Expect a few fireworks at FDA hearing over antibiotic data collection Presented by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health

With help from Chase Purdy, Jenny Hopkinson, Alex Guillen and Helena Bottemiller Evich

EXPECT A FEW FIREWORKS AT FDA HEARING OVER ANTIBIOTIC DATA COLLECTION: Officials with the FDA on Tuesday outlined for a White House panel its efforts so far in fighting the proliferation of resistance stemming from drug use in animal agriculture. That meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria was pretty staid. Expect a few more fireworks this morning from the agency’s public hearing over the collection of on-farm drug use data, a topic that strikes at a balance between agribusiness’ proprietary information and the need for transparency to ensure the implementation of transparent, functioning public health policies.


Antibiotics used for disease prevention is on FDA’s radar: Pressed by Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics in Washington, the FDA’s deputy director for science policy, William Flynn, said the government is looking at ways to reduce farms’ reliance on antibiotics, such as using them for a “continuous or extended duration” to control and prevent disease.

When the National Pork Producers Council’s chief veterinarian, Liz Wagstrom, asked what approach the government intends to take to collect more specific, farm-level data under a “robust surveillance” situation, Flynn said she’d get more answers at today’s public hearing.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host is hoping he can shelve his countdown clock for the next potential government shutdown — at least until December. You know the deal: Thoughts, news, tips? Send them to [email protected] and @billtomson4. Follow the whole team @Morning_Ag.

VALADAO: 2016 RHETORIC MAKING IMMIGRATION REFORM PUSH ‘ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE’: The anti-immigration sentiment on the presidential campaign trail is adding insult to injury to the beleaguered effort in Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform, Rep. David Valadao told produce industry leaders Tuesday.

“I believe that some of the rhetoric coming out from some of these people running for president, saying the things they’re saying and pushing the direction they’re pushing, it’s making our fight, our case a lot more difficult to push out and it’s made our lives here on immigration reform almost impossible — it’s made very, very difficult,” said the California Republican during a Q&A at the United Fresh Produce Association’s public policy conference in Washington.

It’s not doom and gloom for Valadao, though: “Every once in a while you catch a glimpse of hope, you see some comments made by some of these presidential candidates,” he said. “They’re talking about guest worker programs, they’re talking about doing different things and you think there’s an opportunity, there’s a guy that’s willing to do something.”

FOOD BANK TO CONGRESS: GIVE BACK TO SNAP: Lawmakers and White House officials couldn’t be more wrong if they think food stamp advocates forgot promises made to put funds back into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after they were diverted two years ago to help pay for the Child Nutrition Act. A busload of about 50 representatives of the Food Bank for New York City arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday to tell lawmakers the 2013 cut to SNAP has serious impacts on the needy and puts unsustainable pressure on food pantries and soup kitchens that are still trying to make up for the losses. More than 96 million meals have been lost because of the SNAP cuts, Triada Stampas, Food Bank for New York City’s vice president for research and public affairs, told POLITICO.

The White House and Democrats in Congress agreed in 2013 to cut stimulus-spending SNAP benefits in exchange for about $8 billion in funding for the CNA. But pledges were made to eventually put that money back, Stampas said, and the Food Bank is in D.C. this week to remind those with short memories.

HIGH HOPES FOR McCARTHY: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy? California citrus farmers certainly hope the House’s top spot goes to the lawmaker who represents two of the largest produce farming counties in the country.

“This guy gets it, and I think he’s going to be a tremendous asset for California agriculture” in the speaker’s office, California Citrus Mutual Joel Nelson said in Tuesday remarks to a session of the United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington conference. Nelson touted how the California Republican had been instrumental in getting research money for citrus greening in the 2014 farm bill. The law mandates that $25 million be spent on the issue annually over the next five years. Get to know McCarthy’s 23rd District here: http://1.usa.gov/1PMgdRI.

WILL SENATE GMO BILL GO AHEAD WITHOUT A DEM?: Maybe. After months of trying to woo Senate Democrats to sign onto Sen. John Hoeven’s version of the industry-backed Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, the measure could be introduced as early as October with only Republican co-sponsors, Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farming Cooperatives, told MA on the sidelines of the United Fresh Produce Association’s conference. Conner, whose group is part of the coalition of agriculture and food interests pushing for passage of the measure, said the bill will likely be introduced next month after a hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee. “From our standpoint, we’ve got a pretty good shot” at getting it passed, thanks in large part to the GOP majority, Conner said in remarks to the group.

And yes, there will be a hearing. A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Committee tells MA that a date will be announced later this week.

NCBA HAS NO BEEF WITH TPP: U.S. cattle producers are preparing for a TPP victory and expect to make a concerted push for the pact on the Hill if it’s completed this week, an industry official told POLITICO on Tuesday in Atlanta.

“We have a 38.5 percent tariff in Japan right now,” said Kent Bacus, associate director of legislative affairs at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. “With TPP, whatever that final deal is, it will be better than what we have now.”

He could not confirm a Japanese news report that Japan would cut its beef duty to 27.5 percent upon entry of the agreement, then reduce it to 15 percent after 10 years and 9 percent after 15 years.

From the beef industry’s perspective, it's important to get an agreement because Australia already has wrapped up a free-trade deal with Japan, putting U.S. beef exporters at a disadvantage to a major competitor, Bacus said. The industry still hopes tariffs will get as close to zero as possible under the pact, he said.

AN END TO BIRD FLU? Scientists are working overtime at the University of Georgia on a way to end the threat of bird flu permanently, Michael Lacy, head of the school’s Department of Poultry Science, told lawmakers Tuesday.

“At the University of Georgia, scientists are working at the basic level to enhance genetic resistance to viral respiratory diseases such as AI, Newcastle, Infectious Bronchitis, and Laryngotracheitis,” the professor said in a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing. “These diseases are a considerable threat to the U.S. poultry industry, but in developing countries they frequently devastate entire flocks and can wipe out farmers’ hopes of feeding their families.”

Meanwhile, researchers at the school’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is working with the USDA to continue to improve biosecurity procedures for poultry farmers in case there are new bird flu outbreaks this fall. See the full testimony here: http://1.usa.gov/1KQfk7f.

WOTUS, WOTUS EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK: The Army Corps of Engineers is set to explain its role in crafting the Obama administration's Clean Water Rule following concerns from lawmakers that the EPA ignored the input and issues raised by the Corps, which jointly oversees permitting under the rule. The hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee follows the release of documents this summer in which Corps officials openly disagreed with the agency on provisions of the measure. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said that those issues have been addressed. The head of the Corps, Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, signed off on the measure, though it's unclear if all of the requested changes have been made. But given the ongoing litigation over the rule, it’s also unclear how much Darcy will say. Brush up on the issue here: http://politico.pro/1PCGPo3. The hearing will start at 10 a.m. Details here: http://1.usa.gov/1QDCeSY.

SALMONELLA CUCUMBER OUTBREAK EXPANDS AGAIN: A nationwide salmonella outbreak tied to cucumbers has grown by 113 cases, the CDC reported late Tuesday. There are now 671 illnesses and three deaths that have been reported in 34 states. More on that outbreak from the CDC: 1.usa.gov/1L2OE6X.

IT TAKES TALENT — FORMER SENATOR LAUNCHES PRO-RFS GROUP: The field of groups backing the Renewable Fuel Standard is growing once more. Former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) today will launch Americans for Energy Security and Innovation, a 501(c)(4) dedicated to supporting the RFS. Talent noted his support a decade ago for the law that created the RFS program. "I believe that biofuels are the most feasible replacement for oil as automobile fuel, and that we need a strong RFS so that private investors can develop the biofuels industry with adequate assurance that their potential market won’t be destroyed by manipulations from the foreign oil cartel," he said in a statement.

AESI is keeping mum on who precisely pays the bills, saying only that it “is supported by job creators and producers who have made investments based upon the Renewable Fuel Standard and want to build and expand support for this successful policy.” Talent, who lost reelection in 2006 to Democrat Claire McCaskill, recently advised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's now-ended presidential campaign. His recent résumé also includes stints at the American Enterprise Institute and the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies.

LAWSUITS ALLEGE CANCER FROM HERBICIDE: A farm worker and a horticultural assistant are suing Monsanto, alleging that the company’s Roundup herbicide caused them to get cancer, Reuters reports. The plaintiffs also accuse Monsanto of hiding the danger of the herbicide. See the full story here: http://nyti.ms/1VqGaId.

MA’S INSTANT OATS:

— Check out some photos of Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu’s visit to a U.S. corn farm, courtesy of the U.S. Grains Council: http://bit.ly/1FFzJil

— Go underground to get a closer look at where soil nutrients are, in this video produced by the USDA: http://bit.ly/1juN0k5

— The secret to how tiny crop-eating nematodes do billions of dollars in damage to farmers is revealed in new research from the University of Missouri: http://bit.ly/1OEHf03

THAT'S ALL FOR MA! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop your host and the rest of the team a line: [email protected] and @billtomson4; [email protected] and @jennyhops; [email protected] and @chasepurdy; [email protected] and @hbottemiller; [email protected] and @mjkorade; and [email protected] and @jsonhuffman. You can also follow @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Ag on Twitter.

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