| | | | | |  | | By Ryan McCrimmon | Presented by EDF Action | Editor's Note: Weekly Agriculture is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Agriculture policy newsletter, Morning Agriculture. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | | HAPPY TURKEY WEEK! Three days until Thanksgiving. Your host looks forward to hunkering down in his apartment, watching football and making his second attempt at cooking a turkey. But first… President-elect Joe Biden will name his first Cabinet nominees on Tuesday, and he's promising that some of the picks (like his choice of Treasury Secretary) will be broadly appealing to Democrats of all stripes. That might be tricky to pull off when he picks someone to run the Agriculture Department. As MA readers know, there's already a heated debate among food and farm groups about who should get the job — including a fierce backlash from progressives against former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a moderate Democrat who is considered one of the frontrunners to oversee USDA under the Biden administration. Amid criticism from the left that she's too friendly with big agribusinesses and fossil fuel interests, Heitkamp is largely keeping her head down and leaning into her centrist credentials, our Helena Bottemiller Evich and Liz Crampton write this a.m. The former Senate Ag member who lost her seat in 2018 has since launched a bipartisan climate initiative, collected plaudits from Republicans and worked quietly to maintain her ties to Democratic ag insiders.
| | A message from EDF Action: American farmers steward two-thirds of our nation's land, all while producing food, fuel and fiber. By adopting and maintaining conservation practices on that land, farmers can also improve soil health, protect water quality, sequester carbon and reduce risk from extreme weather.
Ultimately, building agricultural resilience is good for farmers, their communities and our country. American farms are counting on Congress' support for sustainable agriculture. Learn more at AmericanFarming.org. | | |
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WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 22: U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) arrives at the U.S. Capitol for a closed briefing August 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Senators attended a closed briefing on election security with FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) | Alex Wong/Getty Images | On a conference call with rural organizers earlier this month, including the Biden campaign's rural engagement director, Heitkamp praised the campaign's appeal to rural voters and said she wants to see those efforts continue under the Biden administration and into future elections. — "We cannot let the Republicans do 60, 70 [percent] in rural areas and expect our Democratic party to survive," she told participants. She also joined a Zoom meeting last week with sustainable farming advocates and anti-hunger groups, including some who have publicly opposed her potential nomination. Heitkamp didn't directly address the criticism aimed at her by progressives, but she "demonstrated a great command" of USDA's wide-ranging mission, according to another participant on the call. | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION : President-elect Biden has named his chief of staff and several other key White House positions. What's next? Treasury secretary? Secretary of State? These and other crucial staffing decisions made in the coming days send clear-cut signals about President-elect Biden's administration agenda and priorities. Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition. Subscribe today. | | | | | ANOTHER TOP AG JOB UP FOR GRABS: Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), one of two senior Democrats jockeying publicly for the House Agriculture gavel next year, is out with a list of lawmaker endorsements for his bid, including a handful of House Ag members, Liz reported on Friday. Costa's supporters include some big names within the Democratic Caucus, like House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva; high-profile freshman Rep. Katie Porter; and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a leader on farm labor issues. Many of the endorsements are from Western lawmakers, especially his fellow Californians. Georgia Rep. David Scott also announced his interest in the panel's top job after Chairman Collin Peterson lost his re-election bid earlier this month in his conservative Minnesota district. Peterson is backing Scott to succeed him, citing his seniority on the committee. WELCOME TO YOUR WEEKLY AG REPORT: It's Monday, Nov. 23, and we still can't believe there was a 14-hour wait for the new In-N-Out Burger in Colorado. Send tips to rmccrimmon@politico.com and @ryanmccrimmon, and follow us @Morning_Ag. | 
AP Photo | SMITHFIELD RESOLVES HOG FARM LAWSUITS: Smithfield Foods has settled a series of legal complaints from North Carolina residents who claimed that flies, buzzards and foul odors from nearby hog operations have ruined their quality of life. The Chinese-owned company was previously ordered to pay about $550 million to plaintiffs in cases since 2018, though a federal judge later reduced those amounts because of state limits on punitive damages, Liz reports. Smithfield's contract farms in eastern North Carolina — the top pig producing state after Iowa — have provoked a flood of so-called nuisance lawsuits from neighbors because of noises and smells from the operations, which include large waste storage lagoons. Smithfield and Dominion Energy last year said they were collaborating on a massive project to cover agricultural manure pits and capture gas emissions for energy usage. SESAME ALLERGIES IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The House last week passed legislation from Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) that would add sesame to the list of major allergens, after a long push from advocates to expand consumer protections for an estimated 1.5 million Americans who are allergic to the seed and ingredients made from it. For context: The eight official major food allergens — milk, eggs, fish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and shellfish — must be clearly labeled on food packaging. Sesame is estimated to affect as many people as soy and fish, and it can cause serious allergic reactions. — But it's not subject to the same explicit labeling rules: For example, it can be hidden on the label as a "flavor" or "spice" or in other ingredients like tahini that consumers don't realize is made from sesame. What the bill does: Besides recognizing sesame as a major allergen, the legislation would expand research into allergy treatments and allow the FDA to add other food allergens to the list if they meet certain criteria. What's next: The measure now heads to the Senate, where a companion bill was filed in March with bipartisan support. As always, the provisions could be folded into some sort of year-end legislative package. Meanwhile, the FDA has been weighing regulatory action on its own, after seeking public input starting in 2018. — Earlier this month, the agency published draft guidance urging foodmakers to voluntarily include sesame in allergen labeling. The agency said it received comments indicating that allergic reactions like hives, vomiting, wheezing and anaphylaxis might be occurring because of products with undeclared sesame ingredients. — "Many Americans are allergic or sensitive to sesame, and they need the ability to quickly identify products that might contain sesame," said Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. | | | |   | | | | | | EUROPE EYES TRANSATLANTIC RESET AFTER TRUMP: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she's seeking a broad reset of relations with the U.S. and a "new transatlantic agenda" after years of tension with President Donald Trump's administration, Pro Trade's Gavin Bade writes. Ties between the EU and U.S. have frayed under Trump since he imposed tariffs on European goods and Brussels retaliated with their own duties, as well as plans to tax U.S. tech giants like Amazon and Google. But with Biden set to enter the White House in January, Von der Layen is calling for new cooperation on climate change, technology, reforming the WTO and, of course, confronting the pandemic. The U.K. is also looking ahead to the Biden administration amid ongoing trade talks with the U.S., which London expects won't be completed until after Trump leaves office in less than two months, per Pro Trade's Doug Palmer. For his part, Biden is placing more priority on domestic economic stimulus than international trade agreements. But a U.K. official said it would be an "oversimplification" to assume Biden has "no interest" in a trade deal with London. | | | RACE ROUNDUP: House Ag member T.J. Cox (D-Calif.) is trailing Republican challenger David Valadao in a rematch for the 21st District in California's Central Valley, a major farming region. Valadao, the former congressman and dairy farmer, lost his seat to Cox in 2018. Analyst Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report projected that Valadao has won the race, per the Fresno Bee. 2022 WATCH: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he won't run for North Carolina's open Senate seat in 2022, after Republican Sen. Richard Burr retires at the end of his term, the Raleigh News & Observer reports . Meadows represented the farm state's western 11th District before joining the Trump administration. Someone who is considering a bid for the seat: Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, per POLITICO. | | A message from EDF Action: This is a pivotal moment for American farmers. Profitability has never been more important, but is increasingly difficult to achieve.
As more frequent extreme and variable weather increases production risk, farmers need new solutions for supporting resilient operations and long-term profitability.
Farmers have a long history of innovation and stewardship, and many are turning to conservation practices that pay to manage risk and increase resilience. But they can't do it alone.
Farmers are counting on Congress to provide flexible incentives and tools that make it easier for them to adapt their operations and benefit from delivering conservation solutions.
American farmers are counting on Congress' support for sustainable agriculture. Learn more at AmericanFarming.org. | | | | | | | 
Soybeans | Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo | — Soybean futures hit the highest prices in four years amid dry weather in South America and shrinking U.S. supplies, while corn and wheat contracts also climbed higher last week. Crop prices have surged in recent months as China ramps up ag imports, among other factors. Reuters has the details. — Biden is ramping up his calls for Congress to pass another stimulus package before he's sworn in on Jan. 20, as coronavirus cases spike across the country and states tighten restrictions on schools, restaurants and other businesses. He's backing Democratic leaders' push for about $2 trillion in economic rescue efforts. More from POLITICO. — A court in California last week ruled that the state lacks authority to list four types of bumble bees as endangered species, a win for almond growers and other agricultural interests that sued to block the pending regulatory action. The Center for Food Safety and other groups involved in the case said they hope California will appeal the decision. — Agricultural labor advocates say that farmworkers should be among the first to receive a Covid-19 vaccine when one is available. The coronavirus has spread rapidly among ag workers in California and other major farm states, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reports. THAT'S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: rmccrimmon@politico.com; hbottemiller@politico.com; lcrampton@politico.com; jyearwood@politico.com and pjoshi@politico.com.
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