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With help from Catherine Boudreau, Martine Powers and Victoria Guida
ROBERTS CALLS FOR GMO LABELING PRESSURE AS BIO FLIES IN: As biotech industry representatives head to Capitol Hill today, GMO labeling will likely be top of mind. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s fly-in comes as Senate Agriculture Committee leaders are trying to reach a deal on how best to block Vermont’s GMO labeling law from taking effect July 1. With Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) determined to avoid on-package disclosures and ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) pushing for more information for consumers, it’s unclear if there is middle ground to be had.
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But the wild card in the negotiations could be if Roberts can get enough farm state Democrats to sign onto his bill to have it clear the 60-vote threshold needed for consideration on the floor. When the measure went to the floor in March, three Democrats — Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) — lent their support. Now Roberts just needs ag groups to make the case.
“I think if enough pressure is put on those folks, about 10-15 Democrats who also represent agriculture, that’d be the best thing we could do,” Roberts told AgriTalk radio last week. Now to see how convincing BIO can be.
Tick tock: It’s just 80 days until Vermont’s law takes effect.
HAPPY TUESDAY, APRIL 12! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host, who has been known to follow a trend or two, is ready to jump on the shoes-inspired-by-food bandwagon. But really, it’s a thing. Also a thing: breaking into your favorite burger joint to make your own burger. Can’t make this stuff up. You know the deal: Thoughts, news, tips, other ridiculous food news? Send them to jhopkinson@politico.com or @jennyhops. Follow the whole team @Morning_Ag.
In case you missed it, yours truly was on Heritage Radio Network’s “Eating Matters” last week to talk about, what else, GMO labeling. Check out the conversation with Campbell Soup Co.’s chief food law counsel, Steve Armstrong, and Environmental Working Group Agriculture Policy Director Colin O’Neil here.
AG GROUPS: LET’S DO TPP ALREADY! More than 200 food and agricultural companies and groups are doing their part to help carry the water for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, urging congressional leaders to pass the deal this legislative session or risk further losses to farm income. “With net farm income at its lowest level since 2002, the costs of inaction are too high for us to ignore,” the coalition said in a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday. "We must act now.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has taken the lead in mobilizing other farm groups to push for TPP's passage. If the trade deal is not enacted, U.S. beef producers risk losing Japanese market share to Australia, which has already inked a deal with the major export destination.
Dairy groups, though initially late to the party, are also speaking up. The three major U.S. milk and dairy food industry groups sent their own letter Monday to lawmakers urging them to pass the TPP, but with the warning that certain aspects of the deal must be implemented correctly and fully enforced.
STABENOW, ROBERTS AT ODDS ON CFTC REAUTH: GMO labeling is not the only thing that the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee can’t see eye to eye on these days. Roberts introduced his bill Monday that would include provisions on limits for certain energy products like gasoline futures and allow critics of CFTC rules to go directly to the U.S. Appeals Court to challenge them. And the bill would require the CFTC to maintain an $8 billion threshold for companies to be considered registered swap dealers as it keeps studying whether that level is appropriate. However, Stabenow said the bill falls short on the ever important question of funding.
“This bill misses the mark when it comes to making the necessary investments at the CFTC,” Stabenow said in a statement. “Our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers deserve a CFTC that is not squeezed for resources. Financial markets are changing rapidly and the CFTC needs tools to help ensure that market participants have the market certainty they deserve to remain competitive.” The markup of the measure is scheduled for Thursday. More details here.
MORE IRE DIRECTED AT EPA OVER WATER BILLBOARD: Rep. Vicky Hartzler is joining a growing chorus of Republicans raising concerns over a billboard paid for by EPA grant funds that blames farmers for high nutrient loads in Washington state rivers and streams. In a statement Monday, the Missouri Republican and House Agriculture Committee member called the roadside ads “evidence of the EPA’s continued attacks on our nation’s agriculture industry. This is seemingly a blatant violation of the law by an agency actively trying to paint our farmers and producers in a negative light to advance its own regulatory agenda and expansive land grabs. I wholly support efforts to investigate the whatsupstream.com campaign and other possible misuses of taxpayer dollars by the EPA.”
Hartzler’s statement follows a request last week from GOP Sens. Pat Roberts and Jim Inhofe (Okla.) that the EPA inspector general review the grants awarded to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for its “What’s Upstream” campaign.
The EPA, meanwhile, said it has nothing to do with the content of the campaign. In a statement, a spokeswoman said, “The tone and content of this outside campaign does not represent the views of EPA. EPA spends an enormous amount of time and resources on efforts to work with farmers, tribes and other stakeholders on collaborative efforts to improve water quality. The grant being used to fund the billboard was awarded to a consortium to be directed at endangered salmon recovery efforts. ... The consortium made a sub-award for a campaign which should not be using EPA funds. We are in the process of correcting that.”
HOUSE TO VOTE ON AUTHORIZING OBAMA’S FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE: The House plans to vote on a bill (H.R. 1567) this evening that for the first time would authorize the Obama administration’s $1 billion a year Feed the Future initiative that invests in agricultural development projects in certain countries. The Global Food Security Act of 2016 would cement in law the president’s initiative that federal agencies, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development, have carried out for the past five years to address global hunger and food security in 19 countries like Nepal, Tanzania, Mali and Honduras. The bill, which was approved out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee nearly a year ago, would require a comprehensive government approach to foreign assistance in developing countries to improve food security, build resilience and promote national security. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved its version of the bill last month.
SOY ASKS FOR SOME BIOTECH PEER PRESSURE: The American Soybean Association wants U.S. officials to turn up the heat on its European counterparts and get the European Union to approve stacked pesticide resistant and high oleic soybeans for import that have been awaiting a decision since January. In a letter Monday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, ASA argues that the EU is the main lingering approval needed before U.S. farmers can start widespread cultivation of Monsanto’s Vistive Gold soybeans, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bayer CropScience’s glyphosate and isoxaflutole resistant variety. The letter comes amid growing concerns about the EU’s approval process for biotech crops, which has been under fire for slow time frames and potential trade violations. The letter is here.
CROP GROUPS RALLY AROUND BAYER IN FLUBENDIAMIDE FIGHT: Bayer isn’t the only one that thinks the EPA is out of line with its plan to quickly pull the pesticide flubendiamide from the market without going through the regular cancellation process. In a friend of the court brief filed with the EPA’s Office of Administrative Law Judge late last week, more than 30 grower groups, including the American Soybean Association and the Western Growers, argue that the EPA’s efforts are unlawful and part of a recent pattern of attack by the administration on pesticides and an end run around the intent of Congress.
The agency is trying to revoke the conditional registration it granted to flubendiamide in August 2008, arguing that it doesn’t have to go through the regular cancellation process since the data required as part of the condition of its approval is showing high risks to aquatic animals. Bayer is fighting it, claiming that the EPA is relying on computer models when real world monitoring shows the chemical is safe. The grower groups say they want predictability and continued access to the pesticide, which is used on scores of row crops, fruits and vegetables. In its efforts to avoid the formal rulemaking process, the EPA is ignoring science and potential benefits of the pesticide, they argue. An administrative law judge will hear the case May 10. The brief is here.
CANADIAN PACIFIC DROPS OUT: News that Canadian Pacific had dropped its bid to merge with Norfolk Southern roiled the railroad industry on Monday, after months of growing opposition from industry stakeholders and lawmakers made the prospect of a successful takeover increasingly unlikely. "We have long recognized that consolidation is necessary for the North American rail industry to meet the demands of a growing economy," said Canadian Pacific CEO E. Hunter Harrison, "but with no clear path to a friendly merger at this time, we will turn all of our focus and energy to serving our customers and creating long term value for CP shareholders."
The National Farmers Union cheered the move. In a statement, the group said concentration in the freight rail sector would make it more difficult for farmers to get their crops to market.
STRAWBERRIES TOP EWG’S ‘DIRTY DOZEN’: The Environmental Working Group is warning consumers to watch out for strawberries. The summer fruit landed on top of the group's annual “Dirty Dozen” ranking of the produce that has the highest pesticide residue levels, with 98 percent of samples tested coming back positive for at least one chemical. Peaches, nectarines and apples were also almost always found to have pesticide residues, while the report found the average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other type of produce. Meanwhile, avocados were once again found to be clean of pesticide residues. The list is here.
INSTANT OATS:
— Whole Foods’ new budget supermarket is looking to one up its competition by going waste free, Fast Company reports.
— Farm Credit is falling under scrutiny for loans to groups other than farms, the Washington Post reports.
— A federal judge has sentenced two men to prison for attempting to smuggle teens into the U.S. to work as slaves at an Ohio egg farm, the AP reports.
THAT'S ALL FOR MA! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop your host and the rest of the team a line: cboudreau@politico.com and @ceboudreau; jhopkinson@politico.com and @jennyhops; hbottemiller@politico.com and @hbottemiller; mkorade@politico.com and @mjkorade; and jhuffman@politico.com and @jsonhuffman. You can also follow @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Ag on Twitter.
