Farm bill focus begins for National Potato Council
The next farm bill is coming into focus for the National Potato Council and other specialty crop groups.
“We're already up and running with the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance,” said Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council. The first meeting of the alliance occurred during the annual Potato Expo, held in early January in Anaheim, Calif., with some alliance members on-site and others joining virtually. The current farm bill expires in 2023.
“We’re really going to get rolling in earnest with all of the various working groups,” Quarles said, noting issues such as trade, nutrition programs and block grants grabbing the focus of the alliance.
Quarles said the midterm election in November could change congressional leadership from Democratic to Republican. If that happens, there also will be changes in the Farm Bill process, of course, but Quarles said work on industry priorities is essential now.
“There is a bit of uncertainty out there, but the worst thing we can do from our perspective is not be prepared,” he said. “If the train starts to move, we better be ready, and we want to be well in front of it.”
Much of the specialty crop industry is concerned about high freight rates and tight truck availability, Quarles said. While there is no “magic wand” the government can wave, Quarles said the government can do some things to help ease bottlenecks.
The NPC is concerned that the federal government is putting new burdens on truckers seeking to come into the business relating to the process of obtaining a commercial driver license, or CDL.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration oversees the new regulations, which mandate that entry-level drivers of commercial motor vehicles must now complete minimum federal training requirements before being permitted to take certain CDL tests.
A key issue for the NPC is tax policy, and Quarles said potato growers are wary that Congress may attempt to pass tax increases in a reconciliation bill that would affect U.S. growers.
“Our organization and a number of different ag organizations strongly oppose that,” he said.
With inflation heating up, more members of Congress are concluding that another big injection of government money into the economy may be the wrong thing to do.
The government doesn’t have too many options to assist in solving issues such as port bottlenecks, Quarles said. However, the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed into law will make long-term critical investments in roads, rails and seaports.
“We’re an export-dependent commodity, like a lot of specialty crops, and having a competitive infrastructure to springboard those exports is really important,” he said. While the investments may take decades for full effect, the infrastructure investments are positive, he said.
The specialty crop community and the NPC continue to work for guestworker program reform and immigration reform for ag workers.
The House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, but the Senate also has to move.
“I don't think the administration, through its regulatory process, has got a lot of ability to really solve that H-2A labor issue,” Quarles said, speaking of the H-2A temporary agricultural program, which allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. “It is going to be Congress.”
While some folks in agriculture are waiting for the “perfect” bill to be advanced, however, Quarles said that isn’t likely.
“I've been doing this a long time, and I still haven't seen a perfect bill on anything,” he said. “I think we are going to have to address this, like we address farm bills, where they start out deeply imperfect and we try to improve them and then hopefully get something workable to the finish line.”
If progress isn’t made this year, growers face the risk of another sizable increase in the H-2A wage rate next year.
“If you don't have any idea what your wages are going to be starting the year, how can you plan your business when a huge amount of your cost is labor?” Quarles said, noting that big wage hikes make it hard for growers to stay competitive.
In terms of potato trade relations with Canada, the USDA recently opened up access to Puerto Rico for Prince Edward Island, or PEI, potato exporters. Canada in November had suspended exports to the U.S. out of concern for the potato wart disease.
“Puerto Rico as a first step (to begin trade with PEI) made a lot of sense because it's an island and served by ocean freight and you're not going through mainland U.S.,” Quarles said. He said extensive testing is needed to make sure where the disease is and where it isn’t.
Quarles said there has been a very substantial decline in soil testing for potato wart disease in PEI over the last five years. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has said that it is going to restore testing and even go farther than before, he said.
“We support that very strongly, and we're hopeful that, as soon as they can get the data in and clear fields, then everyone can get back to business,” Quarles said.
