AgNet Weekly with Sabrina Halvorson

The battle over the EATS Act continues. We started this two-part series last week with Mary-Thomas Hart, Chief Council with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which is in support of the EATS Act. This week we hear from the opposition. Marty Irby, President of Competitive Market Action and Board Secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets tells us why he and his organizations are against the act.

Things are heating up over the EATS Act. Supporters of the bill say the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act would prevent states from regulating farmers and ranchers nationwide. But opponents turned up the fire this week when a bipartisan group of more than 150 lawmakers sent a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and ranking member David Scott (D-GA).

This week and next week, we are focusing on the two sides of the EATS Act. Next week, you’ll hear Sabrina’s  full interview on the opposition with Marty Irby, President of Competitive Market Action and Board Secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets. But we’re starting out this week with a group in favor. On the phone with Sabrina is Mary-Thomas Hart, Chief Council with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. If you want to read the full story with both sides, you can find that on our websites southeastagnet.com and agnetwest.com.

How much of our U.S. ag land should belong to our adversaries?  About three percent of agricultural land in the United States is owned by foreign entities. But U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, says even that may be too much. He’s a cosponsor of the FARM Act, or the Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act. Senator Cramer joins host Sabrina Halvorson on the phone this week to talk about the issue, and why he’s paying close attention to it.

This week host Sabrina Halvorson had the opportunity to meet in person with Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, John Boozman of Arkansas, along with Ranking Member of the Agriculture Appropriations Committee Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota. It was at a Farm Bill roundtable held in Fargo, and hosted by Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. She got to talk with all three of them afterwards. Also joining were the agriculture commissioner of that state, Doug Goehring and fellow farm broadcaster, Rusty Halvorson. Sabrina asks specifically about their take on specialty crops in the farm bill, and whether conservation programs will become mandatory.

The Growing Access to Environmental Sustainability (GATES) Act seeks to reduce barriers that producers face in accessing agricultural conservation programs. Congressman John Duarte, a farmer from California, is on the coalition behind the act. He says current adjusted gross income (AGI) limitations of $900,000 disproportionately limit producers with high input costs from participating in certain USDA conservation-focused programs. The congressman joins host Sabrina Halvorson this week for a discussion about the GATES Act.

This week, Sabrina reported on a proposed amendment to the ag appropriations bill. The amendment states that none of the funds made available by the bill may be used to carry out commodity checkoff programs. Several industry groups came out against the amendment, and she spoke with a representative of one- Vice President of Government Affairs with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Ethan Lane. She also spoke to the Congresswoman who introduced the amendment – Victoria Spartz of Indiana. In this week's AgNet Weekly, you’ll hear first from Ethan Lane with NCBA, and then from Congresswoman Victoria Spartz.

Ethan Lane interview conducted July 24, 2023

Congresswoman Victoria Spartz interview conducted July 25, 2023

Many people in farming already know the benefits of precision agriculture but Curt Blades, Senior Vice President of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) says a new study by the association aims to help the public understand. Blades joins us this week to talk about the benefits of precision agriculture and precision ag in the farm bill. 

Some car makers have decided to not include AM radio in new vehicles. A number of groups have spent months fighting that decision, including emergency management organizations, former members of FEMA, and the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. NAFB president Joe Gill joins us this week to discuss why the organization believes this is an important issue.

Congress is looking into farm labor needs around the nation, but it is a challenging task. The House Agriculture Committee recently announced the creation of the bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group, which will focus on the workforce issues faced by agricultural producers around the nation. Congressman and farmer Doug LaMalfa of California joins host Sabrina Halvorson to discuss the group and the nation’s ag labor needs.

Fruit and vegetable plant breeders who use gene editing are now facing more regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA recently increased oversight of some gene-edited crops and added to the workload and waiting time for those breeders. Dr. Margaret Worthington is an Associate Professor of Horticulture at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and she believes the new requirements will be a bigger problem for researchers in horticulture than for those in row crops, which have more funding for research and research teams. Dr. Worthington joins us on the phone for this week’s AgNet Weekly.