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NASDA sets and amends policy during its annual meeting

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture members set and amended policy during the 2022 Annual Meeting Thursday in New York.

Newly Elected NASDA President Doug Miyamoto, director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, discussed a policy amendment to improve disaster relief.

“What we’ve seen during the pandemic has been some gaps in the supply chain and some gaps that became apparent in the farm bill as well. There were a couple of these policy amendments that came forward that hopefully will address some of that,” he says. “One of them that comes to mind for me was a change to a policy amendment regarding some gaps that became apparent in disaster response. We know that, especially out West where I’m from, there are some natural disasters that come about and we’re not able to reach our farmers and ranchers to the degree that we would like to with the speed we would like to as well. We have some specific asks to fill in some of those gaps to make that assistance immediately available.”

RJ Karney, senior director of public policy, says members will be pursuing an increase in federal funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

“NASDA is now going to be working with USDA to establish a formal process to allow eligible products to join the Specialty Crop Block Program, but I think what’s most instrumental within that policy that passed was an increase in funding,” he says. “This is one of those programs that we’ve consistently seen underfunded and oversubscribed and we need to ensure it’s a workable program and so an increase in funding is something that NASDA’s going to be pushing forward within the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Being able to establish how new products (programs) can get on the eligibility list is going to be another process that we’ll work closely with the USDA on.”

He says members are also urging the USDA and Congress to ensure there is long-term funding available to support rural mental health programs.  

“NASDA received $28 million in 2021 for state departments of agriculture to set up mental health facilities and programming and education throughout their states and work in close tandem with the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture,” he says. “Our members, during the business meeting on Thursday, decided that they’ve been able to put those dollars to enormous use to help farmers and ranchers who are facing mental health issues, suicide, and making sure there’s help for them.”  

Members amended the organization’s rural mental health policy to read: NASDA urges the USDA and NIFA to make long term grant funding available exclusively to state departments of agriculture to combat farm stress. Specifically, NASDA encourages Congress to fund additional noncompetitive grants supporting Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network state department of agriculture projects.

NASDA CEO Ted McKinney says members are also supportive of sustained grazing land permitting.

“There seems to be the beginning of a movement where those who offer the permits on grazing lands perhaps don’t want to offer permits of any sorts,” he says. “We’ve found for decades upon decades that grazing is an outstanding use. It’s environmentally sound and it permits a robust industry and so we’re calling for the permits to be granted as we understood the law to be.”

And, McKinney says Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is top of mind for state ag leaders.

“Let’s keep going and improve further on the advent of HPAI and if you wanted to extend that to threats like African Swine Fever(ASF) or Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), terrific, the same things would apply,” he says.

Click here for more information on NASDA’s policy work.