Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 286: The Farm Bill Is Moving Again… But Will It Actually Go Anywhere This Time?

Transcript

286: The Farm Bill Is Moving Again… But Will It Actually Go Anywhere This Time? · CattleUSA Daily

0:00
We are welcoming on Emma Kaufman once again and she's here to
0:03
give us an update on the Farm Bella and everything that is
0:06
going on at Capitol Hill with it.
0:08
Before we hop into today's episode with Emma, if you're
0:11
watching on any of your podcast platforms, make sure that you
0:13
take a second to go follow the show rate and review at
0:16
subscribe to our channel, like this episode, share it with a
0:18
friend, do all the things. We really appreciate it here at
0:21
the team. Without further ado, let's go
0:23
ahead and hear all the farm bill updates from Emma Kaufman.
0:30
Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
0:34
the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
0:36
updates shaping agriculture today.
0:39
I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
0:42
agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
0:45
Now let's dive into today's episode.
0:52
Emma, welcome back to the podcast.
0:54
I'm so excited to have you on once again.
0:57
And today we're talking about some things going on on Capitol
1:02
Hill right now, or maybe lack thereof, or maybe things
1:06
happening. I, I don't know what is
1:07
happening. Is there things happening?
1:09
We're talking farm bill things today.
1:11
And this is one of those topics that I'm pretty sure everyone's
1:14
always like, when are they going to stop talking about the farm
1:17
bill? And you know what, as soon as we
1:19
stop talking about 1 farm bill, we're going to start talking
1:21
about another. So never, guys.
1:23
Just just never. Yeah, no, you're right.
1:25
I feel like at this point the word farm or the phrase farm
1:27
bill is a trigger word for most like the of us in agriculture.
1:31
We're just like here it comes, it's going to expire, it's going
1:34
to expire. And then we get a one year
1:36
extension because we've had that once, not twice, but three times
1:39
at this point. So yeah, it's been really
1:41
interesting. So for those who don't know,
1:44
March 5th, the House Agriculture Committee advanced the farm bill
1:48
of the 2020 sixth farm bill. That was a 34 or a 17 bar
1:53
bipartisan vote that happened. Really exciting.
1:56
So for some context, let's kind of talk about like what exactly
2:00
the farm bill is. The farm bill itself is a
2:03
program that is supposed to be helping out all of food
2:07
production. And I think there's a lot of
2:09
misconception about what the farm bill is.
2:11
For those who aren't familiar with it, the farm bill sounds
2:13
like it's just for agriculture. It's not.
2:15
It's also for food subsidy programs like SNAP.
2:19
In fact, over 76% of the current farm bill is SNAP, which is
2:24
where we have this gridlock between Republicans and
2:27
Democrats. The Republicans want to reduce
2:29
the amount of funding allocated towards SNAP and put it more
2:32
towards crop insurance programs and commodities and conservation
2:36
programs. And on the Democratic side, they
2:39
are like Nope, no, no, no, no, not no.
2:42
We want more subsidies for our nutrition programs and we want
2:47
to lower the standard for qualification and program
2:51
acceptance. And we don't want to have all
2:53
these stipulations in order to qualify versus on the Republican
2:57
side. They're like, hey, we want to
2:58
see that you're actually trying to feed yourself.
3:00
We want to see that you meaning that you have a job that you
3:02
were actively looking for jobs. We want to have this calculation
3:07
quota a lot more regulatory than what we see on the Democratic
3:11
side. And whether you lean left or
3:13
lean right, that is just in a gist in a hole why we've been
3:18
seeing this gridlock and why we had all these extensions on
3:22
these one year extensions that have happened financially
3:25
speaking. We also know that the farm bill
3:28
needs to be updated. Why does that matter?
3:30
Well, this we're still operating off a 2018 farm bill.
3:33
Farm bill was projected and the toll goal was to be revamped
3:37
every five years. Why?
3:39
Well, the economy. Economy changes, your financials
3:42
changes, input cost changes, regulatory trade.
3:44
We've definitely seen in the last year trade has changed
3:48
quite a bit and especially we've been kind of dealing with some
3:51
more inflation. Trust me, I wish houses cost the
3:54
same thing that they did back in 2018.
3:56
I wish our groceries and fuel cost the same thing as it did
3:58
back in 2018. I think a lot of us wish our
4:01
taxes and our W2 statements looked like they did back in
4:04
2018. The dollar went so much further
4:06
back then than it does today, which is why a update is been
4:10
just desperately needed and GT Thompson has been very vocal
4:14
about that. Financially looking at it, the
4:16
2018 was 800, $167 billion over a 10 year period, that's an
4:20
average of little over 86 billion per year.
4:24
The 2026 proposal is 1.46 trillion, which I know that
4:28
sounds like a lot upfront that breaks down to about 146 billion
4:31
per year over a 10 year run. So again, it sounds like a lot,
4:36
but when we start thinking about just the percentages, again,
4:40
what is it like 8%, a little over 8% goes to was it crop
4:44
insurance, 7% goes to commodities.
4:46
Other less than 7%, I think 6.8% of the current farm bill goes
4:52
towards conservation programs like your CRPS.
4:56
Those are those are programs that have changed financially on
5:01
a significant level. So while that jump may sound
5:04
scary, I really, I would be really interested to do the math
5:07
on the dollar value and seeing what it actually looks like.
5:11
But just when we're looking at this farm bill, we've been
5:14
needing it to happen. It's been needing to happen for
5:17
a while. And honestly helping mitigate
5:20
risk for our producers as we're going into a time, especially
5:23
we've been seeing right now with trade disruptions and supply
5:26
disruptions, we forget that Iran is like one of the larger
5:29
producers of urea and that's a major component of fertilizer.
5:34
So when we're going into the next growing season, we're
5:37
planting like I live in the plains of Lubbock.
5:39
We're, I mean, next month cotton we're planting and sorghum, same
5:44
thing. And so this is really kind of
5:46
dictating what we're going to plant, how much we're going to
5:49
plant and what kind of crop diversities, if any, are going
5:52
to happen or completely crop transitions in general.
5:56
Yeah. It is extremely vital that we
5:58
really start looking at what we need right now and we need an
6:02
updated farm bill. I think that everyone can agree
6:05
on that, that operating on a 2018 farm bill is null and void
6:10
practically. Like it is not the same thing
6:14
that we are working with now. You said it perfectly, Emma.
6:17
Every single one of our input cost has gone up significantly,
6:22
like even take COVID out, but since 2020 spike was massive
6:29
that we saw in production agriculture culture as far as
6:31
our input costs go. And we need a farm bill that is
6:35
going to actually take that into account and first and foremost,
6:40
protect our farmers and our ranchers that are going to
6:42
protect that food supply. And going back to what Secretary
6:45
Rollins has really been saying quite a bit on the fact that
6:47
it's a national security issue. If we do not get this thing in
6:52
place and really start helping our farmers and ranchers.
6:54
Because if we're not reliant on ourselves and able to produce
6:58
our crops, our beef, our protein products, everything like that
7:03
locally here in the United States, that is a massive
7:05
national security issue, especially as we look at trade
7:08
disruptions, other things that are happening.
7:10
There's, there's a lot of factors affecting the market
7:13
right now and affecting the cattle industry, affecting
7:15
agriculture. But getting the farm bill passed
7:17
would, Oh my gosh, I think everyone's sick and tired of
7:20
hearing about it. And for the love of everything,
7:22
like we need to get some movement on this girl and get it
7:26
going. Yeah, absolutely.
7:27
Because it's not just like you mentioned earlier, it's not just
7:31
for producers, but it's honestly for the sustainability and
7:35
longevity of our country and security as well.
7:37
Because I forget the statistic, because the statistic keeps
7:40
increasing and changing. Unfortunately, we're losing
7:42
family farms every single day. And this, you know, there's a
7:47
lot of people I see especially on social media like, oh, we
7:49
shouldn't be subsidized. We shouldn't be subsidized, but
7:51
every first world country is subsidized.
7:53
I literally spent time in the European Union space and those
7:58
producers do not succeed. They do not survive if they
8:02
don't follow EU a trade regulations which encompass a
8:08
bunch of overhead and a bunch of checks and balances.
8:10
And there actually there is no balance in my opinion.
8:12
It's just checks. And I hear a lot of people
8:14
talking about government overreach, government oversight.
8:16
Well, then the EU is a really great example of having so many
8:21
regulations in place that those people do not get their the
8:25
money at the end of the year. And I'm not talking about
8:28
dependency like here in the United States.
8:29
Like that is a whole next level. I asked one producer, other Cal
8:34
calf operation, what they call a suckler farm over there and I
8:37
said, why do you why do you do this you guys?
8:39
Because I have to can't you just not who's if I don't subsidy
8:43
wise, I get taxed out of existence and I will not be here
8:47
next year. And that was a wake up call to
8:49
me as well because we're looking at the crop insurance programs.
8:52
Those are to help in the commodities you all this is a
8:55
agriculture is the only industry that I'm aware of and I heard
8:59
this said so it is not my quote, but you know I'll be proud to
9:03
resay it. This is the only industry that
9:05
pays retail prices, selling their product at wholesale
9:08
prices and pays for trucking growth ways.
9:10
So when we have market disruptions, the cotton market,
9:14
again, I live in the South Plains of Texas, the cotton
9:17
market, it has been absolutely disastrous the last couple years
9:21
to the point people are planting other things just to survive
9:23
because they need to make a profit at the end of the year.
9:26
And it hasn't been cotton. You can have the best yield.
9:29
We finally had good weather this year.
9:31
And even then the crop looks great, the product looks great.
9:34
The market does not value that product at the point where you
9:39
can even meet break even costs. And so when we're looking at
9:42
these financials, this is not just to maintain, this is to
9:48
maintain land in agriculture, in families, in rural usage, So
9:53
that way we can be sustainable as a country because we're
9:57
losing, we're losing farms to urbanization.
10:00
We're losing farms to easements. We're losing farms to natural
10:03
resource, natural renewable energy resources.
10:07
And right here, I've got two hours that way.
10:10
I've got a data center that's trying to buy up land and put
10:13
themselves up there outside of Amarillo, two hours that way.
10:16
I've got another one out outside of Abilene.
10:18
We don't have water. We don't have water.
10:21
And so it riddled me that why a data center wants to come in
10:24
outside the land being cheap. That is the only reason I can
10:27
think the land being cheap. You're taking it out of
10:29
production agriculture and you're putting it into something
10:32
that I don't think it's very feasible.
10:33
And guess what, we're running out of water and so much to the
10:37
point that we don't even have water to put on our own crops.
10:41
So having a program in place to help producers just make it to
10:46
that next year is vitally important.
10:48
This because agriculture is not just the farmer and rancher.
10:51
The agriculture is the trucking companies, local banks, local
10:54
restaurants, your local boutiques, your gas stations.
10:58
I mean, and these people are facing disasters every single
11:01
day, not just here in the South Plains, but across the nation.
11:05
You have too much rain, not enough rain, too much sun, not
11:07
enough sun. You've got wind, then you got
11:09
hail, you got freezing temperatures, things that you
11:12
can't control. So that's where this whole farm
11:15
bill came in place to begin with is to help alleviate those
11:17
stressors and try to help maintain our culture to the next
11:21
year where maybe conditions, whether it's weather or economic
11:24
can change. Also, you know, initiatives like
11:28
Ibaka buy American coffee, an act that just got released,
11:31
super exciting about that, trying to help implement
11:34
programs to help drive demand here domestically and cotton's
11:39
just an example of it. We're seeing right now in the
11:41
cattle market entirely different fluctuation.
11:44
We have our entire supply chain of Mexican cattle cut off
11:47
because of the threat of the new world screw worm thing is 15
11:50
percent, 15 to 17% of Texas's cattle on feed alone were
11:56
Mexican cattle. Those cattle are still coming to
11:58
the US, they're just coming in the form of box beef.
12:00
So our feed lots are shutting down.
12:02
Our feeders are going to be losing business.
12:04
I don't know if we're going to get that business back.
12:06
And guess what? It's also hurting the Mexican
12:08
producer because they don't have any competition for their
12:10
products. So they're actually getting paid
12:12
less for their animals. So this is not just AUS thing.
12:15
This is a global market that I think people are forgetting
12:18
about. You know, whether you think that
12:20
SNAP I, I personally, if you were to ask me and I had a
12:23
magical DC wand and I was at Bibbidi Bobbidi boom boom, it
12:27
would be putting SNAP and it's whole separate fund.
12:30
But I don't think that any farm bill would ever get passed if we
12:33
didn't have that SNAP funding a part of it.
12:35
And that's just kind of the sad reality that we live in because
12:37
we have so much disconnect in our DC and decision policy
12:41
makers from what production agriculture, what it does, who
12:46
and how it affects and whether they want to believe it or not
12:49
in their concrete jungle agriculture.
12:51
You eat every day, you wear clothes every day and you drive
12:55
cars. Everything is either a byproduct
12:57
or a direct product of agriculture.
12:59
And that's why I'm so proud to be a part of it.
13:01
And B, I'm so passionate about trying to help.
13:05
Honestly, our brothers and sisters just make it through the
13:06
next year. Yeah, I.
13:08
Could not agree more, Emma. And on your point about
13:11
separating SNAP and the Human Services side from the
13:17
agricultural and funding side on that, I think that there's a lot
13:20
of great points for separating it.
13:22
But I would agree with you in the fact that when it comes down
13:25
to it, we would never get a farm bill passed if we didn't have
13:30
incentive behind that farm bill in the form of SNAP and of some
13:35
other things. And it's a catch 22 because
13:37
we're seeing the downside of it right now of we've been at a
13:41
gridlock year after year, session after session with this
13:45
farm bill because of the human side.
13:49
But we would never get a farm bill passed without the human
13:53
side of it. And so I think it really is just
13:56
a gridlock situation in the reality of what we're working
14:00
with as agricultural producers. And I know us agriculturalists
14:04
that have really amazing senators and representatives
14:07
representing us up on the hill are doing their darndest to get
14:11
that bill going and get it to a point where it can actually get
14:15
past. But it's it's a battle getting
14:18
anything to go through right now, and especially on something
14:23
that is so polarizing such as Snap.
14:26
Yeah. And I think also it's just the
14:29
lesser of two evils, right. And, you know, do we keep
14:32
operating off of the 2018 Farm Bill that's financially not a
14:36
feasible resource. It's pennies and even half a
14:38
pennies on the dollar at this point.
14:40
Or do we accept greater percentage of our funding going
14:44
towards SNAP? But that's also misleading as
14:46
well because, you know, are we ever going to get those
14:49
percentage points back into the favor of production agriculture?
14:52
So it's it's, you know, I think that when we're talking about
14:56
subsidy programs, it can be a very trivial topic.
14:59
It can be a very controversial topic, but the fact of the
15:02
matter is, is that other countries have similar programs
15:06
in place. I think we kind of delude
15:09
ourselves of reality when we start pointing at other
15:12
countries and be like, Oh my gosh, well, so and so does this
15:14
and so and so does that. I'm like, until you've been
15:16
there and talked to producers, I don't, I mean, you can Give your
15:19
opinion, but I'm not going to put much value behind it.
15:22
And I'm not saying what other countries are doing is right or
15:24
wrong, but looking at our own country, you know, you, you
15:28
can't have your cake and eat it too.
15:29
And unfortunately it's people are very, I say that I'm a very
15:33
look, I'm a stubborn headed German as well.
15:36
That is my bloodline. Trust me, I'm fixed gold as the
15:39
rest of them. But you know, we do have to look
15:41
and say what are give and takes and can we give up on both sides
15:47
to the other party in order to get something passed for the
15:50
betterment of our producers. So especially when we are
15:53
fighting drought, we're fighting harsh climate changes, we are
15:57
fighting data centers, we are fighting renewable resources
16:00
coming in and renewable energy resources like solar farms.
16:03
You can't run cattle on solar on a solar farm.
16:05
Can't sorry. You can't do it when?
16:07
Sure, but no matter where you stand on that, we're still
16:10
losing ground every single day to urbanization and to other
16:14
means. And so we are your food supply.
16:18
You as a producer, you are the food supply.
16:20
So first of all, thank you for trucking through because I know
16:23
no one I told somebody at the TV station the other day is like,
16:25
ain't nobody in agriculture to get rich.
16:27
I can tell you that a quick way to become a millionaire in
16:29
agriculture to start off as a billionaire depending on the and
16:32
what you get into. So that's why we diversify.
16:35
But no matter where you stand on each of those subjects, they all
16:39
blend together. And right now it's just passing
16:42
this darn thing and trying to get something on the board.
16:44
Last I heard, I don't think that we've got much concession on
16:49
SNAP funding reductions percentage wise.
16:52
But up next it will be the Senate, how the Senate
16:56
Agriculture Committee are going to be working on their own
16:59
version. Once that goes through, then
17:01
both have to agree and pass bills and reconcile them, and
17:06
then maybe we'll get something up on the board.
17:08
Yeah, it's one of those situations that I'm not going to
17:11
sit back and hold my breath for too long because I, I mean,
17:14
we've seen this song and dance a few times in the past years, but
17:18
it is still one of those situations that we desperately
17:20
need a farm to pass. But it is, like you said
17:24
earlier, Emma, we need to look at the give and take.
17:27
Which of the lesser of two evils do you really kind of want to
17:30
lean into right now? And I think that that is just
17:33
the harsh reality. And I sitting back, I'm darn
17:37
tired of agriculture getting the short end of the stick.
17:39
And this farm bill, although it's, I think that it represents
17:44
us well enough and gets us to where we need to.
17:47
And it's not just another extension and all of those
17:49
things. It still is and will still be
17:53
feeling like agriculture is getting the short end of the
17:55
stick on a lot of things. And I think that that's the
17:58
reality of the world that we live in.
17:59
And I think that that also points to the fact that each and
18:02
every producer needs to have a relationship with their
18:06
representatives, with the people that are on the hill
18:09
representing them. And you need to be willing to
18:12
make those phone calls, to do those introductions and to get
18:15
your voice out there to be heard.
18:17
Because we've been getting the short end of the stick for
18:19
entirely too long when it comes to presentation.
18:22
That's, that's, that's kind of like the world we live in,
18:24
right? Like everyone complaints about
18:25
it, but nobody does anything about it.
18:27
And nobody takes the step to even like a phone call, an
18:31
e-mail, whatever. I think it's really unfair to
18:34
point to somebody and say, hey, you're not addressing my issues
18:38
when you don't even tell them what your issues are.
18:40
So instead of playing couch coach, why don't we go ahead and
18:43
start picking up the phone and, and start getting involved?
18:46
That's where real change happens.
18:48
Even voting. I cannot tell you the amount of
18:50
people I talk to who are in production agriculture.
18:52
They're like, I didn't get out to vote.
18:53
I'm like, well, can you why, why don't complain about our let's
19:00
just say, for example, AG commissioner, don't complain
19:02
about our AG commissioner and then not go vote to get somebody
19:04
else in in that spot. You know, and for in Texas, we
19:07
did have a switchover this year. And, but there's so many other
19:11
things just showing up. There's a there's multiple weeks
19:14
of early voting for a reason. Make time.
19:16
It is your obligation as an American citizen.
19:19
That is your right. Please, for the love of
19:20
everything holy exercise it because I'm telling you it's a
19:23
lot easier to prevent a disaster than to try to rectify 1 And we
19:29
see that with activist groups and anti agriculture
19:31
organizations all the time trying to affect agriculture in
19:34
a negative way via slipping it through very detailed cutesy
19:38
bird salad format and bills. Thank goodness our organizations
19:42
that their whole job is to screen that and and find the woo
19:45
woo moments because there's a lot of them.
19:48
So, you know, we're looking at the the Senate AG Committee
19:53
right now. I mean, we've got a we've got a
19:56
vegan that's potentially going to come on board and take seat
19:59
as a head of the Democratic side.
20:00
And that's that's extremely alarming based off of some of
20:04
the policies he's put forward. Yeah, don't come.
20:06
I mean, you can complain, but let's just let's just at least
20:10
say, well, I wouldn't vote and I did something so.
20:13
You know, in a world full of complainers, it's a lot easier
20:16
to say than to do. So be a doer.
20:18
Words of wisdom on this podcast. Be a doer.
20:20
I love it. I love it.
20:22
Well, Emma, is there anything else that we haven't touched on
20:24
today with the Farm Bill that we need to make sure that we kind
20:26
of cover? I know it's, it's one of those
20:28
situations that it's like it's still very much in the
20:31
introductory phases right now. It has just made it out of
20:34
committee on the House side. So there's still a lot of steps
20:37
that we have to go through and we're definitely watching it as
20:40
it makes its way through. But anything else that we kind
20:43
of need to touch on or talk about today?
20:45
I think the only thing I would add on is I was looking at the
20:50
conservation side, a percentage of the farm bill and I'm really
20:53
interested. I don't think Brooke Rollins
20:55
wanted to be this aggressive coming out, but I was really
20:57
wondering how much of that was going to marry into their
21:00
regenerative farming initiative that they are kicking off.
21:03
And so I'll be interested to see more details on on that.
21:09
And I'll be honest with you, I haven't read really much into
21:11
that. I just kind of a thought because
21:12
I was why you talking about this exact same topic on a panel this
21:15
morning. That was one of the things that
21:17
kind of crossed my mind mid sentence and I was kind of like
21:20
one of those like moments. So we'll be interested to see.
21:24
But yeah, if you ever have any questions, you know, you've got
21:27
your policy, people around you, accessible resources, you just
21:31
look them up. Also any kind of a conservation
21:34
programs, your local NRCS office has a lot, there can be a lot
21:39
that be helpful for you. So, and then this whole digital
21:42
thing, I don't know if you heard about that, but that's a topic
21:44
for another day. But they are digitalizing the
21:46
way that people are registering with these programs.
21:50
And so I think it's like a one farmer, one file.
21:53
I think that's how they what Brooke called it.
21:55
So no more would you have to go in every single year and try to
21:59
like with a map put on paper with the FSA agent what where
22:05
your property is and all this. Apparently it's all supposed to
22:07
be a digitalized, but it's your file and it's a voluntary deal.
22:10
Anyway. I know they're pushing for it.
22:11
I know that they are really excited about it.
22:13
I got to read more into it, but it'll be really interesting to
22:16
see how all these changes come about if they were to be
22:19
implemented around the same time.
22:21
We'll see. Hopefully they have great
22:25
software engineers. That's all I'm going to say.
22:27
I. Could not agree more on that
22:29
front. Let's let's pray they hired the
22:31
best from MIT and that we're able to look at a government
22:36
website and not want to pull our hair out anytime that we armor.
22:40
Friendly. Yes, emphasis on that.
22:44
Emphasis on that. Miss Rollins, if anyone from
22:47
your team is listening to this, we Emma and I know plenty of
22:51
people who could test try all this for you on its farmer.
22:54
Friendliness to let you. Know if it's working or not?
22:57
I do. Think that they allow you to go
22:59
into office and like it's still in person and stuff.
23:02
But yeah, that was my first thing.
23:04
I was like, look, I used to work for a digital company on the AG
23:08
side and the amount of flipper phones that are still in
23:11
existence. I talked to a guy.
23:12
I was like, what's your e-mail? I got an e-mail.
23:15
OK, OK. It'll be, it'll be a lot of
23:18
crazy stuff going on, a lot of exciting stuff, a lot of kind of
23:22
up in the air stuff, you know, But then again, when we're
23:25
putting 1 fire out, we send them starting another.
23:28
Welcome to agriculture. Welcome to agriculture.
23:32
We, we're here with open arms and plenty of fires that always
23:35
need put out. Welcome, come all.
23:37
Welcome all. We we love to have you,
23:39
especially if you bring a bucket of water.
23:41
We need it everywhere. So Eva, thank you as always for
23:44
your time today for coming on and sharing just your insight
23:47
and your knowledge and your candid thoughts on everything
23:51
happening in agriculture right now.
23:52
This will definitely be something that we will continue
23:54
to watch and keep our eye on as we move forward.
23:57
But thank you for coming on and sharing some updates with all of
24:01
us. To all of our audience members.
24:02
If you enjoyed today's podcast with Emma, make sure you check
24:05
out the show notes down below where you can find more about
24:07
Emma. Follow along on anything else
24:10
that she is doing in the world of agriculture.
24:12
And as always, thank you for listening to another episode of
24:15
the Cattle USA Daily Podcast. We will see you all next time.