Farm Bill 2023 Drives Up the Heat in House Ag Committee Hearing

The initial Farm Bill 2023 hearing was held earlier this week, as the House Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee reviewed conservation programs.
The initial Farm Bill 2023 hearing was held earlier this week, as the House Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee reviewed conservation programs.
(Farm Journal)

With 2022 legislation penned into action on Capitol Hill, 2023 policy discussions have only just begun. Projecting agendas in the 21st century means keeping an eye out for specifics on climate and technology, as they are often what runs the gavel.

Farm Bill

The original 2023 farm bill hearing was held earlier this week as the House Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee reviewed conservation programs.

In his opening statements, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) set the tone for the meeting, saying “a better, more sustainable future won’t come from the harsh, scolding voices of the naysayers.”

Jim Wiesemeyer, Pro Farmer policy analyst, says the session appeared to focus more on concerns by Republican lawmakers over a potential push for more climate-oriented efforts relative to conservation programs. 

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) hopes to expand climate-related efforts under the venerable Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) by finding ways to increase interest and enrollment in the program, says Zach Ducheneaux, FSA administrator.

Terry Cosby, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administrator, echoed Ducheneaux’s message, pointing to NRCS’s efforts to bolster climate-smart agriculture.

House Ag republicans have “relatively high odds” of taking control of the committee in the next Congress in 2023, Wiesemeyer says, which is likely why they are seizing this moment to air out the democratic push for climate provisions.

“It just shows there’s not even bipartisanship in the agricultural committees where there used to be all the time,” he adds.

Next week, House Agriculture subcommittees will be joined by Robert Bonnie, USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation and a leader of USDA’s climate-smart efforts, for a second farm policy hearing.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) recently said the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better plan is “dead as a doornail.” 

Wiesemeyer believes the only thing dead about the plan is its name, saying it does boast support for renewable diesel opportunities. He says the “robust” projection for future demand of soybean oil, vegetable oil and palm oil in the use of sustainable aviation fuel is coming from the Energy Information Administration, which isn’t usually aggressive in their forecast approach. 

“I’m hearing pushback from some in the industry who think if this carbon mitigation program goes through, the airlines are going to want to pounce on sustainable aviation fuel,” Wiesemeyer says. “I think sustainable aviation fuel could be a potential mega change in the years ahead that would affect the number of soybean acres grown in this country.”

Ethanol and Electric Vehicles

Earlier this week, Iowa House passed a bill that will push the ethanol blend rate from 10% to 15% across the state as “unleaded 88.” The bill follows a letter 12 U.S. Senators penned to Michael Regan, EPA administrator, pleading his agency maintain the 15 billion gallons outlined in the renewable fuel standard.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an “AgriTalk” segment last week the 15 billion gallons is a “solid number” and his department doesn’t expect EPA will approve many exemptions, if any.

Wiesemeyer says electric vehicles often trail the ethanol blending conversation. He does see electric vehicles getting a stake in the game in coming years, but our electric grid isn’t prepared to withstand the power load needed for an electric vehicle system, nor do we have the mining technology to meet the battery power demands.

“After we withdrew out of Afghanistan, China immediately went there,” Wiesemeyer says. They’re already starting to develop the critical minerals like lithium, cadmium, nickel that Afghanistan has. We should have stayed over there just to mine those minerals.”

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