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Climate key will be ensuring policies are 'beneficial
to the farmer,' Boozman stresses.
Closely divided Congress increases prospects for good
policy, lawmaker predicts.
Boozman warns on potential WOTUS return, heavy-handed
climate moves.
Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman
(R-Ark.) was upbeat about prospects for bipartisan ag policy
initiatives on climate, animal diseases and acting on lessons
learned from COVID-19 impacts on the supply chain during a
Wednesday (January 27) appearance at the International Dairy Foods
Association's (IDFA) virtual Dairy Forum 2021 event.
Boozman discussed key ag policy issues with IDFA President and
CEO Michael Dykes.
Bipartisanship will help deliver good
policy
Former Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) "did a
tremendous job" and worked closely with then Ranking Member and now
Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). Boozman said, adding he expects
the dynamic to continue as he and Stabenow lead the panel.
Ag policy issues are "not so much Republican and Democrat by any
means, it's regional agriculture, it's different commodities and
things," Boozman explained, saying the 2018 Farm Bill is a good
example of broad bipartisan legislation that balanced those
interests.
"Everybody has different needs, if we can't get the agriculture
community together as a whole, it just simply doesn't work. And so,
as a result of that, we did a good job, I think in the [2018 Farm
Bill], getting that done," Boozman said. He pointed to the record
number of yes votes the measure received in both chambers of
Congress.
Besides Stabenow, Boozman said he has a good relationship with
House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) and
Ranking Member G.T. Thompson (R-Penn.). "The good news is I think
we can work together very, very well." He added that also being a
member of the Senate Appropriations Committee has helped him forge
relationships there to promote policies like additional aid for the
ag sector in recent stimulus packages.
Boozman believes the 50-50 split in the Senate and new power sharing
agreement "makes it such that I think we're going to
get a lot of good things done," and predicted that 2021 could prove
to be a great year for advancing ag policy priorities.
COVID-19 lessons, trade and climate
One of the lessons from COVID-19 for the food and ag sectors is
that the supply chain is pretty fragile, Boozman acknowledged. He
said addressing the weaknesses revealed by the pandemic is "one of
the things we need to look at." He noted the bifurcated nature of
the foodservice and retail food supply chains was something "none
of us really understood exactly" prior to the pandemic, and that
issue will be one focus of efforts going forward.
The pandemic also underscored the importance of animal disease
efforts, Boozman said. "We want to make sure that we're doing what
we need to do, to prevent a similar situation amongst our animals
in the future" from diseases like swine flu and foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD). Industry cooperation is a key, he added, telling the
group "you're in a position to help us greatly in that regard."
Trade is another issue that is important, Boozman stressed,
saying the ag committee is "going to do all that we can to protect
the markets that we've got and create new markets in the
future."
Dykes raised the issue of climate policy, noting the dairy
sector "has done some tremendous things to prepare for climate
change" including its pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by
2050.
Asked for his views of climate policy efforts, Boozman agreed
with Dykes that "the key is that agriculture does benefit" from
improvements made in areas including carbon emissions. "I think we
all agree, that for all kinds of reasons, we need to address
climate, it's the right thing to do," he added.
Boozman discussed his vision and concerns relative to potential
climate policies.
"I want it to be voluntary, I don't want a bunch of mandates on
farmers that drive the cost up even higher — then you're going
to get increased consolidation." He expressed concerns with efforts
that might, for example, link crop insurance premiums with climate
activities.
Boozman said he is committed to seeing that any climate policies
adopted reward farmers, rather than "one size fits all" programs
focused on mandates and penalties for non-compliance.
Similarly, Boozman said another concern for him is the return of
the Obama-era "Waters of the US" (WOTUS) rule, which he suggested
is one example of heavy-handed policies that are "all about just
controlling land use out of Washington."
Posted 28 January 2021 by Richard Morrison, Writer/Editor, IHS Markit
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