By U.S. Senator Deb Fischer
Agri-Pulse
What happens when a presidential administration prioritizes a political agenda but sidelines producers? Farms and ranches struggle, and the agriculture market stalls.
Because of this administration’s Department of Agriculture, that’s where we are today. This USDA is trigger-happy when it comes to climate initiatives, but the agency goes silent on projects that empower producers and beef up their livelihoods.
USDA’s funding receipts tell the story. It’s tracked down and spent $3.1 billion in funding for the Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program, part of the Biden-Harris administration’s strategy to push climate ideology on ag producers across the country. Congress never specifically authorized PCSC, but USDA is still doling out funds.
At the same time, USDA said it was unable to find funds for several programs producers use to market their livestock, a task at the heart of their jobs and livelihoods. USDA discontinued the July cattle inventory survey, which provides critical information on cattle supplies and allows producers to understand the cattle market more comprehensively.
Just before the latest government shutdown, USDA announced it would not continue livestock mandatory reporting in the event of a shutdown—even though this mandatory reporting was considered essential during the last presidential administration and allowed to proceed during the shutdown.
The agency also claims it has not received enough funding to accurately report and modernize foreign ag land holding, an issue of growing concern in the intersection of ag and national security.
USDA has no problem searching high and low to justify $3.1 billion in climate funding, but when it comes to funding critically important reports for producers, the agency somehow runs out of resources.
This is, unfortunately, the theme we’ve seen and experienced under the Biden administration and its Democrat partners: “climate” above all else.
Just consider the current farm bill negotiations. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., led the Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans, including myself, in introducing a farm bill framework that could permanently increase voluntary conservation funding. This is a priority we’re hearing about from farmers and ranchers at home in Nebraska and elsewhere.
Yet Democrats object to these funds unless they are for “climate-smart” practices, neglecting other resource concerns like water quantity and quality. Those of us listening to producers know that conservation programs must be locally driven, allowing farmers and ranchers to decide which needs are most urgent to address. But our Democrat colleagues want the Biden-Harris administration to tell producers what’s most important instead.
The climate party talks a big game about the future of our planet, but what about our present? Farm bill negotiations have continued month after month because the Democrats want to neglect producers’ present needs in favor of programs that activists insist on. But for the sake of farmers and ranchers, neither the farm bill games nor the USDA’s political agenda can continue.
Our first order of business is to pass a strong farm bill that meets producers’ most significant needs. We must strengthen crop insurance, invest in locally-led conservation programs, increase trade promotion funding, and support research. We don’t need to sacrifice nutrition assistance to keep “farm” in the farm bill.
But equally important is to hold this USDA accountable for its policies, its interference in local agriculture, and its funding. As long as this administration puts a political agenda above the present needs of our farmers and ranchers, agriculture will struggle and stall. That’s not just a bad deal for our present—it’s a bad deal for our future.