THIS WEEK IN
Federal Policy News
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California Farm Bureau, Along with National and State Ag Groups, Call for Meeting on Export Trade Imbalance |
This Monday, a collaboration of major agriculture associations released the below letter sent to the United States Secretaries of Agriculture and Transportation, as well as the National Economic Council. The letter calls for an immediate federal effort to convene a meeting of ocean carrier companies and agricultural exporters to address the tremendous export trade imbalance, which is currently crippling American agriculture and damaging the American economy.
Signers of the letter include leadership from the California Farm Bureau, Western Growers Association, National Milk Producers Federation, U.S. Dairy Export Council, Western United Dairies, the Almond Alliance of California, and the California Walnut Handlers Alliance. In addition to being sent to federal officials, the letter was also delivered to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, all members of the California Congressional delegation, and the California Secretaries of Agriculture and Transportation.
The request comes after a series of local, state, and national news stories, including articles in the New York Times, NPR, and the San Francisco Chronicle, detailed the impact that the export trade imbalance is having on agriculture products waiting to be exported to customers overseas. To combat this, California Farm Bureau has also helped lead efforts to pass the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which would give the Federal Maritime Commission the authority to take action on Ocean Shipping Carriers for their unfair practices among other provisions.
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President Biden Issues Executive Order Focused on Mature and Old Growth Forests on Federal Lands |
On April 22, President Bident signed an Executive Order focused on forests and wildfire resilience. Specifically, the Executive Order:
- Directs DOI and USA to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal lands and analyze threats facing such forests including wildfire and climate change
- Directs DOI and USDA to develop new policies to implement conservation strategies and climate-smart management that addresses identified threats to mature and old-growth forests on federal lands.
- Directs DOI and USDA to partner with additional federal agencies, states, Tribes and private landowners to better coordinate conservation and wildfire risk reduction efforts.
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CAFB Joins Coalition Letter on Securities and Exchange Commission Climate Proposal |
In an April 11th Federal Register notice, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it would seek public comment on amendments to its rules under the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) that would require registrants to provide certain climate related information in their registration statements and annual reports, including potentially invasive and burdensome information about farms. To allow for more time to fully review the SEC’s proposal and understand the myriad ways the proposal might impact agricultural producers, a coalition letter was submitted requesting a 180-day extension of the comment period.
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Court-Issued Delay Puts Planned Title 42 Ending in Question |
On Monday, US District Judge Robert Summerhays announced he will be issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) that will keep the controversial Title 42 in place, at least in the short term. Title 42 was previously adopted during the Trump administration at the outset of the pandemic in order to stem the spread of the virus, resulting in nearly 2 million migrants being prevented from crossing into the US, mostly at the southern border. Several Republican-led states recently filed a suit against the federal government over their plans to end the program next month, citing their concerns that it will lead to an unprecedented border crisis. The details of the TRO have not yet been shared, so it’s unclear how much this could delay the current administration’s plans to end its enforcement. |
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Open Ag Labor Survey with UC Davis and ASU Drawing to a close |
This week, CAFB will be closing survey submissions for an agricultural labor survey that is being conducted in partnership with UC Davis and Arizona State University. The survey examines how farmers adapted to reduced worker availability, how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted farming operations, and the extent to which labor-saving technologies are helping mitigate problems stemming from labor shortages. The results will be used for a statistical study to inform farmers, community leaders, and policy makers on how these issues are impacting the agricultural sector here in California. The survey should only take about ten minutes to complete and will remain completely anonymous. We will officially be closing submissions this coming Monday, May 2nd.
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