| | | | |  | | By Grace Yarrow | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Marcia Brown and Meredith Lee Hill
| | — Lawmakers are calling for more enforcement of a 1944 water treaty as Mexico is failing to keep up its end of the bargain. — House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) made his sharpest comments yet amid the growing battle over the House farm bill, which he’s set to unveil in the coming weeks. — EXCLUSIVE: Advocates plan to blitz farm country in a bid to include checkoff reforms in the farm bill. HAPPY MONDAY, APRIL 22. For the first time (!): I’m your host, Grace Yarrow. It’s Earth Day! Send tips to gyarrow@politico.com and follow us at @Morning_Ag.
| | A message from CropLife America: U.S. farmers’ access to pesticides, which are critical for growing crops in an affordable and sustainable way, is in jeopardy because of misguided state regulatory efforts. Over 360 agricultural and other groups support the bipartisan Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act to help the U.S. correct course while still allowing for local use case restrictions. Find out how the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act protects America’s farmers. | | | | | WATER WOES: Mexico’s slow delivery of water to the United States under the terms of a 1944 treaty is prompting lawmakers to explore new enforcement options. Under the treaty, Mexico is obligated to deliver an average of 350,000 acre-feet of water annually over a five-year cycle. Mexico has delayed the supply of this cycle’s water until the end of the cycle next year. The treaty dictates how Mexico provides the U.S. water from six Mexican tributaries that feed into the Rio Grande and the U.S. in exchange delivers water from the Colorado River. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) isn’t ruling out sanctions against Mexico until the water is given, she told MA. Mexico is now behind on water payments to the U.S. by about 750,000 acre-feet of water, she said. “I think we should look at all of the options and see what would best motivate them,” De La Cruz said. Context: A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, especially those who represent agricultural areas near the border, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month to urge the administration to create a more concrete plan to hold Mexico to its end of the treaty. De La Cruz said the administration is gearing up to release that plan soon. Though Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said he’s seen conflict over the water treaty for “so many years,” that current tensions are “more severe.” He’s also pushing for a more proactive approach going forward, with more water conservation measures and appropriations for enforcement through the International Boundary and Water Commission. Unintended consequences: Sanctions and elevated retaliation could have adverse implications on US-Mexico relations, from trade to migration, Cuellar warned. “Water is a very important issue, but there are other considerations.” Operators of the last known sugar mill in Texas said they were forced to shut down due to the lack of water in February, prompting congressional concern. De La Cruz emphasized that the missing water is also necessary for the Texas citrus industry. Thompson told MA that weak federal enforcement of the treaty will continue to affect consumers and farmers. “I don't think we need policy changes,” he said. “The folks who are responsible for oversight and assuring compliance need to do their job. That would be the administration.” The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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| | RISING TENSIONS: Chair Thompson said that reading an opinion piece penned by House Ag ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) was the “first time” he’d heard of Democrats’ opposition to key aspects of the Republican farm bill proposal. “It’s unfortunate committee Democratic leadership are negotiating in the press,” Thompson told MA. “What matters is whether Democrats want to participate in a farm bill, and we haven’t heard from minority leadership in weeks.” “They still have no plan, and that’s why their rank and file members are upset,” he added. Scott said in the opinion piece that Thompson’s farm bill plans are “abandoning bipartisanship.” But House Dems haven’t put forward an alternative framework to Thompson’s — and we’ve reported Democrats have struggled over a potential counteroffer. Scott instead called on the Republican chair to stop his current push on the farm bill with just weeks to spare. Timeline: Thompson is looking at a committee markup on a day sometime between May 14 and 17 or the following week between May 21 and 24, as we've reported. The ranking member specifically called out the GOP’s proposal to limit future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan and opposition to using internal USDA Commodity Credit Corporation funding. On the Hill last week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack implored lawmakers not to restrict his authority over the CCC as a way to pay for the farm bill. Key Scott departure: In another wrinkle for Democrats — just weeks to go before the pivotal markup and with negotiations over the bill still live — Scott’s personal chief of staff Catherine Harney has left his office, three people familiar with the matter tell Meredith. The move is a huge shift for Scott’s team. As we’ve reported, Harney also held immense control over the Ag Committee’s workings. Some Democratic panel members grew frustrated over the years that they were often only allowed to talk to Harney about key committee issues, rather than Scott himself.
| | | | A message from CropLife America:   | | | CHECKOFF REFORM: In a series of events across half a dozen states, farm groups are planning to demand reform to the checkoff program — a controversial quasi-government system some farmers have for years fought to reign in. Farmers are required to pay into checkoff funds for commodities including beef, pork, popcorn and Christmas trees, which funds advertising and research for those commodities. (“Got Milk?” is one of the most famous checkoff promotional campaigns.) While supporters say that checkoffs support farmers and fund critical research, critics say that the programs mislead consumers and lack transparency about where the money goes. Advocates hope that the reform bill, the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act, will be included in the farm bill. “Addressing misuse of funds in government checkoff programs serves as a pivotal step toward advocacy and change, empowering our community to pave the way for a fairer agricultural landscape,” said JohnElla Holmes Reece, executive director of Kansas Black Farmers Association, one of the groups endorsing the campaign. Details: Planned around the expected markup of the House’s version of the farm bill, farmers aim to host events in Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Alabama and North Dakota in May and June. Organizers expect 40 to 60 attendees at each event including members of Congress and their staff. Farm Action, an anti-monopoly farm group, is funding and organizing the “Enough is Enough” tour with the support of endorsements from 16 other groups including the American Grassfed Association, Dakota Resource Council, Pennsylvania Farmers Union and R-CALF USA.
| | | | POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced legislation banning junk food advertisements that target children and strengthening federal regulations on ultra-processed foods. — The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning group with strong influence among Hill Democrats, published a policy paper opposing Thompson’s farm bill proposal to limit future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan. — The federal government obligated $33 billion for domestically-produced food between the 2018 and 2022 fiscal years, according to a recently released GAO report. — Farmers urged FTC Chair Lina Khan to block the sale of the Iowa Fertilizer Co. at a listening session in Iowa Saturday. (Des Moines Register) — China is imposing a 43.5 percent tariff on U.S. imports of propionic acid, a chemical widely used in foods, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. THAT’S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: gyarrow@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com.
| | A message from CropLife America: 360+ agricultural groups back the bipartisan Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act to protect our food supply, farmers’ livelihoods, and the environment. Some states are trying to enact pesticide labeling requirements that directly contradict scientific guidance from the EPA, jeopardizing farmers’ access to pesticides—a critical input for growing crops.
If not addressed, this will create an unworkable patchwork of regulations that directly impacts the availability of these essential products for farmers—lowering yields, increasing farmers’ costs, threatening domestic food security, and ultimately, raising prices for consumers, while erasing decades of conservation gains. The Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act ensures these products remain available while not affecting state and localities' ability to restrict pesticide use, or any individual’s rights in the legal process. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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