Capital Update – For the Week Ending Oct. 4, 2024

NEWS 10/04/24

NPPC secures Ninth Circuit victory defending producers' freedom to farm | labor strikes end at ports | NPPC releases polling data, launches ad campaign on Prop. 12 | as Farm Bill lapses, NPPC continues push for Prop. 12 fix | NPPC partners with USDA, EPA to hold ANPC phosphorus workshop | NPPC welcomes new staff | Capital Update continues on modified schedule as Congress takes break

NPPC Secures 9th Circuit Victory Defending Producers' Freedom to Farm

What happened: In a significant victory for the U.S. pork industry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, rejected a lawsuit from several activist groups who sought to impose sweeping changes to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) rules.

Last month, NPPC participated in oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit, successfully urging the court to reject the baseless lawsuit. At that hearing, the Ninth Circuit expressed frustration and significant concerns with Food & Water Watch's approach and candor.

In its decision, the court made clear that EPA's preferred approach to regulating livestock production, including the formation of its Animal Agriculture Water Quality Subcommittee, which includes representatives of the pork industry, to study water quality issues is the appropriate path for EPA and does not warrant throwing out decades of established law. As the court explained, EPA "deemed it prudent to first seek information about how best to tackle the problem before directing resources towards" new regulations. The court declared this process, which NPPC has been a close partner with the Biden Administration, "reasonable and hardly at odds with the Clean Water Act's requirements," as Food & Water Watch claimed.

Why it matters: This baseless lawsuit sought to use the court to upend livestock production across the country. By attacking core notions of due process and fundamental civil rights, including changing the burden of proof for proving violations of the Clean Water Act and having judges reject the clear intent of Congress to not regulate rainwater running across agricultural fields, these activists sought to put pork producers around the country out of business.

NPPC's take: For decades, the pork industry has demonstrated leadership in addressing environmental challenges and has maintained successful working relationships with federal, state, and local regulators to ensure their farms are constructed and maintained as zero-discharge operations. Major changes to long-standing federal laws can only come from congressional action, and it is inappropriate for these activist groups to seek to rewrite federal law through the courts when Congress has consistently rejected their outlandish demands.

Labor Strikes End at Ports

What happened: Late Thursday, East Coast dockworkers reached a tentative labor agreement, ending their three-day strike.

Dockworkers walked off the job when their union - the International Longshoremen's Association - and port terminal operators, represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance, failed to reach a new labor agreement. Both sides agreed to prolong the existing contract and will continue negotiating until mid-January.

Within the past week, NPPC twice urged President Biden to take immediate action to resolve the port situation, including in letters from 200+ agricultural organizations and 270+ supply chain stakeholders.

NPPC's take: NPPC is pleased to see an agreement reached, as approximately 45% of U.S. pork exported by ocean freight goes from ports on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Much of U.S. agriculture is experiencing lower commodity prices and financial strain, and these transportation issues could have exacerbated the situation.

Why it matters: The agricultural groups pointed out in their letter that "the agriculture industry relies on a three-legged stool to get products to market: trucking, rail, and water, including barges and ocean-going vessels. A balanced and efficient operation of all three is essential to moving our products throughout the United States, North America, and abroad."

NPPC Releases Polling Data, Launches Ad Campaign on Proposition 12

What happened: With Congress on recess so lawmakers can campaign for re-election, NPPC is keeping the pressure on Capitol Hill to address the adverse effects on the U.S. pork industry of California's Proposition 12.

NPPC recently commissioned a poll, which showed that three-quarters of voters are stressed by increasing food costs and a majority want to see Congress prohibit states from setting farm standards that apply beyond their borders. The polling also shows a wide gap with deep support in favor of Congress taking action on the farm standards issue. The presidential battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were asked about food prices and whether Congress or states should set animal welfare standards.

NPPC Tuesday launched an advertising campaign that spotlights the economic and production problems prompted by the 2018 ballot initiative, which bans in California the sale of pork from hogs born to sows raised in housing anywhere that does not meet the state's arbitrary standards.

The ads introduce audiences to "Cindy," a hard-working food truck owner who has provided delicious pork barbeque from the "Perkins Family Pig Farm" to her community for over a decade. Prop. 12 forces Cindy to raise prices on her valued customers until she can no longer turn a profit or keep up with payments to her suppliers, including Perkins Pig Farm. As she shutters her business, we learn the Perkins Pig Farm has fallen to foreclosure. The ad depicts the challenges of Prop. 12, highlighting how this scenario could soon become a reality across America.

NPPC's take: NPPC has been lobbying congressional lawmakers to fix Prop. 12 by including it in the next farm bill. The House Agriculture Committee has such a provision in its farm bill, which still must be approved by the full House; the Senate has yet to take action on its version of the farm bill.

Why it matters: Prop. 12, which went into effect Jan. 1, has already led to higher prices for pork across California, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and higher production costs for producers around the country, according to NPPC.

As Farm Bill Lapses, NPPC Continues Push for Prop. 12 Fix

What happened: The 2018 Farm Bill expired Sept. 30, and a new bill won't be considered until sometime after the Nov. 5 elections. Some of the programs in the 2018 agricultural blueprint, which was extended in September 2023, lapsed with the end of the 2024 fiscal year (Sept. 30), while others are continuing through the end of the calendar year.

NPPC's take: NPPC is disappointed that Congress recessed without passing a new farm bill. Simply extending the current bill won't address the pressing economic challenges farmers and rural communities face. Pork producers need a new farm bill to ensure that rural America gets the assistance it needs to thrive, and that includes a fix to California Prop. 12.

Why it matters: The five-year farm bill sets farm, conservation, forestry, and nutrition policy and authorizes various agricultural programs, including ones related to foreign animal disease preparation and prevention and export promotion.

NPPC Partners with USDA, EPA to Hold ANPC Phosphorus Workshop

What happened: The Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC), a coalition of agricultural groups founded and managed in part by NPPC, held a major workshop on managing phosphorus in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than 125 representatives from state and national commodity groups, state farm bureaus, state and national agribusiness associations, consultants, academics, and agricultural companies participated in the workshop in Washington, D.C.

Phosphorus is essential for plant and animal growth and is necessary to maintain profitable crop and livestock production. However, it can increase the biological productivity of surface waters, accelerating the natural aging of lakes and streams brought on by nutrient enrichment.

Recent U.S. Geological Survey data on nitrogen and phosphorus in the Gulf of Mexico indicated that phosphorus load trends are not tracking downward similar to nitrogen. At the ANPC workshop, attendees explored the reasons for that and looked at the science that underlies nutrient issues. They also discussed current and emerging science, the body of knowledge on phosphorus losses linked to non-point sources, and better ways to communicate observed trends and what they mean for nutrient reduction efforts.

NPPC's take: NPPC is one of the founders of the ANPC and continues to invest significant time and funds to ensure it remains a resource for pork producers and all of agriculture when addressing water quality issues at the local, state, and federal levels. Several state pork councils are also directly involved in the ANPC.

Why it matters: The ANPC, consisting of more than 40 state and national agriculture trade associations and agribusiness members, works with state and federal agencies and members of the scientific community to help agriculture protect water quality in the United States.

It helps agriculture address nutrient loss challenges and bridges the gap between farmers, lawmakers, and federal agencies to expedite improvements to water quality - while allowing farmers to produce food, feed, fuel, and fiber for the nation and the world.

ANPC phosphorous workshop attendees gather in Washington, D.C.

NPPC Welcomes New Staff

What happened: In its Washington public policy office, NPPC hired Stetson Bryson as manager of congressional relations. Stetson has spent the last three years on Capitol Hill, as a senior legislative assistant to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and a legislative aide to Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX).

Stetson was raised in the swine industry on his family's finishing operation in Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree in animal science business from Texas Tech University.

In its Iowa headquarters, NPPC hired Jacob Sterle as its new director of industry resource development.

Sterle worked for BarnTools as a customer support specialist. Sterle earned bachelor's degrees in animal sciences and international agriculture and an MBA in business administration from Iowa State University.

Capital Update Continues on Modified Schedule as Congress Takes Break

Capital Update will continue to be issued on a modified schedule during the Congressional recess, as NPPC continues work on important pork industry issues. It will resume regular publication on Friday, Nov. 15.

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CAFO Rule | California Proposition 12 | Capital Update | Capital Update | Commerce | Environment & Energy | News | Stewardship | Trade | Water quality