Vilsack, Ag Senators Discuss Priorities

Ag Senators met privately this week with USDA head Tom Vilsack to discuss legislative priorities. Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley says the meeting was “off the record”, and he couldn’t detail what others said, but he mentioned his priorities.

"I brought up with Vilsack, a couple of my priorities. First, the department should be in the business of protecting farmers from corporations—that’s not an accusation, I just want them to do more. And I want them to do more because what Congress did on the Packers and Stockyards Act in the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bill unfortunately, the department, even in the previous administration, failed to give farmers certainty.”

Grassley cited recent GIPSA rulemaking.

“The Trump Administration issued a rule, but that rule lacks any enforcement to protect farmers from corporate price-fixing or discrimination. So, I’m asking Secretary Vilsack to complete the work that Congress asked the USDA to do, and issue a rule that protects family farmers from corporations.”

All of this while Grassley continues to fight for his own bill to boost cash trades for independent livestock producers. He noted other meeting issues included freeing up more aid to biofuel producers from the December COVID-19 bill, and not taking too much farmland out of production for CRP inclusion.

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