"The meatpackers and Monsanto" seem to "hold Congress these days when it comes to farm policy," David Rogers writes for Politico after picking apart the continuing budget resolution passed to keep the government running through September.
We've written about the packers winning an amendment to avoid plant-closing furloughs of Department of Agriculture meat inspectors, but not about their other victories, as Rogers describes them: denying funds "for implementing reforms sought in the 2008 Farm Bill to provide greater protection for less powerful ranchers and farmers who raise the animals," and "to proceed with rules favored by Western cow-calf operations in their battle with beef packers."
And here's the big one: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, right, is ordered "to rescind regulations adopted last year to protect growers
under contract with the big chicken processors. Even the typically conservative American Farm Bureau opposed this last action. And proponents would argue that the doomed poultry rules were never more than minimal protections for growers, such as requiring 90-day notice before a contract is canceled by a packer," Rogers reports.
The bill also orders Vilsack to help Monsanto and other producers of genetically modified seed avoid the impact of court orders, by "mandating some type of stewardship program under which farmers can continue to plant its seeds as the court fight continues," Rogers notes. USDA said Vilsack has asked his general counsel to review the provision.
The provisions were included in the House appropriations bill for USDA last summer, and the House bill was made part of a House-Senate compromise in December. "All this happened with little or no floor debate and in a period of turmoil for the Senate Appropriations Committee," including the death of its chairman, and the retirement of the Senate agriculture appropriations subcommittee chairman.
"These changes tipped the balance even more toward the National Chicken Council, representing the big poultry processors," Rogers writes. He notes that chicken is big in the states of key Democratic senators such as Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and says "The biggest player may have been Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), left, a battle-scarred veteran of
the House GOP leadership who is now rebuilding his power base in the
Senate."
All this disgusted Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), right, "one of the few farmers in Congress," Rogers reports. But "Tester waited too long to be a major force," couldn't get votes on his amendments and all he could do was make a speech saying, “We’re back to square one with the big meatpackers calling the shots.” (Read more) UPDATE: Farm and food columnist Alan Guebert writes on the Daily Yonder, "Big Meat and Big Seed got new, almost extra-legal powers without so
much as a Congressional hearing, debate or whimper. That’s impressive.
That’s power. And that’s wrong."
We've written about the packers winning an amendment to avoid plant-closing furloughs of Department of Agriculture meat inspectors, but not about their other victories, as Rogers describes them: denying funds "for implementing reforms sought in the 2008 Farm Bill to provide greater protection for less powerful ranchers and farmers who raise the animals," and "to proceed with rules favored by Western cow-calf operations in their battle with beef packers."
The bill also orders Vilsack to help Monsanto and other producers of genetically modified seed avoid the impact of court orders, by "mandating some type of stewardship program under which farmers can continue to plant its seeds as the court fight continues," Rogers notes. USDA said Vilsack has asked his general counsel to review the provision.
The provisions were included in the House appropriations bill for USDA last summer, and the House bill was made part of a House-Senate compromise in December. "All this happened with little or no floor debate and in a period of turmoil for the Senate Appropriations Committee," including the death of its chairman, and the retirement of the Senate agriculture appropriations subcommittee chairman.
"These changes tipped the balance even more toward the National Chicken Council, representing the big poultry processors," Rogers writes. He notes that chicken is big in the states of key Democratic senators such as Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and says "The biggest player may have been Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), left, a battle-scarred veteran of
the House GOP leadership who is now rebuilding his power base in the
Senate."
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