In recent months, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has suggested Congress should use the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC), Charter Act to find a “creative way” to raise reference prices in the next farm bill. But Vilsack has not provided extended comments on his suggestion.
Veteran farm policy sources say there are a couple of ways Vilsack’s suggestion could be taken. They include:
1. Take away the Ag Secretary’s discretionary authority under the Charter Act and use that “savings” to permanently beef up reference prices. However, that does not guarantee a lot of savings, unless the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) re-evaluates how it forecasts CCC spending. Link to a Southern Ag Today article on this topic.
Would Vilsack really want his hands tied relative to tapping CCC? He complained when congressional appropriators took away his authority before.
2. Congress could grant the Ag Secretary the authority to raise reference prices using his authority under the CCC. But analysts note he has full authority under CCC Charter Act Sec. 5(a) to “Support the prices of agricultural commodities (other than tobacco) through loans, purchases, payments, and other operations.” This is part of the authority the appropriators once took away. So, Vilsack has this at his disposal already as he has very broad authority in this regard. Some argue he could raise reference prices, not that Congress would endorse that approach because some Republicans fret he would likely do it in a very partisan way like he has done with recent ERP payments.
Bottom line: So, what is Vilsack trying to do relative to his comments which are not very detailed. Some speculate he is trying to force House/Senate Republicans into a box where they are limited to existing CCC spending to fund Title 1. They say he is doing it to distract from efforts to (1) pull the IRA/Climate Bill funding inside the farm bill and (2) reign in SNAP Thrifty Food Plan adjustments in the future.
Get more farm policy news and insights from Pro Farmer - start a 1-month trial subscription.
