Eye on DC: USDA Grants $50 Million Potato Surplus Commodity Purchase

July 12, 2024

In This Issue:

USDA Grants $50 Million Potato Surplus Commodity Purchase
NPC in the News: H-2A Wage Freeze
Senate Ag Funding Bill Includes $4 Million for Potato Research
OSHA Announces Heat Standard Proposal
Potato LEAF Hosts Leadership in the Field Program at Gettysburg Next Week

USDA Grants $50 Million Potato Surplus Commodity Purchase

Last week, a $50 million surplus commodity purchase for potatoes was announced by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). This announcement came in response to a request made by the National Potato Council on behalf of the Washington State Potato Commission and the Idaho Potato Commission.

“We thank Secretary Vilsack and the entire team at AMS for taking this request so seriously as evidenced by the resources committed in their announcement,” said Dean Gibson, NPC Vice President of Legislative Affairs. “We also appreciate the work of Randy Russell and his team at The Russell Group for their strategic counsel on making this occur. Additionally, the industry thanks Mark Klompien, President and CEO of United Potato Growers of America, for providing excellent data on the current and future economics that made a compelling case to USDA to justify this unusual but necessary step to temporarily assist impacted growers.”

In February, during the NPC Washington Summit, the leaders of both the Washington State Potato Commission and the Idaho Potato Commission asked that NPC take the rare step of requesting USDA to utilize its surplus commodity purchasing (Section 32) authority to deal with a significant oversupply of potatoes from the 2023 growing year.

After two months of discussions with all the state potato organizations to ensure no objections, NPC’s request was made via a letter to USDA on April 25. Noting that the current oversupply could potentially harm growers for multiple years, NPC’s letter stated, “After numerous meetings with officials representing the major U.S. production areas, the industry has determined that a surplus commodity purchase of $50 million would provide some relief.”

NPC in the News: H-2A Wage Freeze

After a U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee passed a freeze to H-2A wage increases in the 2025 budget, Mike Wenkel, NPC COO, sat down with Brownfield Ag News to talk about how some farmers utilizing the program are facing up to 20 percent in mandatory wage increases from last year and need relief.

“The current administration in the last 18 months has released over 1,800 pages of rules that make reforms to the H-2A program and other aspects of the farm workforce more difficult for farmers to use,” he told Brownfield.

Check out the full story here.

Senate Ag Funding Bill Includes $4 Million for Potato Research

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and passed the FY25 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. This bill provides more than $27 billion in total funding for the agencies, which is an $821 million increase over fiscal year 2024.

The measure also includes $4 million for NIFA potato breeding research – the same level as fiscal year 2024 – but $500,000 less than the funding measure passed by the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee last month.

“We appreciate our allies in the Senate for recognizing the vital nature of NIFA’s Potato Research Special Grants for the continued health of America’s potato industry,” said NPC CEO Kam Quarles. “As the funding bills move through both chambers, NPC and our state potato association partners will continue to advocate for the House’s higher support level, which will help keep the industry competitive into the future.”

The House FY25 funding bill represents a $500K increase over current levels and would be the highest level in history if maintained in the full year bill.

A summary of the Senate bill can be found here, and bill text can be found here.

OSHA Announces Heat Standard Proposal

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week proposed a heat standard that would require employers to develop plans for protecting workers from excessive temperatures, such as those sweeping the U.S. this week.

The standard, which applies to indoor and outdoor workers and has been in the works at OSHA since the beginning of the Biden administration, sets 80°F as the “initial heat trigger” and 90° as the “high heat trigger.” Among the requirements, at 80 degrees, employers must ensure their workers have cool drinking water and break areas with cooling measures, according to an OSHA fact sheet.

“The employer must provide access to potable water for drinking that is placed in locations readily accessible to the employee; suitably cool, and of sufficient quantity to provide access to 1 quart of drinking water per employee per hour,” the proposal says.

At 90 degrees, employers would have to provide rest breaks of 15 minutes at least every two hours (an unpaid meal break can count as a rest break) and conduct observation for signs and symptoms of heat-related illness, OSHA said.

All employers would have to “develop and implement a work site heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace,” OSHA said. They also would have to identify heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor work sites. “For outdoor work sites, employers would be required to monitor heat conditions by tracking local heat index forecasts or measuring heat index or wet bulb globe temperature.”

Potato LEAF Hosts Leadership in the Field Program at Gettysburg Next Week

The first class of the Leadership in the Field program will walk the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg next week learning lessons of exemplary leadership during the nation’s bloodiest battle and learning ways to strengthen the U.S. potato industry using those same leadership skills.

The Leadership in the Field program is conducted by the Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) in cooperation with the Gettysburg Foundation to develop stronger leaders within the industry.

To learn more about the program of Potato LEAF visit pleaf.org.

A 2023 Leadership Institute participant commented on their Gettysburg experience that was a part of their journey through New York and Pennsylvania: “I have attended several leadership training courses over the years and Gettysburg was something that resonated with me more than any of the other training.”

2024 Participants

Colorado

Heather Campbell, Potatoes USA

Jason Tillman, Monte Vista Potato Growers

Cliff Shaw, RPE

Idaho

Cody Richins, Wada Farms

Robert Bergh, Nutrien

Massachusetts

Colin Szawlowski, Valley Spud

Chris Szawlowski, Valley Spud

Michigan