bills were introduced by Thompson and Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA-01) respectively. Both bills advanced through committee by unanimous consent, Thompson noted.
“The SUSTAINS Act, my bill, which encourages private sector partnerships with USDA to engage producers in supporting conservation initiatives, will be a big step forward in reducing our carbon footprint while increasing productivity,” Thompson said.
“I’m glad my PRECISE Act was passed out of the House Agriculture Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support,” Hinson said. “My PRECISE Act will empower farmers with the tools they need to increase crop yields while lowering input costs and environmental impacts.” — Jerry Hagstrom, DTN political correspondent
