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Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Foreign aid cuts could impact agriculture industry in Pa. and other states, advocates say
Norwood Farms in Henry County, Tennessee, on Sept. 19, 2019. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung) Federal cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development assistance programs will hurt American farmers and the safety of their crops, said several agricultural research leaders at a forum hosted by U.S. Senate Democrats. 'These cuts are clearly problematic for our standing in the world, our leadership in the world, our security, our trade relationships,' Sen. Amy Klobuchar said. 'But it also socks us here at home.' Klobuchar of Minnesota, Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member, hosted a forum to discuss the relationship between foreign assistance programs and the U.S. agriculture market. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Through the Food for Peace program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture facilitates purchases of American crops and partners with non-governmental organizations to distribute these surplus crops to crisis areas around the world. Under the 2026 fiscal year budget request, this program will see major cuts, which may impact American farmers, forum speakers said. Additionally, the reduction of funding to agriculture innovation labs at public universities may leave U.S. crops vulnerable to future diseases. Dr. David Hughes, director of the USAID Innovation Lab on Current and Emerging Threats to Crops at Penn State University, said funding cuts impact his team's ability to study potential threats to U.S. agriculture in 'safe spaces' around the globe. His innovation lab, along with the Food Safety Program at Purdue University, the Livestock Systems Program at University of Florida and Peanut Production, a program addressing malnutrition at the University of Georgia, are among the universities that will see cuts under the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Hughes said his team members study threats to agriculture overseas, to 'quickly deploy' mechanisms against those threats when the time comes. One threat the team is studying is thrips, a small insect that poses a risk to the U.S. floral industry. His team uses a space in Nepal to reduce risk to local crops. Additionally, Hughes and his team at Penn State have been developing an artificial intelligence system called PlantVillage which provides advice to help farmers cope with climate change to increase the yield and profitability of their crops. He says many American and European scientists are 'decamping' to China because they fill a space of 'research excellence' left by cuts to research in the United States. 'You want to make sure if you do have an AI system giving knowledge to American farmers, you better be sure it's not a made-in-China system.' Hughes said. 'To be able to count on that institutional market that comes from food assistance is a significant benefit to the U.S. farmer,' said Thoric Cederstrom, International Food Aid representative on the U.S. Dry Bean Council. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Cederstrom said he doesn't think there is any organization that 'stands ready to fill that void,' left by USAID. He argues there is 'enlightened self-interest' in the purchase of American crops from farmers to be used as aid abroad. This purchase helps in 'stabilizing demand and prices for farmers across the heartland' and 'offset the risk of unpredictable market, trade disruptions and climate variability.' The USAID programs create a market that farms can respond to to turn a profit and 'generate income that keeps their businesses active.' 'There couldn't be a worse time to lower our guard,' said Kevin Shea, former administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at USDA. 'African swine fever in the Dominican Republic, very close to our shores, very easily just one trip away from getting here. That's just one example. Foot and mouth disease, eradicated a century ago in America, is now appearing all around the world for the first time in many, many years. Another big concern for us. And screwworm has breached the barrier in Panama for many years and has made it into Mexico.' Shea says that the inspection service has lost nearly 1,300 or around 15% of the workforce has left 'in the past few months' and with the additional cuts under the FY26 budget request 'APHIS can not do its job.' Both Hughes and Shea talked about citrus greening disease, which has impacted the citrus industry in Florida as an example of the need for research and inspection programs. Sarah Charles, former assistant to the administrator of USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, said despite the cuts, the career staff left at USAID are working 'furiously' to move food kept in warehouses around that globe, 'even knowing they have been fired,' to areas in need. She also said the U.S. government response to crises, such as the 2025 Myanmar earthquake, has been 'limited' because the capacity has been 'taken offline by the Trump administration.' China showed up in a major capacity, but many of its outreach programs are through the government, so the networks built by the U.S. with non-governmental partners and civil society organizations have been 'abandoned,' Charles said. 'Food rations that could supply three and a half million people for a month are rotting in warehouses around the world because of USAID cuts,' Shaheen said. 'Sadly, people are going hungry while farmers are losing a critical buyer for their crops.' Tom Foley is an intern reporter for Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Get ready for hunger to skyrocket in North Carolina
At a farm market in St. Petersburg, Florida, SNAP recipients were able to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards for food. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA). It's hard to fathom in a proposal that includes billions upon billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but one of the most significant changes included in the massive budget bill approved by the U.S. House late last month was this: big cuts to the nation's main anti-hunger program. Under the legislation, millions of people would lose SNAP food assistance benefits. Meanwhile, states would be saddled with 14 billion dollars in new costs. And the impacts will be felt in the stomachs of families across the nation. As Raleigh-area Congresswoman Deborah Ross explained last week, in her district – one of the state's more affluent ones – 20,000 of her adult constituents will lose all of their SNAP benefits. Statewide, a total of almost half a million people will lose benefits and the cuts will ripple through grocery stores and the economy as a whole. The bottom line: Rep. Ross is right. The Republican budget will cause irreparable harm to the people of our state. All caring and thinking North Carolinians should support her effort to push back. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hunger will increase across America
A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office says 3.2 million people would lose food assistance benefits under the tax and spending bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA). Being a freelance writer, I have had my own financial ups and downs. My own experience with poverty, and with paying bills that you really lack the funds to pay, leaves me flabbergasted by the short-sightedness behind the massive budget package that passed the U.S House of Representatives. Republicans and conservatives have been calling it 'a big beautiful bill,' but New Mexico's own The Food Depot, which services nine New Mexico counties, says the only result will be even greater challenges to access food and healthcare.'The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities writes that if the bill passes unchanged, it would be the first time in the modern history of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programs 'that the federal government would no longer ensure that the lowest-income families with children, older adults, and people with disabilities in every state have access to the food assistance they need.' Local and national groups concur. And I believe them. These organizations point out blatant inconsistencies in the bill's rationale, revealing its intent is not to lift spirits, or instill the down-on-their-luck with training and knowledge. It's to punish them. The most talked about aspects are the additional work requirements for nutritional assistance and Medicaid recipients. The revisions display a grave misunderstanding that poverty is layered, complex and full of pitfalls. Able-bodied SNAP recipients already fulfill work requirements, with exemptions for those who are taking care of children, or over age 55. The provisions in the U.S. House bill eliminate most exemptions, like a clean slate that erases all familial differences, or capabilities. The new provision—which will heavily impact New Mexico, where 61% of SNAP recipients are families with children—orders that any parent with a child over six years old will have to meet work requirements. The new requirements can easily undermine households already in tenuous situations. Obviously, people who qualify for nutritional assistance have even less ability to pay for child care. How much harm will forcing a parent to leave the house and systemically abandon a very young child do? Furthermore if the family or single parent faces a set of circumstances that leaves them unable to meet the new work requirements, what happens? The household loses its SNAP benefits. The bottom line is that this means less food for the child. The proposal promises a drastic uptick in child hunger. What kind of society snatches food from families with children? The bill would also impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, forcing them to prove they're consistently working, which is basically an excuse for additional paperwork—additional red tape in a system that is already clogged with it. The overwhelming majority of Medicaid recipients already work. A 2023 analysis found that 71% of Medicaid enrollees were in school, or employed, and a significant number of the 'unemployed' were caregivers of some kind, staying at home for the sake of sick family members. Healthcare furthermore is a human right that should be available to all Americans, regardless of income or ability to make a regular paycheck. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson cavalierly claims the bill is harmless. 'What we're talking about, again, is able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they're gaming the system,' he stated on the Face the Nation TV show, and opined, 'There's a moral component to what we are doing.' Alas, Johnson's moral component is based on an obsessive zeal to stereotype the recipients of assistance with the lie that all people who aren't financially solvent are consequently lazy, shiftless or criminal. Like most distorted morality imposed by self-righteous groups, it's worsened by the refusal to examine the GOP''s own hypocrisy and self-interest. The 'big beautiful bill' includes a massive tax cut for the wealthy. It's a matter of cutting services to the have-nots to provide benefits for the very rich. It's a matter of kicking one group off the rolls to afford tax cuts that bolster the other. The U.S. Senate can do better than this, and should reject this ' big beautiful bill' and its contemptuous elitist morality.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho runs SNAP efficiently, officials say. But Congress might make state pay millions more.
At a farm market in St. Petersburg, Florida, SNAP recipients were able to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards for food. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA). Earlier this month, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he had thoughts on the 'big, beautiful bill' advancing through Congress. To extend 2017 tax cuts, the bill would deeply cut federal spending for programs, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Speaking to reporters, Little said he wondered how it would impact Idaho. 'I don't want to be in a position to where the big, beautiful bill passes, and myself and all my fellow governors are going to be back there whining and crying,' he said on May 12. ID governor joins letter to Trump supporting bill that cuts billions from Medicaid, food assistance But he soon added that Idaho would be better prepared than other states — because of the state's stockpiled rainy day fund, and investments in facilities, schools and roads. 'I've said this many times: With what we've done in the past, where we are, almost anything that happens at the federal level is going to impact the other 49 states more than it is Idaho,' Little said. 'And I feel that about the big, beautiful bill.' Last week, he threw his support behind the bill — also backed by President Donald Trump. The bill passed the U.S. House and now heads to the U.S. Senate. It could shift millions of dollars in SNAP costs onto Idaho. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SNAP is a federal program that states run. The federal government pays for benefits. But states already chip in somewhat, by splitting administrative costs with the federal government. 'States have really very little flexibility or options in how to administer it,' the Idaho governor's budget chief, Lori Wolff, told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview. But where states do have flexibility, Idaho opts toward oversight, she explained — like limiting exemptions for SNAP work requirements, prosecuting fraud cases, and ensuring payments are made accurately. Idaho has been among the top three states for payment accuracies for years, Wolff said. In Little's remarks a couple weeks ago, he leaned on Idaho's metrics, too. Idaho is one of the most efficient states at running the federal SNAP program, he said, citing a recent report that showed Idaho had a range of extra program accountability measures than other states. 'That's one of the things I'm worried about, is they categorically tell all the states, 'We're going to cut your program by such and such,'' Idaho's governor said. 'And I says, 'We're doing a good job. We've got the highest compliance rate, the least amount of fraud. Why would you penalize us?'' Last week, Little and 19 other Republican governors endorsed the bill, two days before it passed the U.S. House with only support from congressional Republicans. Changes are expected in the U.S. Senate. But as it stands now, the bill would benefit wealthy taxpayers more while decreasing resources for low-income families, an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found. Idaho has the second lowest SNAP payment error rate in the nation, which is only behind South Dakota, according to the most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA. That figure measures 'the accuracy of each state's eligibility and benefit determinations,' USDA says. CONTACT US The Gem State is among only seven states that would qualify for the lowest state cost-sharing for SNAP under the bill being considered in Congress, States Newsroom reported. The bill would require those states to pay for 5% of SNAP benefits, and require states with higher SNAP error rates to pay even more. It could raise Idaho's costs for SNAP by at least $18 million, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter told the Sun. That requirement wouldn't start until 2028. So that gives Idaho officials time to plan, he said. Idaho already pitches in some money for SNAP. Last year, Idaho spent more than $8 million to run the program, McWhorter said. But that is only a small fraction of what the program costs. Last year, Idaho's SNAP program gave out $271 million in benefits to low-income families last year, he said. Less than 3.5% of Idaho's SNAP payments were in error, USDA data shows. That's around three times lower than the national average payment error rate, which was 11.7%. 'Idaho is often seen as a model for successful SNAP administration,' McWhorter said. 'Federal policymakers can use us as an example for other states.' The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare on May 16 asked the federal government for permission to ban candy and soda from being covered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. This year, the Legislature required Health and Welfare to submit that waiver through House Bill 109. Last week, Nebraska became the first state to receive approval for that type of waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Examiner reported. More than 3 million people would lose SNAP benefits under GOP bill, nonpartisan report says In a news release, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare cited USDA data to claim that about 20% of SNAP purchases nationally are for 'sugary beverages and snacks.' The agency couldn't immediately share the source for that claim. A USDA spokesperson directed the Idaho Capital Sun to a 2016 study that found 'About 20 cents out of every dollar was spent on sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar.' The study has many limitations, and 'should not be considered nationally representative,' the USDA spokesperson added. The American Heart Association says it supports Idaho's move and is asking the USDA to quickly approve the waiver. 'The American Heart Association is committed to removing sugary drinks from SNAP, and we are proud to stand in support of Idaho's efforts to do so over the soda industry's unconscionable opposition,' American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a written statement. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
IDALS launches animal welfare handbook for local officials
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship released an animal welfare handbook to help local officials respond to animal welfare complaints. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA) The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has released a handbook to help law enforcement and local officials better respond to animal welfare complaints. IDALS will host an informative webinar on the handbook Wednesday, May 28, to give an overview of the tool, which provides agency-specific, and species-specific, guidelines. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the department's animal health staff developed the handbook so that partners across the state have the tools to respond with IDALS to animal welfare complaints. 'The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is responsible for keeping animals in our state safe and healthy, and it's a responsibility we take very seriously,' Naig said in a statement. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Mindi Callison, of the animal advocacy group Bailing Out Benji, called the guidebook 'a phenomenal resource.' 'This is the most comprehensive handbook out there outside of the USDA,' Callison said. Callison said while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a thick handbook, it's geared towards licensees and inspectors. Callison said the plain language of IDALS handbook will make it easier for law enforcement to step in without having to look through and interpret Iowa code. Officials who might respond to an animal welfare call have different roles. The USDA and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, control the licensing, inspection and outreach for any groups transporting, researching, exhibiting or dealing animals. The agency works to ensure these individuals meet standards set by the Animal Welfare Act. Local law enforcement, including animal control groups, and county attorneys may also be involved in animal welfare cases to respond to calls, determine the course of action and build animal abuse cases when applicable. The handbook outlines how law enforcement should respond to and investigate an animal welfare complaint, which Callison said is an 'immediate resource' that will allow authorities to respond to calls sooner. 'We've seen cases where law enforcement agencies were hesitant to step in because they didn't know how to handle the case … But this guidebook really lays it out for them, and it kind of shows them who to contact in different cases for support,' Callison said. The handbook advises local authorities to plan in advance, by identifying facilities that could house animals in the event they need to be relocated, and building relationships with local partners and veterinarians. It also encourages communities to build a response plan in the event of animal welfare complaints, to 'ensure a collaborative approach to safeguarding animal welfare.' Callison said she believes these community connections can also 'really help' facilities to 'do better' before it comes to a complaint and animal welfare investigation. The handbook also serves as a quick reference guide for Iowa code related to animal welfare, including statutes on livestock, the mistreatment of animals, animals in commercial establishments and rescuing animals. Don McDowell, communications director for IDALS, said 'a lot of work' went into developing the handbook. 'We identified a significant need for this resource in working with and communicating with local law enforcement partners over the past few years – both larger urban counties and smaller rural counties,' McDowell said in an email. He said the guide emphasizes the importance of advanced planning for law enforcement officials, but is also meant to help 'county attorneys document the situation and build a strong animal neglect case.' For several years, Iowa has placed high on the list of states with the highest number of puppy mill violations. Part of the issue, which Callison's organization Bailing Out Benji has highlighted, is that federally licensed facilities do not have to follow the same standards as state licensed facilities. Callison said the handbook helps to clarify the role each agency plays, regardless of where a facility is licensed, which she said 'will provide some clarity.' Legislators proposed a fix to this 'loophole' as Callison called it, but the bill did not advance before the close of Iowa's legislative session. Bailing Out Benji is based in Iowa but works to expose animal cruelty situations across the country. Callison said she has not seen similar handbooks in other states but hopes the IDALS move will inspire other states to create similar guides. 'This is a great move by the department,' Callison said. 'I'm shocked that our state has the most comprehensive handbook out there. I'm excited to see how it changes what's going on in our state.' Those interested in attending the webinar on the handbook can register online. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
