Inside D.C.

And another thing…

The laundry list of unanswered questions and unaddressed Trump administration agricultural issues gets longer by the week.  None are particularly earthshaking, but all are vexing in that they’re creating uncertainty in production agriculture and agribusiness.  The following are some musings on some of these unresolved issues:

• Word this week is the White House has finally completed the paperwork package for ag secretary nominee former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, and conveyed said package to the Senate Agriculture Committee. It only took seven weeks.  At this writing, panel ranking member Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s office hadn’t seen the complete package, particularly the ethics report in which she has particular interest.  Stabenow is not expected to pillory Perdue – arguably the most popular and least controversial of Trump’s cabinet nominees – during his committee confirmation hearing, now expected to be held late this month.  The Environmental Working Group (EWG), for whom the November 8 election results were the enviro activists’ worst nightmare, have tried to throw shade on the two-term governor to no avail.

• Bless Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, for being the most regular and accurate source of ag-related news out of the Trump White House. Generally, Roberts shares what he knows after one of this semi-regular meetings with Vice President Mike Pence, or after one of his phone calls to other nabobs in the administration.  He’s also the man who this week let us know that Pence, when asked when Perdue’s paperwork would be sent to Roberts, told the ag panel chair he thought the paperwork had been sent.

• Rep. Mike Conaway (R, TX), the take-no-prisoners chair of the House Agriculture Committee, is well into his panel’s series of “listening sessions” to find out what works and what doesn’t in the 2014 Farm Bill. Conaway is also spending a lot of time and influence in convincing House and Senate budgeteers and appropriators that the roughly $100 billion over 10 years slashed from the 2014 Farm Bill means the omnibus agriculture package not only should not be targeted for further contributions to the gods of budget reconciliation, perhaps the money men and women of Congress should consider increasing the next Farm Bill’s price tag given how much the current farm economy stinks.  By the way, Conaway will also reassure any who’ll listen that Trump wants a strong Farm Bill and he wants it on time.

• I want to see Trump’s nominee for FDA commissioner. I shall abandon all hope should the president nominate a hedge fund manager, an academic or some other non-scientist to the post.  Running the federal agency which regulates the safety of 70-80% of the food we eat, while simultaneously reviewing and approving human and animal medicines, as well as regulating animal foods, medical devices, cosmetics, tobacco, dietary supplements and the labeling of all of the above, needs a hands-on scientist/medico, and preferably someone who’s been down the FDA rabbit hole before.  This is one agency where on-the-job training never works.

• The fog obscuring the Trump administration’s trade policy is beginning to lift now that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has been confirmed. We know from Ross, for instance, the formal renegotiation of the 22-year-old North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) won’t begin until late this year.  Ross has confirmed and U.S. Special Trade Representative (USTR) nominee Robert Lighthizer seconds the strong unlikelihood of President Trump reconsidering U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Nevertheless, the U.S. shipping a representative to Chile next week to sit in on a meeting of the other 11 TPP nations as they try to figure out which way to turn.  China and South Korea, not TPP players, will be there as well.

• Trump plans to meet with production agriculture and agribusiness leaders to talk trade and do some serious handholding.  Hey, it’s worked with the nation’s major manufacturing and technology companies. There’s no date set, nor is there a guest list, but my strong recommendation to the folks who plan such events is to operate under the “more the merrier” philosophy so as to avoid hurt feelings and bruised egos.