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▶ 0:08:29morning alrighty take your seats meting to come to order please uh rise and join me for a quick prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance please stand Lord thank you that we all get to live in the greatest country history of the world thank for all of our act producers all over the country that are doing what they do best which is to feed Fuel and clothe not just this country but the rest of the world as well pray for wisdom and discernment for this committee and we pray for this hearing we're about to have in Jesus name amen please
▶ 0:08:59join Jo me for the pledge welcome and thank you for joining this morning's hearing entitled the state of the livestock industry produced
▶ 0:09:29ERT perspectives after brief opening remarks members will receive testimony from our Witnesses today and then the hearing will be open for questions in consultation with the ranking member and pursuant to rule 11e I want to make members of the subcomittee aware that other members of the full committee will also be able to join us today I recognize myself for a opening statement it's an honor to chair this hearing of the house agriculture committee subcommittee on livestock Dairy and poultry in the 119th Congress as the fifth
▶ 0:09:59generation Canen having grown up on my family farm i r pens and Doctor thousands of sick cattle at our preconditioning feed yard I understand the grit tenacity and courage that it takes to make a living in agriculture and the burden of responsibility for feeding the world that comes along with it as we get started this morning I want to recognize Scott foot with foot Cattle Company who was in the audience with us along with his daughter Molly foot um his family feeds cattle um throughout the state of Kansas he's my guest at tonight State of the Union and I appreciate him him joining
▶ 0:10:29us this morning chairing uh this subcommittee for the second Congress in a row is a unique honor for me as I represent the big first where producers sell 10 billion dollars worth of livestock Dairy poultry and products like beef milk and eggs every year that does not happened in a vacuum it takes the entire animal agriculture chain to make that happen and we see it all in the big First District of Kansas from the producer to the feed lot and from the Harvest facility to the distributor every role is important in delivering protein
▶ 0:11:00to the market and to the consumer during the 118th Congress members of this committee traveled the country to visit with Farmers ranchers and agriculture producers about the need for a five-year farm bill that is long enough to provide certainty and short enough to respond to Market changes chairman Thompson and I hosted more than 150 canons at a listing session in the middle of a wheat field near gypsum Kansas and I suspect that many of the issues raised there will also be raised again today I was see those pleased to see those issues directly addressed in the farm food and National Security after 2024
▶ 0:11:30which passed on a bipartisan basis out of this committee last year that legislation would have maintained American food Independence invested tax dollars where we would see a return on those dollars protected crop insurance promoted trade programs that helped American remain competitive and secure conducted rigorous oversight of executive branch promoted Animal Health invested in agriculture research in America's land grant universities and much more as a chairman of the subcommittee on livestock Dairy and poultry I was proud of that legisl ation and as a Canen
▶ 0:12:00I was proud too I'm eager to hear from you all today about what's working what should be considered where additional investment may be required and where the federal government needs to just get out of your way as time has taught us even if well- intended more legislation regulation is almost never the answer the past four years under the B administration were a perfect example of what can happen when the government gets in the way whether it was proposed semonia framework that would have increased cost for producers and consumers with no real impact on Public Health its boss
▶ 0:12:30response to the highly path pathogenic Avan influenza or water regulations which would have put several process facilities out of business we must learn from these mistakes and not hamstring America's Farmers ranchers and our EG producers as we work to craft the next farm bill we look forward to today's conversation to continue our working together in the9 congress with that I'd now like to welcome the distinguished ranking member of the geman from California mrost Mr Costa for any opening marks that he would like to thank you very much
▶ 0:13:01uh chairman man um and members of our subcommittee for uh I think this important timely hearing uh it's important that we uh have uh people who are where the rubber meets the road so to speak uh talk to us about the state of the livestock industry throughout the country uh and the regional impacts that we're all feeling with the challenges that we've had in the last several years especially with the high path Aven flu and and the the U poultry industry and the dairy
▶ 0:13:31industry and how we've tried to address that U so it's important that we we have that conversation here today but let me also say that this follows on the backdrop of U the uh president's announcement of uh tariffs uh pending with regards to Canada Mexico and Canada uh and Canada Mexico and China being implemented today and for those of you who have I've served with have had the privilege
▶ 0:14:01to serve with over the years uh what I say is not new I've never been a fan of tariffs um regardless if it's a Democratic or republican Administration uh I just think that there are attacks on American consumers there are attacks on producers and everyone has leverage in that game and by the way uh I remember being a part of the effort to uh um Rebrand NAFTA NAFTA 2 or United States Mex iCal Canada Accord which was at the
▶ 0:14:31time when I voted for it and supported and on a bipartisan fashion heard that it was the greatest best trade deal ever known to mankind and uh my gosh if that were the case UHS on two of our biggest trading partners uh Canada and Mexico by the way it's subject for review next year um they not only are top uh uh trading partners but I'm looking forward to hearing Witnesses comment about their view uh because our fragile
▶ 0:15:01food supply chain as I have always said as a third generation farmer in California started off in the dairy business my family did um know how to MK cows and a few other things um are I think witnessed by the impact that we've seen that food as I always say in every Committee hearing is a national security issue it is uh majority of Americans I don't necessarily think about it because they go to the grocery store all the food in the world's there and their favorite fast food or
▶ 0:15:32restaurants but it is a national security issue and international security issue as we' seen Russia weaponized grain uh in this Ukraine war after their attack So today we're going to hear from uh producers on how fragile our food supply is um we canot take it for granted we had experiences all of us did during the covid-19 pandemic that demonstrated how fragile our Foods Supply system is and how emergencies
▶ 0:16:02like the path pathogenic Aven flu can impact Industries Across the Nation especially our poultry and dairy Industries um as I reflect today I'd be remiss not to mention the continued uh challenges from producers in my district uh as they have concerned about terminations of critical Civil Service staff within the United States Department of agriculture's EG research service natural resources conservation Services the animal plant
▶ 0:16:33and health inspection services aphid and much more this includes firings um of people who were working on AV and flu response trying to help producers recover while um dealing with preventing the next pandemic uh this Administration now is trying to figure out how to hire those workers back I think that's evidence that even they know that it was misguided and poorly timed this continues to be a grave concern of my district and cons constituents let me give you some other examples
▶ 0:17:03quickly and I'll allow our witnesses to to tell us what they want to want us to know we've had delays in payments from the emergency livestock program uh helping producers impact by the high path Avan flu in California only 1% of our dairies have received their payments in California uh that's not right uh delays in payments for conservation services leaving farmers in question as whether or not they want to move forward with key
▶ 0:17:33projects to help sustain themselves and equip programs and the like delays in key research that requires 247 such as those at USDA A Research Services these are things that I'm hearing from my constituents here and uh you couple that with the issue of the potential impact of tariffs and and mass deportation and I can tell you in farm country in California folks are concerned uh the testimonies today that we're looking forward to hearing will talk about investing
▶ 0:18:03in the next generation's Workforce it's critical that we retain the talented people in the United States Department of Agriculture to ensure resilience and security of our food supply chain I'd like to submit for the record concerns I've heard from my district Mr chairman uh about the delays in this funding uh um if that will be accepted without objection without objection thank you California continues to be as you know the largest egg producing state in the nation $58 billion
▶ 0:18:33last year at the Farmgate with over 300 Commodities I have the honor and privilege along with my other colleagues in the valley uh to represent parts of Fresno and tari County two of the top a producing counties in the state and in the nation uh we're proud of that fact like you're proud Mr chairman of your production in in in your home District as well and so um trade will continue to play a role in this Congress and I look forward to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan
▶ 0:19:04comprehensive effort uh on trade agreements and getting a bipartisan farm bill as you stated on the outset and we need to get that work done here this year uh and I'll U uh look forward to hearing the testimony thank you very much thank you r m um next I will recognize chairman Thompson my good friend from Pennsylvania for any opening comments that he would like to make well chairman thank you very much good morning everybody and thank you to chairman man and ranking member Costa for convening the first hearing of the subcommittee on livestock Dairy
▶ 0:19:34and poultry in the 119th Congress and more importantly thank you to our Witnesses who have taken time out of your business schedules to appear uh before us today I look forward to hearing from from each of you uh the timing of this hearing is critical our producers are dealing with a historic High pathogenic avien influence outbreak harmful State mandates like proposition 12 and difficult marketing conditions along with a slew of other issues now this hearing today is a great opportunity for
▶ 0:20:04us to learn from the experts in front of us about the best way to combat these problems over the last three years I've had the privilege to travel with with many of my colleagues actually um to uh to more than 40 States in one territory to learn about farmers and ranchers top concerns given the size and diversity of the livestock industry we need a full picture of on on the ground conditions and an honest assessment of what is and isn't working to ensure we appropriately arm
▶ 0:20:34producers with the tools they need for success in the coming years now I'm proud of the farm food and National Security Act of 2024 that we passed out a committee on a bipartisan bases last year uh we increased funding for the three-legged sto including language on negotiating uh uh animal disease regionalization agreements improved investment opportunities for Livestock Auction owners doubled funding for map and fmd programs and provide a fix for proposition
▶ 0:21:0512 just to just to name a few unfortunately for numerous reasons outside of my control we weren't able to get this bill across the finish line and America's producers are the one that's paying the prices we cannot let this year be a repeat of last I look forward to hearing from you all today about the issues you're facing and and the provisions you'd like to see included in a new farm bill I appreciate the partnership of chairman man and ranking member a Costa and of course ranking member Craig
▶ 0:21:35as we continue to explore potential solutions to the issues that will surely be highlighted in today's discussion and uh and once again thank you all for being here to testify and uh Mr chairman I yo back thank you chairman Thompson uh next I'll recognize ranking member Craig for any opening comments she would like to make good morning and thank you so much much Mr chairman uh thank you to ranking member Costa for convening this hearing and most importantly as chairman Thompson said thank
▶ 0:22:06you so much to the witnesses as spring approaches I know this is a very busy season for all of you and I appreciate you coming to Washington particularly during such a critical time to give us an update I am concerned about the state of the industry we have animal disease outbreaks high input costs a hold up of USDA cost share payments and a a destabilized trade environment none of these things provide certainty for producers or make life more affordable
▶ 0:22:36for American families some of this uncertainty could be reduced by a bipartisan farm bill one that strengthens our animal disease preparedness by investing in the research and infrastructure needed to effectively combat animal disease outbreaks we talked about the many reasons we need a bipartisan Farm Bill last month in our full commit hearing so I won't belabor the point but I hope we can navigate through a partisan reconciliation Bill to achieve
▶ 0:23:06a bipartisan farm bill this year producers need it the livestock and poultry industry faces some very serious issues with Aven influenza well I appreciate USDA has given some thought to a new plan to fight the spread in poultry questions remain how will it impact trade does USDA have the staff to implement this strategy I'm looking forward to hearing from our panelists today about how usda's approach to high
▶ 0:23:37path will impact their operations as well as their suggestions for how Congress can work with the Trump Administration to better combat this disease finally farmers are worried that trade fights and continued consolidation will hurt their bottom line the last time this Administration started a similar trade War it cost us Farmers nearly $30 billion around a billion of which was in part due to China launching retaliatory tariffs on us pork
▶ 0:24:07and we know that those producers were not made whole at a time where Family Farms across this country are disappearing policy makers should be focused on facilitating access to Reliable markets and making the food you produce more affordable for hardworking American families the tariffs on our largest trading partners that went into effect today are going to be devastating to this industry and to family paychecks across our nation thank you again for being here
▶ 0:24:37and to the uh livestock uh subcommittee for hosting this hearing and with that Mr chairman I yield back the chairman request that other members submit their opening statements for the record so the witnesses May begin their testimony to ensure that there's ample time for questions toce our first witness today I'm pleased to yield to the full committee's ranking member Miss CR well thank you so much Mr chairman uh it is indeed my honor to introduce my friend and my constituent Mr John Zimmerman who comes
▶ 0:25:07from the top turkey producing state in the country let me just repeat that for my friends from Wisconsin uh the top turkey producing state in the country my state of Minnesota he just finished a term as the chairman of the National Turkey Federation and prior to that he was the president of Minnesota turkey group Growers finally he's a member of my Farmer advisory Council back home in Minnesota as a second generation Minnesota turkey farmer raising
▶ 0:25:37about 100,000 turkeys every year John is a veteran of the industry I look forward to hearing your testimony and continuing to work together and with that Mr chairman I yield back and welcome Mr Zimmerman thank you introduce our second wedes today I'm pleased to yield to our colleague the gentleman from Minnesota Mr fet thank you Mr chairman uh Minnesota's first congressional district is a pork Powerhouse District we have some counties that has more pigs than
▶ 0:26:07people and with that it is an honor to introduce my friend Lorie stevermer who is the president of the national pork producers Council Lori and her husband Dale raise pigs and crops near Easton Minnesota and have three adult children Brett and his wife tresa Adam and Beth moreover Lori is the customer success manager for altec's us pork business having spent her time in sales and marketing the animal nutrition business for over 30 years her previous experience includes nine years on the Executive Board of the Minnesota pork producers Association including
▶ 0:26:37two years as president and a member of various State and National committees Lori represents the best of southern Minnesota and is a tremendous advocate for the swine industry at the local state and National levels and we thank her for being here today thank you Mr chair yeld back I'll now yield to our subcommittee's ranking member Mr Costa to introduce two of our Witnesses thank you again uh Mr chairman uh and it is my honor and privilege to introduce uh Mike West who up until the
▶ 0:27:07reapportionment in 2020 was a constituent of mine but still a neighbor and a friend from Hillmar California he's chairman of the United egg producers and president of JS West and companies Inc uh their headquarters is in Modesto uh but uh they have been a large part of California's agricultural uh incredible diversity and productivity uh it's family-owned business over a 100 years as Mike Will proudly tell you that they've been a producer
▶ 0:27:37of eggs and other products and uh they certainly know what you're doing and uh he and I had a conversation um uh a week ago or so about the challenges they've been facing with the Aven flu and he's got some very good information that he wants to share with us so I'm looking forward to his testimony and um following that I've also uh have the privilege to uh thank uh Walter uh shiter for joining us um as well uh you're a third
▶ 0:28:08generation Montana farmer as I understand it who raises registered Black Angus Cattle hay and Grain and consults on the national agricultural trade currently serves as the Montana Farmers Union president and we're very pleased that you're here uh to U give us an idea of the challenges you're facing in Montana and we look forward to your testimony thank you I'll now yield to the gentleman from IND Indiana Mr beard to introduce
▶ 0:28:38our next witness thank you Mr chairman and I'm pleased to introduce a fellow hooer Mr Larry Hopkins Who currently serves as a Region Three director on the Executive Board of the American sheep industry Association and that covers Indiana Illinois Michigan Minnesota Ohio and Wisconsin but most he's a graduate of Purdue University in addition to his board seat he is an ASI's chair of the legislative actions Council Larry
▶ 0:29:08and his family own and operate a purebred Sheep and Wool operation called little Eagle Valley Farm in Westfield Indiana he is also a partner in the family dairy farm which is managed by his brother Larry has held multiple positions with the Indiana sheep Association and the Indiana Farm Bureau and he received the Shepherd of the Year award and served on the Indiana Sheep and Wool Council which oversees the state check off program so Larry thank you uh for your dedication to
▶ 0:29:38the Sheep industry and we are excited to have you here today to testify with that Mr chairman I yeld back thank you and last but certainly not least Mr Troy sander I get the pleasure of introducing the past chairman of the live cattle marketing committee for the National cattman Beef Association Troy also serves as the chief Operating Officer for Heritage beef a cattle feeding operation based in southwest Kansas and it's Affiliated feed yard neoo Valley feeders located in Parson Kansas right in the heart of the big First
▶ 0:30:08District for has Decades of experience in all aspects of the cattle feeding industry including procurement marketing strategies financial and risk management and Regulatory oversight growing up he worked alongside his father in Kansas feed yards and helped operate their custom farming and harvesting business he's held several roles with ncba and served in position for the Chicago mertile Exchange cftc and Kansas livestock Association T and his wife have been married for more than 30 years and are proud parents of four sons and seven grandchildren Troy
▶ 0:30:39thank you for being here today to share your expertise we look forward to hearing from you thank you to all the witnesses for joining us today will'll now proceed with your testimony you'll least have five minutes the timer in front of you will count down to zero at which point your time has expired and I'll make a a subtle little tap with the gavel so first off Mr Zimmerman please begin when you are ready good morning chairman man ranking member Costa and members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to share the turkey industry's perspective today
▶ 0:31:09this morning I'd like to highlight the animal disease portion of the written testimony I've submitted for the record for more than a year the turkey industry has been dealing with the negative impacts of Highly pathogenic Aven influenza as well as other highly consequential respiratory virus Aven metan numo virus which has impacted between 60 and 80% of turkey FL s Nationwide in Minnesota alone 127 cases of HP and Commercial turkeys have led to the loss of more than 6.6 million birds and while hpai is 100% lethal to birds exposed to the virus
▶ 0:31:39long enough ampv is more subtle but equally impactful due to its ability to significantly reduce egg sets of breeder stocks that produce the next generation of turkeys and cause severe prolonged mortality in commercial flocks together these two respiratory viruses have exponentially increased volatility Supply shortage and Market uncertainty this onew punch has caused many farmers to quit raising turkeys with many on the brink of shutting down banks are very concerned about Farms Financial Health and some Farmers struggle to obtain
▶ 0:32:09credit after losing 30 to 50% of their flocks to ampv hpai is a terrible disease but with ampv there's no Indemnity or assistance so I would urge the committee to make ampv an eligible disease under usda's livestock Indemnity program this would assist growers in mitigating economic loss and will go a long way to assist poultry producers who are being hit hard stay on their Farms producing the most abundant food supply in the world on a more positive note the first imported AMV modified live vaccine
▶ 0:32:39doses reached Minnesota Farms earlier this month with more on the way to assist Farmers Nationwide I want to personally thank members of the subcommittee for leading the charge in supporting the importation of this much needed modified live vaccine for ampv I'd also like to thank USDA for their efforts in getting this across to finish line however I think it's important to acknowledge the industry's incredible frustrations with usda's review process of an imported modified live vaccine I appreciate the importance of ensuring the safety of a vaccine and that the amp
▶ 0:33:10vaccine was the first of its kind to ever be approved however when an entire industry is at significant risk it should take a matter of months not more than a year for a widely used and wellestablished Global vaccine to be imported and available for use I would encourage the committee to use your experience and eval valuating usda's review process to ensure a faster more efficient response to Future animal disease outbreaks unfortunately ampv is only half the battle time is of the essence on hpai a national strategy
▶ 0:33:40targeting all potential hosts of H5 influenza is lacking allowing the virus to spread the global poultry industry is in crisis so pursuing a successful vaccination program that doesn't negatively impact trade as part of a stamp out strategy is the key to significantly reducing disease rates ntf is appreciative and encouraged by the robust strategy announced last week by USDA to address HP for egg layers this these investments in biocurity Pharma relief vaccine research and the considerations for trade outlined in the plan
▶ 0:34:11are important steps towards stabilizing the market however these methods must extend beyond egg Lane operations to Encompass the broader poultry sector including the turkey industry HPI has devastated turkey producers leading to significant flock losses Supply disruptions and increase costs that directly impact consum consumers a comp comprehensive response must recognize the unique needs of all poul sectors ensuring that all efforts include turkey Growers ntf supports research on finding
▶ 0:34:41an effective vaccine for hpai improving vaccine and diagnostic technology while creating a vaccination plan for commercial poultry as vaccine technology advances there's growing interest in using HPI vaccine to prevent disease spread and reduce losses as part of a stamping out strategy in as a parallel Pro approach ntf strongly encourages USDA to renegotiate with key trading partners to min minimize the implications of vaccine deployment if the US fails to lead globally on implementing Animal Health Solutions capable of preventing
▶ 0:35:11disease and death in commercial poultry will be at a significant business disadvantage empowering USDA to increase proactive engagement with trading partners and solidify a new framework to reduce disease outbreaks impact on the global food supply is essential so in closing as Congress writes a new Farm Bill ntf urges the renewal and robust funding of animal disease programs such as the three-legged stool and the establishment of an hpai strategic initiative to ensure the turkey industry has the tools necessary to combat future animal disease problems
▶ 0:35:42thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and I look forward to answering any questions you may have thank you very much for that testimony um next Mrs sturmer please begin when you're ready well good morning chairman man ranking member Costa and members of the subcommittee I'm Lori ster a third generation pork producer from eastn Minnesota and president of the national pork producers Council in thinking about the state of the livestock industry let me start by saying
▶ 0:36:12that for several years America's 60,000 plus pork producers have faced difficult times while farmers are ever optimistic about the future we are emerging from the worst period of losses in our industry's history averaging $30 per head from late 2022 through early 2024 since then some production costs have declined and hog prices have improved but many farmers have not recovered financially to provide certainty we need to continue farming American agriculture needs a
▶ 0:36:42five year farm bill in which pork producers have three priorities first we must fix the problems caused by California's proposition 12 which has increased Farmers operating cost caused business uncertainty and raised pork prices at the grocery store as you know this law reaches far beyond California to include farmers in other states and even other countries the outcomes of prop 12 defy common sense and create a patchwork of differing state regulations if Congress doesn't act prop
▶ 0:37:1312 opposed by both president Trump and President Biden is harming small and medium family Farmers the most we have followed the processes in place to address this issue and we are before you because the Supreme Court has said it is a matter for Congress to up second we need to ensure that we protect livestock from foreign animal diseases such as African swine Fever by funding USDA programs for detection prevention and rapid response to outbreaks which we have come to call the three-legged stool of animal
▶ 0:37:43health this must include a strong laboratory Network for surveillance and a stockpile of vaccines to quickly respond to diseases third we must promote our exports by funding the foreign market development program and the market Market Access program this is critical to our ability to produce wholesome nutritious pork and serve our communities and employees moreover we need to think hard about how policies and regulations on Market reporting labor and competition Impact Family Farms
▶ 0:38:14Across America not just now but for future Generations I hope this committee will consider a five-year reauthorization of the livestock mandatory reporting program it ensures that reliable and accurate information influencing critical business decisions is available to Farmers like myself and others at table employment remains a top issue I hear from our producers Farms across the country desperately need employees the h2a Visa program must be expanded to include
▶ 0:38:44yearr round foreign born workers given our ongoing challenges Farmers need assurances we won't be subjected to regulations that restrict our ability to buy and sell our animals for that reason we urge Congress and the administration ation to defund and withdraw the Packers and Stockyards rules finally let me say a few words about International Trade without trade to our customers beyond our borders we see and feel deep substantial losses International Trade provides us with 62 $66
▶ 0:39:14per Peg marketed without those markets for the wide range of products we produce many of us simply would not be able to continue to farm us pork producers face tariff and non-tariff barriers to our products in many countries including China and the EU opening new and expanding existing markets is paramont and allows many farms to stay afloat the best way to do this is through comprehensive trade agreements eliminating those tariff and non-tariff barriers just how important are those agreements us pork exports
▶ 0:39:44for example have increased over 2,000% in value since 1989 the year the US implemented its agreement with Canada in fact last year the US exported over 3 million metric tons valued at nearly 8.63 billion which set a new record we now export more pork to the 20 countries where we have a comprehens of Trade Agreement than to the 80 other plus Nations which we ship pork it is also important to realize there are a variety of inputs we must bring in from China including
▶ 0:40:15amino acids and trace minerals we need to keep this in mind as Congress and the administration continue conversations on the future of our relationship with China we are proud of the work we do and appreciate the opportunity to help feed American families and to present our perspective on the livestock industry thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today thank you Mr West please begin when you are ready good morning chairman man ranking member
▶ 0:40:45Costa and members of the subcommittee thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify today on behalf of United egg producers UE is a farmer cooperative whose members independently Market about 90% of the eggs sold in the United States I am proud to serve on its board of directors and I'm even prouder to serve as its chairman up until October of this year my name is Mike West and I am the proud president of JS West Milling
▶ 0:41:15Company in Modesto California JS West is a family-owned business we produce eggs and we sell propane and we've been in business for years my great-grandfather founded this company in 1909 today we have capacity for 2 million laying hens and we are also the largest privately held propane company in California and we are looking to widening that Gap
▶ 0:41:46I am the fourth generation leader of JS West Milling Company my father came before me my his father came before that my great-grandfather started the business back in 1909 our son Noah joined the business just two months ago he represents the fifth generation of our family his brother Nicholas will be next into the business within a couple of years we take the family business seriously in family
▶ 0:42:17however Noah on his first day of work two months ago his brand new office is on a chicken ranch he pulled up to that ranch on his first day and was was met with an eerie silence that's because the month previous to that we depopulated 550,000 chickens that were sick with high highly pathogenic Aven influenza it was the second such depopulation in the calendar year
▶ 0:42:472024 for JS West we depopulated 1.2 million chickens off of our Hilmar Ranch those numbers pale in in comparison to what is happening across our country we lost 1.2 million Birds many many more people are losing many more birds than that on a on a weekly basis hpai is in every state it's been found in every continent on this planet
▶ 0:43:17this country has depopulated 167 million chickens since this outbreak started in 2022 in 20 20 25 alone we've killed 30 chickens Lane hen chickens excuse me if we do some quick math that's a half a million Birds almost per day this year prior to 2022 we've been able to hold this virus at bay through biocurity the current outbreak
▶ 0:43:47is different ladies and gentlemen the virus different and it's affecting other members of the Barnyard and we call those folks neighbors back home and we're all very very worried about it and it's been obvious for some time that we needed to take a different path and the industry is very happy to have heard the announcement by President Trump and his his administration secretary Rollins USDA
▶ 0:44:18we were very heartened to hear this announcement on Thursday of last week to hear about a five prong plan to HPI and I'd like to talk about a few of those points that were announced last week we are pleased to see a very strong focus on vaccination it's our position that between industry collaborating with the federal government and rolling our sleeves up and really talking and
▶ 0:44:48solving this problem we can we can solve this problem and Stamp Out hpai hpaii excuse me mandatory funding for research must be done at every level our lab system in this country is underst staffed and this can slow down testing and it can speed up spread we would like to see fully staffed aphis members and ARS teams to assist producers on
▶ 0:45:19the ground during outbreaks our industry has created a working group we've put together disease prevention experts and retired government officials to come up with an industry plan and we would love to share that plan not just with this committee but with every member and with USDA and I know proposition 2 and proposition 12 have come up in this room
▶ 0:45:49this morning I am a California egg producer and I'm a very proud California egg producer and we operate under different production standards in our state and there's a handful of other states that do as well M Mr your time is expiring um if you may make a few final comments and then we can ask you some further questions okay I would like to thank this committee for your time today it has been the experience of a lifetime and I will never forget it thank you very much for being here
▶ 0:46:19um Mr Hopkins please begin when you're ready chairman man ranking member Costa and members of the sub committee thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today I serve on the Executive Board of the American sheep IND industry Association and I'm here to represent the country's 100,000 lamb and wool producing farms and ranches we view the bipartisan version of the farm bill passed by this committee last May very favorably in fact from our membership's perspective
▶ 0:46:49it may be the best farm bill we've ever seen ASI appreciates the last two extensions of the 2018 Farm Bill however in spite of the committee's best efforts we are greatly concerned that the orphan programs were not included in the most recent extension we ask that you include them in the next moving vehicle the importance of those programs cannot be overstated ultimately the reauthorization of the farm bill and the infrastructure it provides is Paramount for the survival of our industry and our continued
▶ 0:47:20ability to provide the wool that clothes American servicemen and women and the American lamb that feeds your constituents a large share of the US wool clip did not receive a bid for purchase in 2024 and we are now in the shearing season for this year's clip the trade war with China in 2018 blew up our single largest market for American wool that loss was shortly followed by the pandemic that shuttered wool textile mills across the world and wiped out demand for most wool garments that demand
▶ 0:47:50has yet to return to full strength and buyers continue taking advantage of the prices of our stockpile current marketing loan rates have not been updated in nearly 25 years Therefore your efforts to update the loan rate in last year's Bill were greatly appreciated and we strongly support that change being included in the current effort for some producers the program is their only wool marketing tool further please consider us and any future support resulting from unfair Trade Practices of
▶ 0:48:20our competitors we encourage continued support of usda's fas programs which support the opening of new markets of our products Reliance on China alone is risky as they have more wool textile processing equipment than the balance of the world combined this month's USDA inventory report revealed an increase in the nation's sheep herd due largely to the rapid expansion of solar and Fire Prevention grazing yet producers are dealing with record high input
▶ 0:48:50prices in depressed markets the lamb Market at the wholesale level has been stagnant for the past year and any uptick is quickly dampened by imported lamb from Australia and New Zealand portions of which were up over 33% last year these conditions highlight the volatility we struggle with particularly given neither a Futures Market nor a hedge against Market downturns exist for us last spring USDA RMA issued a report evaluating risk management tools
▶ 0:49:20available to the industry or lack thereof the report acknowledged our need for a quality risk management M tool But ultimately did not provide recommendations we therefore ask the committee to direct the secretary to provide recommendation for a viable specific sheep management tool onethird of America's sheep herd is under the watch of an h2a sheep herder overtime payments required by certain States and the mandated salary increase forced on sheep producers by the Department of Labor's
▶ 0:49:50use of the adverse wage adverse effect wage rate methodology are literally driving ranchers out of business salary alone in California the second largest sheep producing state is nearly 58,000 annually per herder this combined with the Mandate that we provide the herders with food board clothing while also covering application and Visa fees has driven our cost to an untenable level California has lost nearly 15% of sheep production over the last two years loan
▶ 0:50:21research by Wyoming Wool Growers shows that Wyoming the third largest sheep producing state is dealing with similar result ASI appreciates The Prompt reaction of the administration with great support for members of Congress to bring USDA aphid's wildlife services Personnel back online last month millions of had of livestock are protected from coyotes and other Predators via an agency that is uniquely important to us ASI strongly supports
▶ 0:50:51usda's minor drug use development programs the cost of bringing a new animal drug to Market is rising and many pharmaceutical companies are not investing in such development the lack of access to these products which are used by our competitors creates a disadvantage while imported lamb may be treated with a foreign drug that same product is often not approved for use here by the FDA in summary ASI thanks you for including our priorities last year
▶ 0:51:21and believes that the reauthorization of a similar farm bill is crucial to all of our members thank you all very much thank you uh Mr schwier please begin when you're ready thank you chairman man ranking member Costa for the invitation to testify today my name is Walter schwitzer and I'm president of Montana Farmers Union I'm a third generation Montana farmer all of my grandparents homesteaded in Montana I registered Black Angus Cattle hay
▶ 0:51:51and grain I am also an international a consultant and have been involved in international trade my testimony testimony today will be mostly about two themes competitive markets and reducing uncertainty I believe we must build a resilient a more resilient food system one that is more diverse than the one we have today with additional local and Regional production markets and infrastructure during the pandemic we saw how fragile
▶ 0:52:22our highly Consolidated food system is but it doesn't have to be that way way when I first started farming we had several packing plants flower mills bakeries and home deliveried milk in most of our major communities now almost all of these are gone we had family-owned grocery stores in every small community that had monana food on its now most of our food produced in Montana is shipped a th000 miles away
▶ 0:52:52to be processed packaged and then shipped back to corporate owned grocery stores this is not a resilient food system and our food security is at risk we can start addressing these problems by focusing on one of the Montana's biggest businesses the cattle industry prices are relatively high today but Market volatility and uncertainty will remain high without more oversight of competition laws
▶ 0:53:22for beef just four firms control more than 80% % of the packing cattle ranchers are hesitant to reinvest in rebuilding their herds when they are at the mercy of four large corporations we must push back against these monopolies with strong enforcement of competition laws for over a century the Packers Stockyard act has protected the ability of independent family farmers and ranchers to compete in a fair and
▶ 0:53:53Open Marketplace without fear of retaliation or disc discrimination but those protections had eroded until the last few years recent updates to the Packard Stockyard act strength and protections for family livestock producers lawmakers should maintain those Common Sense farmer focused actions we should better equip the USDA to enforce these rules by passing the meat and ptry special investigator act which could dedicate more
▶ 0:54:23R resources to fight monopolistic practi I in the livestock markets the cattle sector would be more competitive with the passage of the cattle price Discovery and transparency act to ensure a robust cash market for cattle passing and enforcing a strong agricultural right to repair law would save American farmers $4 billion per year in repair costs and $3 billion in crop loss due to downtime each
▶ 0:54:53year another way to address the lack of competition is by starting our own marketing channels Montana Farmers Union worked with several direct tomarket producers to form meat processing cooperatives the Montana premium processing cooperative and the glacier processing Cooperative that leveraged USDA grants and low interest interest loans to build new plants ranchers in our co-ops now have additional markets and consumers have more
▶ 0:55:23choices to purchase local food we also need to make sure that consumers know what they're buying truthful and accurate labels are important to American Producers and helpful for consumers that's why Farmers Union supports the bipartisan American beef labeling act which requires mandatory country of origin labeling for beef I urge you to reinstate cool to make markets fairer and more competitive for the American cattle producer
▶ 0:55:54there are many livestock producers who are facing uncertainty due to early actions by the administration dep pause federal grants and layoffs of tens of thousands of of employees some monana farmers and ranchers voluntarily enrolled in the USDA conservation and programs to improve their Farm operation many farmers have been told that they're not being reimbursed even if the funds eventually come the uncertainty is bad for long-term planning I hope this subcommittee will
▶ 0:56:24keep a close eye on these cuts and how they affect farmers and ranchers finally one of the best ways to reduce uncertainty in this livestock sector is to advance a strong farm bill that includes improved livestock disaster and insurance offerings the farm bill is long overdo and I urge you to push back against proposed agricultural conservation and nutrition Cuts I believe that investing in food security is National Security and should be as
▶ 0:56:54much of a priority as investing in our military thank you for the opportunity to testify and I look forward to answering your questions great thank you next we'll hear from Mr sander please receive and you're ready chairman man ranking member Costa and members of the subcommittee thank you for the invitation to share a cattle producers perspective on the state of the livestock industry my name is Troy sander I am the Chief Operating Officer for Heritage beef a kansas-based cattle feeding business and the current president of the Kansas
▶ 0:57:25livestock I am also proud member of the national Cattleman's beef Association or ncba where I just concluded my time as chairman of the live cattle marketing committee ncba has been The Trusted leader and definitive voice of the US cattle industry since 1898 ncba today represents over 25,000 direct members and approximately 178,000 through its 44 State affiliate organizations as a chair of one of ncba seven policy committees
▶ 0:57:55I have seen firsthand our Century old Grassroots policymaking process at work every member has a voice in that process and it is on behalf of these cattle producing families that I testify before today in general and certainly more so than at any time in the recent past I am pleased to report that the state of the cattle industry is healthy and strong we are seeing cyclically high prices for fed cattle feeders Cals and cows and even even setting new price records in some cases
▶ 0:58:26while much of this can be attributed to tight cattle supplies beef demand has also held strong in the face of inflation and Tighter household incomes consumers know that beef is a nutrient dense and efficient source of protein and that it is largely why they keep coming back for more not to mention it tastes pretty good which we got to experience last night while we maintain a positive outlook in our industry we're also not immune to the challenges that face all of production agriculture input costs such as feed fuel labor and even regulatory compliance
▶ 0:58:56represent the greatest threat to producer profitability to put it into perspective as prices have nearly doubled over the last four years my margin is roughly the same as Congress explores ways to support cattle producers I would draw your attention to the following points as I stated earlier much of the support for these high prices is because of strong beef demand one of the greatest tools ever designed to grow and maintain beef demand is the beef check off system this widely supported and successful program uses the pulled resources
▶ 0:59:27of cattle producers across the country to open new markets abroad Drive sales domestically and conduct Research into the human nutrition benefits of incorporating beef in a healthy diet Cornell University estimates that those who pay into the beef check off see a $13.41 return on every dollar invested despite this the check off has come under Fire from a small minority of dissatisfied producers whose voices have been Amplified by the radical animal rights Industrial complex
▶ 0:59:57the simple fact is this the beef check off works it does so with rigorous oversight under producer Direction and at zero cost to the taxpayer ncba urges lawmakers to reject any legislative or regulatory attempts to dismantle commodity check programs finding and keeping a Workforce is another major challenge in the cattle industry domestic Farm labor is extremely hard to come by and as a result we struggle to maintain operational certainty although programs like h2a exists to help
▶ 1:00:27with the farm Workforce it favors Crop Production because it is entirely a seasonal program the cattle industry needs refinements to Hua to make it a yearr round more successful efficient and program ncba was pleased that the Biden Administration withdrew its disastrous rule deceptively titled fair and competitive livestock and poultry markets government handouts and Central planning is not the solution to Market challenges however well-meaning this rule may have been the fact is it would have wre havoc on
▶ 1:00:57the small producers it was intended to help and this rule is not the only example of that whether it's the Endangered Species Act National Environmental Policy Act climate sideboards on conservation programs are Waters of the United States ncba urges Congress to reign in regulatory overreach everywhere it exists there are many other important issues I simply do not have time to address and I would ask that you please examine my written testimony in closing Mr chairman cattle producers are tough tough and resilient people who who tackle
▶ 1:01:27new challenges with determination and grit ncba is ready to work with this subcommittee the administration and anyone to ensure a bright future for the next generation of America's cattle producers thank you chairman man and I will now stand for questions thank you all for your important testimony here this morning at this time members will be recognized for questions in order of seniority alternating between the majority and minority members and an order of arrival for those who joined after after the hearing convened they'll be recognized
▶ 1:01:57for 5 minutes each in order to allow all of us to get as many questions in as possible um to begin I'll recognize myself for five minutes thank you all for for being here this morning um first question be for you Mr sander um can you speak to the growth in demand for that you're seeing for the cattle industry and what's the Outlook overall for prices as you think about where the beef industry is today and where it's headed you know the uh a lot of the uh high prices and and record high prices that we are currently experiencing
▶ 1:02:28today are just go back to just simple supply and demand we are at a we're at a point in the cattle cycle which occurs about every five to seven years where we see herd reductions because it wasn't so great of an environment a few years back and so as supplies go down prices go up but I also contribute as I said in my in my testimony a lot of our uh continued robust demand has to go to both the beef check off system and and also uh robust export markets as well
▶ 1:02:59thank you next question for for you Mr Zimmerman in your written testimony you stated that the B administration's proposed salmonella framework lacks a scientific basis and introduces a policy that is logistically unfeasible financially burdensome for the industry and is likely to increase food costs waste and and threaten food security please expand on the flaws of the proposal and provide an overview of all the important work that the industry is already carrying out to reduce the risk associated with illa obviously
▶ 1:03:29food born illness is a concern for our industry and we do we take many steps and strides to uh mitigate the risk in our processing plants but the uh proposed framework proposed U by the Administration has highly flawed and potentially illegal um cell Manila is inherent in poultry and to declare it an adulterant is just not legally sound we do we take many many steps to uh address the situation and decrease the the loads from Farmers like me who regularly monitor for cell Manila to processing plants who you know
▶ 1:04:00have many many steps to try to try to limit its uh its spread but to go so far as to declare an adulterant is nearly impossible bacteria are everywhere um we'll do what we can do to limit the risk but um you know to go the the as far as they have in this rule is just not legally or um scientifically possible y y there we thank you next question for you again Mr West and also Mr Zimmerman
▶ 1:04:30you both know all too well about the Havoc that highpath has wreak across the poultry industry I was pleasy president Trump and secretary rollin's announcement last week directing additional money to improve biocurity fund Indemnity and conduct research on vaccines and Therapeutics how do you both feel that last week's announcement um how do you feel about the announcement and the impact that it'll have on our Poulter producers maybe we'll start with you uh Mr Zimmerman and then let you conclude Mr West
▶ 1:05:00as I outlined you know we're very thankful for the the attention this uh um this issue has been raised and we're we're thankful for the plan that has been brought forward but we want to be very clear that this plan needs to uh to address the virus and not just one species turkeys are not just big chickens and we have our own set of uh uh you know concern so any plan moving forward we would hope that uh turkey Farmers would also be included and um it would um you know Encompass the entire spectrum of other species
▶ 1:05:30that are also affected you know dairy cattle um we're seen in cats uh rodents and other issues so the the plan needs to be a little bit more holistic and and address the virus as a whole but we're thankful for the the initial steps okay further comments for you Mr won you talk about someon your testimony but feel free to expand I would Echo Mr Zimmerman's comments um it gives us a clearer path for for our future a vaccine is a um another tool in our tool chest that we can use I would like to describe the
▶ 1:06:00conditions on our farm um where we've been hit twice with AI within 10 kilometers of our Ranch we have 40 dairies we have about 10 million Broiler chickens we have about 4 million Lane hens and about 10 miles to the south of us we have the largest Nature Preserve west of the Mississippi I believe so in our particular instance we believe a vaccine would be very helpful and would ensure the the health of those
▶ 1:06:31birds in that neighborhood great well thank you all again for for being here this morning and and for your testimony next I will recognize ranking member Costa for five minutes thank you very much Mr chairman I don't know Mr West if you uh want to uh enhance your comments uh you talked about your plan and for the record I'd like to submit the the uh plan that you are implementing uh if there's no objection no objection thank you uh
▶ 1:07:01do do you want to expand any more on that uh Mr West well are you referring to the working group that we've established in our industry correct yes we are working on the first draft of that um as we speak and as soon as that is ready we will be ready to deliver that I I do not know a time frame on that I would guess I I don't want to guess Mr Costa you made your comments Mr West about uh our our Valley's incredible productivity in terms
▶ 1:07:31of the not only the poultry development in your area but also the dairy industry um and you have cooperated because I know I've represented both Industries and many others how's the cooperation going these days uh with over 70% of the herds in Cali Dairy herds in California being impacted by the high path Avan flu how would you describe that relationship I would describe it as um friendly and I would describe it as
▶ 1:08:01um perhaps a little secretive um we know what's going on on our farms and we don't know what's going on on theirs and we would like to work together with that industry and others locally regionally nationally to come up with a plan in many neighborhoods where you see Lane hens you will see dairy cows and you will see a lot of other forms of
▶ 1:08:32Agriculture well I think that's something we need to continue to work on not just in California but around the country because of the way this High path Avan flu has has uh taken shape um Do U any of you Witnesses here uh care to comment uh on the impacts of uh potential um um tariffs on our trading partners uh in Canada and Mexico and your
▶ 1:09:04concerns yes thank you I can address that question I mean as I mentioned before 205% of our pork products are exported that adds uh $66 worth of value uh our trading partners like Canada and Mexico are concerned uh we export Mexico is our number one market for exports so any type of disruptions are of concern especially the retaliatory tariffs that might come back to us I think it's also important to note that we
▶ 1:09:34as an industry get young wean pigs from Canada that would be affected by that those tariffs also which would add cost to our producers those pigs are raed in States like Minnesota and Iowa so uh we have a very integrated industry we work well together and uh certainly concerned with any type of disruptions and retaliatory tariffs that might come our way and that's the thing each country country has the ability to invoke retaliatory tariffs so it's a street anyone else care to comment yeah you know
▶ 1:10:04uh the US is the largest beef exporter in the world we're also one of the largest beef importers in the world tariffs hit us both ways on that in monana we have a good working relationship with Canada most of our feeder Cals go North to the border to be finished fed out and uh many of them come back to the United States to be PR processed most of our inputs for growing our feed come from Canada so this these tariffs would have a very adverse impact on
▶ 1:10:35the cattle ranchers of you do you agree there are attacks on American consumers and American Producers absolutely thank you um I've carried the uh funding legislation for uh animal health laboratory national animal and disease preparedness the response program the national animal vaccine and vet countermeasures and proud to continue to carry those Appropriations Mr Zimmerman would you agree that without these critical resources our food supply would be even more at risk I would wholeheartedly
▶ 1:11:05agree um the first step in combating a virus outbreak such as HP is surveillance so we need to keep these folks on board uh and and not have them terminated correct uh they were already short staff so any further cut staff would be detrimental yes I agree uh biocurity continues to be a main pillar I think in combating High path AV and flu but we also have strong herd Health here in the United States Mr schwier you mention in your testimony you could expand and why ear tags and other measuring
▶ 1:11:35of biocurity are worthy Investments uh quickly comment my run out of time it's you know it food security is a national security we both agree and um and herd health is National Security and uh and it's definitely important and our herd health is at risk without good traceability it's a public good and it should be the cost of herd Health should be born by public
▶ 1:12:05not the producers not the feeders not the the the Packers thank you Mr chairman my time's expired next we'll recognize the gentleman for Nebraska Mr bacon for five minutes appreciate you all being app a question for our experts here
▶ 1:12:38usca yeah thank you um Mr bacon love the last name there um you know once again uh as a trade is so important to our industry I mean when you look at the pork industry trade helps provide that balance we export more than we import and so uh Mexico is our number one export Market they love our pork down there uh Canada's I believe number five uh so both of them are important to us and and
▶ 1:13:08the the work of usmca um has has been good for both all three of us countries I should say and uh you know certainly want to continue those type of relationships in the future too how about further our beef side yeah you know um we are um glad for the the export trade that we um we we value it at about $425 ahead for every animal that we produce um
▶ 1:13:39is the value of exports to us so we are excited about um new markets and expanding current markets and we fully understand that the that this is a very important uh part of our production system question for you both followup I understand some retribution towards Mexico they were blocking our corn and doing some other things but as Canada to my knowledge they've lived up to the usmca so I'm trying to just get my arms around how do I'm not sure responding to Canada with tariffs
▶ 1:14:09is appropriate but is as Canada been living up to the usmca agreement and if anybody knows differently please let me know well um I believe they have been living up to the agreement but I think the agreement needs a few improvements um first and foremost uh country of origin labeling MH uh secondly you know they can they can dump their grains wheat especially into the US market but we are not allowed
▶ 1:14:39to export our wheat into the Canadian markets this is a clearly an important uh addition that needs to be made to the usmca that's a great great input anybody else here okay go ahead well I would just say that the trade and exports are are complex and you know as I mentioned we get wean pigs from Canada into the US in Iowa and Minnesota and those are good healthy pigs
▶ 1:15:09that are harvested in our plants and so we have an integrated uh we have an integrated industry and that's why we need to continue to to find ways to work together I realize it's it's may not be perfect for all species but you know for the fork pork industry it it has worked 12 for us and one of the big concerns I have we were a net trade exporter four years ago not not a huge Trade Surplus but there was one now we have the biggest trade deficit in agriculture in our history and I think it's part of
▶ 1:15:39the factors why we're nearing a recession in the in the agriculture sector and it's very concerning uh for me a follow question to Mr sander and uh Mrs stermer there were recent Cuts Federal cuts of the meat animal Research Center otherwise known as the mark in Nebraska and a lot of these research researchers uh lost their jobs can you explain the importance of our n nation's research efforts to agriculture we'll start with you ma'am I would say
▶ 1:16:10all of us in agriculture especially those of us that graduated from land grant universities want to continue to see that research happen there I mean that that information that research uncovers helps Drive our industry it helps Drive The Innovation and and its important work it it it fuels the next maybe vaccine animal health program and so uh need to continue to have that support in those areas yes so that our industry can continue to be vibrant can continue to face the challenges that we have it and continue to be a leader
▶ 1:16:40in the world yes sir yes our uh ability to respond to prevent and respond to a foreign disease outbreak is is Paramount and it would be devastating for our industry and so we support uh you know funding to uh continue that initiative we were U very glad to see the Trump Administration rehire federal employees that are important to protecting the US cattle herd uh including research from aphis and employees from the usfs as someone who uh worked
▶ 1:17:10hard to get the fmd vaccine Bank funded back in 2017 I appreciate the great work our researchers do and I think with four seconds left I'm going to yield it all back to you very generous Mr bacon thank you um I now recognize the gentl woman from connectic kit Mrs Hayes for 5 minutes thank you and thank you to our Witnesses for being here today last month the President issued an executive order instructing agencies to plan for largescale reductions in force and fired
▶ 1:17:40thousands of probationary employees to your point the rehiring of those employees would not have had to take place if they weren't fired without cause to begin with loan officers at the Farm Service Agency who help farmers secure financial investments to run or expand their operations were fired these firings also impacted the economic research service at USDA which produces reports and data on the farm economy in the middle of an outbreak
▶ 1:18:10of bird flu which has led to the death of over one of over 165 million Birds president Trump and Elon mus fired a quarter of the staff at the national animal health laboratory Network programs and hundreds of employees at the animal and plant health inspection services which have been responding to the spread of the disease the trumpet Administration is now struggling to rehire these important employees as bird flu spreads from poultry flocks to Dairy herds in 17 States and has
▶ 1:18:40tragically resulted in at least one human death Mr West in your testimony you indicated that current egg shortages and high egg prices are directly linked to the outbreak of bird flu you also mentioned that the federal hiring freezes left 26 new hires at the N National poultry Resource Center unsure of whether they were supposed to start their jobs can you elaborate more on the impact of those large scale firings and hiring freezes that they the impact that they have on the ability of egg
▶ 1:19:11producers to respond to the bird flu and additionally what resources do farmers need to respond and recover from this outbreak and provides stability to the Market I would like to talk about uh first um during our outbreaks we had full USDA staff on our on our Farms we did not have um anybody that was short labor on our farm during our
▶ 1:19:41outbreaks when I talked about Labor shortages I talked about um tax in Labs doing samples for Aven influenza or Kisa or whatever other disease they might be looking for I did not see any labor shortages on the farm but aren't those texts equally as important as the people who are actually on the farm in order to combat uh an outbreak of bird
▶ 1:20:11flow that is exactly right and I believe that those positions were um left untouched if I'm not mistaken and I'm I'm going off a memory here ma'am so I might be wrong okay well you can submit that later but the point is uh making those types of cuts without surgical precision and an understanding of the impact that would have would leave us um in a bad spot should an outbreak
▶ 1:20:41occur that we cannot plan for so it's not just the workers on the farm but the technicians in the lab and all of those highly specialized employees are very important to uh the lifespan of this process I have another question but Mr Switzer you seem to be jumping out of your seat would you like respond you you know the the cuts have had an impact in Montana no doubt about it um both in
▶ 1:21:11Predator control for for our sheep industry and for health of our of our livestock and for programs for the US for the Montana Farmers and ranchers right now many farmers are going in to get their operating loans renewed and the bankers are dismissing any support from the US government if you take that out of our bottom line we're not going to get our loans renewed
▶ 1:21:42yes thank you I can tell you that it's also had an effect in Connecticut I was approached at a parade by a father who wanted to tell me the story of his daughter who was a shellfish expert uh Marine veteran highly recruited by the USDA and was happened to be a probationary employee in that role although she had served 25 years in other agencies in departments in a highly specialized field of as a shellfish expert um I'll submit my other
▶ 1:22:12questions for the record with that I back chairman recognizes the gentleman from Indiana Mr beard for five minutes thank you Mr chairman and ranking memb so I'm going to start Mr Hopkins uh as you know all orphan programs were left unfunded at the end of the last Congress uh can you speak to the importance of the orphan programs such as the Sheep production and marketing grants and the need for continued funding uh thank you
▶ 1:22:42Congressman yes the orphan programs are critical to the Sheep industry um the programs as I understand it in the past have been uh too small for CBO to score those in the Baseline and uh as a result of that there always have to be listed in the farm bill as separate programs which creates a lot of problems ese especially when there's a CR that has to be done last year in the farm bill that this committee released in May you
▶ 1:23:12combined many of those orphan programs into a I believe it was a fiber trust fund uh to make sure that they would be in the Baseline and we are great greatly uh um pleased that you were able to do that and if you can continue to do that in the uh new farm bill I think we would be uh very satisfied uh that that problem that's been with us for a while would resolved thank you thank you do any of the
▶ 1:23:42other Witnesses have any thoughts in Arena if not I'll move on to uh Mrs stevermer you talk talk about how the US pork industry is dependent on vitamins manufactured in China due to the limited production that we have and in some cases there being no other country of origin options to meet the industry volume demands while this is not within the jurisdiction of the a committee what recommending do you have to
▶ 1:24:13Congress for addressing this issue yeah thank you for that question and as I did mention there are certain uh vitamins trace minerals and amino acids excuse me that we can only get from China and so my ask would be that as we continue to have conversations about our relationship with China going forward to keep that in mind uh because if we are unable to Source them or if the cost of those go up significantly it will impact our our producers bottom
▶ 1:24:43lines thank you do any other Witnesses have any uh remarks in this regard so I'm going to move on to another area uh so Mr sander uh do you and your organization have any position regarding usda's investments into small and Regional meat and poultry processing
▶ 1:25:14capacity and given the policy prefences uh as a general rule is it preferable to have Congress authorized these programs or have Administration do it yeah you know obviously we will at some point end up rebuilding our herd maybe not to uh levels that we've seen in the past due to inflation and taxes and uh land values um but we will see again a time where we
▶ 1:25:44have a a large supply of cattle that need to go through the processing uh plants and the packing plants and so we are absolutely 100% supportive of uh programs to help uh small and Regional Packers uh overcome the high costs of the startup and uh provide more hook space for our product do any the other Witnesses have yes um you know Montana
▶ 1:26:15prior to the covid pandemic um we eat about 100,000 headed cattle a year but we only had the process in capacity of about 30,000 we found out during the co pandemic that we couldn't even feed ourselves even though we raise over 2 million headed cows this local Regional processing is critically important for our food security and our national security and the Investments that have been made in monana
▶ 1:26:45have increased almost doubled our processing capacity but we still have a ways to go cuz we eat 100,000 heads so if we can process 60,000 000 we're still 40,000 thank you anyone else we got about 21 seconds if not I yield back thank you the gentleman yelds I never recognize the gentleman from Iowa Mr finstra for five minutes uh thank
▶ 1:27:15you Mr chair thank you for having this uh committee meeting I want to thank our Witnesses I read testimonies and they're very impressive you know we got some exciting times in the US and what's happening in the commodity markets and things like that but we also have some concerns uh I am from Northwest or Western Iowa uh where we have some of the largest uh uh livestock production in the country livestock turkey egg Lang You Name It We lead in these industries pork
▶ 1:27:46and so forth uh but the great problem that we're having and worry that we're having is foreign animal disease and obviously High path AV influenza um OB obviously it's killed over 140 million birds already um I it's catastrophic and we're seeing it getting into cattle we're seeing it getting into mice and rats and cats and dogs I worry significantly worry about Hogs which I want to talk about a little bit but I'm excited that uh the secretary
▶ 1:28:16Rollins came out with a Rob best strategy last week and this was after a letter that I helped uh lead with with other other s concerning the uh the the the development from the USDA and what can be done uh obviously the investment has to be in biocurity farm relief vaccine research uh and other considerations so I want to talk to Mr Zimmerman and and Mr West obviously Mr zimman National Turkey Federation thanks for being here I think the world of your organization and
▶ 1:28:46what you do I have one of the uh one of your uh uh producers here uh going to go with me tonight uh to here the state of the union and then Mr West United Egg Council thanks for being here obviously I have one of the largest egg producers uh in the country 14% of the eggs come from uh from one of my my uh owners uh and uh it's great to have you here so between you two what areas of research should be our priority
▶ 1:29:17uh that we can best Implement and move forward on this strategy of trying to find a solution uh High path Aviation influenza Mr Zim what is your thoughts on this we've come a long way since 2014 when this virus first emerged in the Midwest and we've come a long way with our biocurity uh there's still there's still room for improvement and any research there is obviously helpful but we need to do more than just biocurity so as we look towards a vaccination program we need to research how that could be rolled out because obviously we're not going
▶ 1:29:47to be able to jab every bird out there it's just not possible but what birds should we protect first I mean egg layers Maybe maybe our breeding stock but we have to have those discussions of how a vaccine could be implemented and we also have to address the trade issues obviously to to make that happen is that going to be the big issue that trade issue concerns me a lot so you start vaccinating you know it's different than egg layers but but for turkeys is this going to be a big issue for you it can be a big issue you know we have to weigh how many birds are we depopulating versus how large our export markets are and we're at that point so we really
▶ 1:30:18need to look into how we can vaccinate and not harm trade in 2014 we know the cvos got together and discussed this issue and alleviated a lot of the trade concerns so we would hope that in the future we can have those discussions so we can start concentrating and looking at vaccine because honestly I think that's our path forward yeah I agree I had a couple turkey farms get hit in bua county and Sack County and stuff like that we we've got to get our arms around this we can't continue to to euthanize and adify I mean we've got to find Solutions and I appreciate that uh Mr West uh we've had a
▶ 1:30:48lot of discussions on this topic uh worried uh what is your thoughts what can we do to move forward what is a solution here well that's there's a lot of solutions and there needs to be research at every every level of this virus um I spoke in my testimony about a working Industry Group working with the USDA and working through some of these issues um Chief among them for our industry is is when and where do we vaccinate the birds at what age
▶ 1:31:18that in what facility do we do it at a hatchery do we do it in a in a Brer house where we we take a day old baby chick and raise her to 16 to 17 to 18 weeks do we do it there we do not want to do it in the layous it would be operationally U nearly impossible that's right it would yep uh M steir uh what is your thought I mean I'm worried about getting into hog obviously we're worried about African swine fever uh but where do you see this moving forward
▶ 1:31:48and how can we all work together and find a solution here I would just say it goes back to our three-legged Animal Health stool that we talk about the importance of the labs that are doing the diagnostic work uh the surveillance that we have in place there and also our biocurity so it it's upon all of us as an industry as livestock Industries to be in communication with each other I know our our staff veterinarians are on those calls on high path and uh and making sure that our lab capacity is there
▶ 1:32:19and that we have the science and Innovation work on vaccines thank you thank you thanks for your test thank you and a y back thank you um the chair recognizes the gentleman from New York Mr Riley for five minutes uh thank you Mr chairman appreciate it I want to um follow up on what uh my colleague was talking about with bird flu it's uh very very concerning for a lot of reasons we just had a a bird flu outbreak in olster county in my district in January um we had another one in Delaware County
▶ 1:32:49just last week um and of course we've seen what's been happening with egg pric is um so uh Mr West I wanted to ask you this question um I share your concerns about the uh the damage this virus is causing uh and I agree with uh colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we really got to get it under control um I'm an original co-sponsor of a bipartisan Bill uh that uh Congressman Costa and others are are leading the healthy poultry assistance indemnification act and uh my understanding is under current
▶ 1:33:19law farmers will get compensated if they have to depopulate a Farm uh where bird flu is found but that the folks who are in the surrounding control areas also have to take measures but they don't get compensated and so our bill um would allow them uh to be compensated for the economic impacts uh that they face um I know that this bill is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation the national chicken Council and the United egg producers and I was just hoping you could take a couple minutes
▶ 1:33:49to make the case uh for folks here uh why this bill is so important well um the control Zone in each in each neighborhood let me let me describe the process when there's an Aven influenza case there's a circle around that farm it can be 5 kilm it can be 10 kilomet and permitting needs to be done through those areas if you have a like Poultry Farm in that area
▶ 1:34:19you would have to do increased testing you would have to jump through a few different Hoops to um get your products moved so we would support anything that would that would support that farmer next door to get his product moved great I appreciate that um uh Miss stemmer um I had a question about in your testimony you talked about uh how American farmers are forced to uh rely on China for a lot
▶ 1:34:49of vitamins um and you listed some things like B12 um thiamine folic acid that are made almost exclusively in China he said that China makes about 80% to 100% of various other vitamins um and I'm just curious why why exactly is that the case and are there things we should be doing with American public policy to start trying to lessen our dependence on China for stuff I would say that process happened through time as the
▶ 1:35:20economic and environmental pressures were here in the US on those particular manufacturing plants they they went elsewhere into China and so um I don't have a specific answer if there were any plants were going to be built it was it's going to take time to get those built and then permitting for that to happen so I think in the meantime once again keeping in mind that they come from China many of those trace minerals and amino acids and continue to have those that thought in mind when we have conversations on a relationship with China yeah so
▶ 1:35:50but there's not like some sort of um structure Al or scientific or technical reason we're depending on China for this stuff like we could if we put our minds to it and made the Investments we could scientifically we could probably do this here here in America is that your sense correct correct yeah it just seems like I mean this is the thing across uh so much of the country and certainly in my district in Upstate New York where we have been uh the economy has just been hollowed out because we've seated ground to
▶ 1:36:21uh China and other uh competitors around the world we used to make stuff in America and uh something as simple maybe I guess I shouldn't say as simple I'm sure there's that making vitamins is probably very complex scientifically but um when you're telling me that 100% of these vitamins that our Farmers need we're depending on China for that that makes absolutely no sense to me and so um maybe we could look into ways to start uh making stuff in America again um I'll ELD back the balance of my time chairman thank you I now
▶ 1:36:51recognize the gentlewoman from Indiana this Illinois oh Illinois we're neighbors thank you all for being here I really appreciate hearing from producers as a cattle producer myself I understand the importance of promoting American beef and protecting our food safety in the country I am concerned that other countries don't live up to the standards that United States has for
▶ 1:37:22say raising cattle Mr sander do you share these concerns con uh when it comes to the importation of beef from other countries such as Brazil and Paraguay we know we do uh spend a lot of our time talking about the value of exports to our business and and probably need to also spend as much time about uh talking about Imports and as you mentioned uh Brazil and Paraguay enjoy beef access to the US market but this
▶ 1:37:52needs to be ceased in our opinion because they have proven they are either unable or unwilling to adhere to Global Animal Health and food safety standards that we are held to here in in the US thank you and I do find it troubling that United States is importing so much beef from other countries that put the US cattle herd at risk for Contracting dangerous diseases such as the foot and mouth disease could you explain to us what would happen in the
▶ 1:38:22US if there was an fmd outbreak and why it is so important to protect our cattle from these diseases you know as it currently stands if if we would be devastated with such an outbreak there would uh immediately be immediately be a minimum of a 72-hour stop movement on cattle and as you uh all are aware we have a perishable product and we can't stop the production process the prod the process needs to move and so um
▶ 1:38:52among other costly uh devastating effects that would be the one obviously that would happen quickly and we just can't stand to have that type of a uh disease enter our Shores lastly the USDA January cattle inventory report showed us that the cattle inventory in the US has been at its lowest since 1995 what can Congress do to support cattle producers to get that number back up and for us to have a thriving beef
▶ 1:39:24so uh you know at the end of the day in the cattle business we are margin managers and there's you know three ways that you can help protect your margins and that is pay less for your input costs uh produce your product more efficiently or sell it for more and keeping uh burdensome costs and uh burdensome go government overreach uh in check and uh helping us to reduce our costs in the production process
▶ 1:39:54is absolutely what we need to help us be stay profitable and manage our margins I absolutely agree
▶ 1:40:25for us making the h2a program year round uh having those be yearr round formor workers would be key our pigs don't uh don't just grow for nine months uh we need workers 12 months of the year so that yearr round access to those h2a workers would be key thank you and I yield back thank you I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina thank you so much I like to um thank in
▶ 1:40:55particular um chairman man and ranking member um Costa for organizing um this important subcommittee hearing today um the topic is very important um for eastern North Carolina livestock sales are 49% of Agriculture sells in North kin's First District over 23 million in livestock inventory financial situation of our producers is top of my mind every day in eastern North Carolina our top industry
▶ 1:41:25is agriculture to be clear uh the jobs tied to the agriculture industry support and we know this our local grocery store the local banks the local tractor store and many many others um over the course of this last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to go out to neara Natural Farm it's a Seventh Generation family-owned operated farm and we did a ribbon cutting and um I'm saying this to say I believe
▶ 1:41:55strongly that we need to do everything possible to keep our farmers and producers in business and in Good Financial standing so that they can continue to feed clothe the American people um we've talked about Animal Health um today um over the course of this hearing um it remains in the news um so I'm going to come back to the topic um hpai the outbreak and the birth flu epidemic um continues to be top of mind
▶ 1:42:26that raises the fear for producers back home that others could spread and that they could jump from one livestock to another Staffing shortages as we've also alluded to um these are not easing fears I want to specifically narrow down my question here Mr Zimmerman um USDA secretary Rollins recently announced uh usda's hbaa AI strategy and turkey seems
▶ 1:42:56to not be included and I would like to know how has uh the turkey industry been affected and what would inclusion mean well thank you we we hope it was just an oversight obviously the price of eggs is uh in in the spotlight now so we we hope that turkey will be included in the future turkeys are a more longlived bird and so they have more time to be exposed to the virus so our industry as a whole on a percentage and nothing to uh denigrate
▶ 1:43:27the the damage to the egg industry but we've been hit really hard and we were some of the first be hid in the previous outbreak in 2014 and 2015 so we just want it to be included and I think we I think the the the major point is that we need to treat this as a virus not as a specific species this is in dairy cattle it's in cats it's in mice it's in chickens it's in ducks and so that any solution to this virus needs to be holistic in approach and include all of us uh so we can all you know be be rid of this terrible virus thank you so much I'm going to
▶ 1:43:57see how we can do with the last two minutes of my time here I would love to hear from all of the witnesses if you can just keep it like to a sentence a oneliner that could capture what concerns if any do you have about the impact of a potential retary tariffs whichever way you want to start I'll start I we we import a lot of our baby turkeys and our eggs from Canada so obviously Imports rising and then Mexico
▶ 1:44:27is our largest trading partner um obviously that's a great concern that we uh in a in a time where we're very in a very stressful time we can't afford to lose those exports and have our import prices increase I would say our farmers are very concerned with the retaliatory tariff we went through a longest period of unprofitability lost average of $30 ahead we're starting to make a little bit of money now any type of retaliatory tariff that disrupts that market affects our profitability and that's concerning
▶ 1:44:58very uh very NE negligible amount of product moves across our borders we don't e import or export many eggs at all so this will have little impact on the egg industry you know the commodity prices that are so low this year and last is in large part due to the last trade War uh our largest customer were impacted during that trade war and they looked for alternative markets
▶ 1:45:28and um in 2024 we had an average crop but we lost our average market and so our commodity prices tanked because of this it does have an impact and it has a long range impact because our our customers have built ports Rail and other distribution networks to purchase their products from our competitors we obviously are aware of the tariffs
▶ 1:45:58and uh as our this Administration Works to negotiate Equitable trade agreements we would hope that they also look at possible other export opportunities for our product as well well thank you for getting through that line of questioning 17 seconds over y'all are just as good as members of Congress I yeld back thank you now recognize the gentleman from Minnesota for five minutes thank you Mr chairman and I'd also like to thank chairman man for holding this important hearing today and thank you to the witnesses
▶ 1:46:29for taking time to be here with us southern Minnesota is a top region for livestock production and as I stated earlier we are a pork Powerhouse and we're very proud of that it's an honor to represent the hardworking men and women who put high quality nutritious protein on our tables with that being said uh Miss stevermer uh prop 12 um it's rre havoc on the marketplace and it's heard it's hurt small and medium siiz producers The Fallout will only lead to increased consolidation as the largest
▶ 1:46:59producers are better equipped to conform to its arbitrary and unscientific requirements in simple terms can you explain to the committee why it's in completely backwards to think prop 12 is anything but detrimental to uh production agriculture well first of all I want to thank chairman Thompson for his work on language with prop 12 um what makes it somewhat chonic and backwards is the fact that while I fine with States regulating production practices within their own state
▶ 1:47:30it does not make sense for states to regulate production practices in other states and the fear that our producers have is that Patchwork of of regulations and doesn't matter what size you are small or medium uh you feel that effect and it's hard to make business decisions and the chaos that it's causing is is concerning I would say also also I have farms and and producers that come up to me and say I don't know if the next generation wants to come Farm
▶ 1:48:00because look at this chaos if if one state can tell another state what to do and and down the road maybe that happens again and we've got multiple States and multiple regulations how do I deal with that why would I want to deal with that why do I want to come back and farm and I think that's very disappointing for people that produce wholesome nutritious protein I also say it's chaotic because it raises food prices the people in California are paying on average 20% more for pork that makes no sense that makes no
▶ 1:48:30sense thank you for that and in a followup to that so in the farm food and National Security Act of 2024 that we uh pass in a bipartisan manner through the egg committee uh we had uh a fix included for prop 12 and you alluded to it but do you support that fix in the language in that bill we do support that yes all right thank you for that um maybe one last thought and Mr Riley from New York brought this up and I think it's a very very good point you
▶ 1:49:00know we have all our eggs in one basket when it comes to some inputs on the pork production side and quite frankly livestock production in general but if you look at the amino acids the vitamins minerals uh it it is scary to think that we all agree and say food security is naal National Security but yet we don't have a domestic fix to diversify our inputs and so if we were to from a congressional bipartisan standpoint work on ways to reignite domestic
▶ 1:49:30production of amino acids vitamins things that are so critical to our food and National Security would the pork industry be supportive of that I would say we would I mean it's as you said having all our eggs in one basket is not ideal uh and working through any Regulatory and environmental conditions that might be out there I think is important to making sure that we can build that industry back again yeah so to that point I mean these are self-inflicted wounds that we've put on ourselves right so we have regulated
▶ 1:50:01oursel out of the marketplace to the point where our only conclusion is our customer or our our uh the deal is to be made with China and so I I think it's high time that we again in a bipartisan manner work together to figure out how we can bring some of this production back to to the United States uh Mr Zimmerman I I think of you you're a second generation farmer and uh most of your adult life you have lived uh
▶ 1:50:31as a farmer through very tough times and so you look at uh the perfect storm we have going on now with Aven High path Aven influenza and ampv how have these diseases separately impacted the economic livelihoods of Minnesota turkey Growers and what advice would you provide uh members of Congress and the USDA and how can we best combat these impacts simultaneously yeah as I said in my oral testimony this has been a onew punch star Farmers
▶ 1:51:01um I'm seeing the next generation of turkey Farmers just throw up their hands they can deal with one thing uh HPI has been great because there's been Indemnity with ampv there has been no Indemnity so including AMV in the livestock Indemnity program would goow a long way to provide some assurances to the Next Generation that there is some support there when they have these um you know these type of viral outbreaks but more importantly it's let's find a solution uh been doing we've been dealing with HPI since 2014 uh it's time to move on we've spent the money on
▶ 1:51:31biocurity we need to look at vaccination we need to get the trade issues straightened out and we need to work towards a long-term solution because we cannot survive we will not have a poultry and egg industry in this country if we have to continue to live with hpai well I've seen your kids and the way they love farming and uh we owe it to them to get this right to give them hope so they can be the third generation to take over your Farms so with that I yield back thank you I now recognize the gentleman from California for 5 minutes thank you uh chairman
▶ 1:52:01man ranking member Costa uh appreciate you calling today's hearings and thank you to our Witnesses uh certainly been an informative discussion uh special welcome to my good friend and constituent Mr West nice to see you on the other side of the country here and see your friendly face thank you um you I represent one of the largest uh Dairy and poultry districts in the country and uh certainly share a lot of the concerns that have been raised uh here
▶ 1:52:32today um you know with the the depopulation of over 160 million birds and and the uh you know the impact to Consumers and wholesale prices and everything else I mean there's a lot to be concerned about and frankly some of the chaotic uh activity that I've EXP experience since my arrival here in Congress two months ago uh hasn't always uh reassured me that we're doing what we need to do um
▶ 1:53:02having said that I certainly think you know the the uh $100 million funding uh that secretary Rollins uh has announced and and is moving forward with uh is the bright spot uh in this and Mr West you and I have talked about extensively uh the importance of the vaccination strategy right I'm hoping um well I'm just curious if you could lay out for us what you think you how how those funds can best be
▶ 1:53:32utilized and you know what we can do as members of this committee and members of Congress to best utilize you know our time uh to support those efforts and make sure that uh that we do have an effective you know response strategy because I like I said I certainly a lot to be concerned about so if you could walk me through you know your thoughts on the best use of those funds and and how we can best uh support that absolutely thank you for the question I think those monies need to be
▶ 1:54:03spent everywhere around Aven influenza Mr Gray I think that um it needs to start with industry groups and I've said I believe twice this morning that we have established an industry group that is really excited about meeting with USDA and getting an action plan put in place we need to be looking at things like monitoring out there in the field we need to look at test results we need to manage processes on the ground that that
▶ 1:54:33we don't have guidance for at this point and I think it makes it that much more important for us to work with government to to make a clear path for everybody nobody wants High egg prices nobody wants empty egg shelves in the grocery stores we want this Pro problem to be over with and I think if we work together we can sure do that I appreciate that and I'll open up the question to the rest of the panel just a sense of uh
▶ 1:55:04what barriers or hurdles do you all see uh that we can be helpful in clearing uh as we head down this path open-ended question to any any members sir surveillance is key um and fully Staffing that our surveillance teams at the state level is very important because if we don't know where the virus is we can't even begin to control it so I know recently in Minnesota that uh some funding has been frozen and our our our state is wondering how we're going to continue
▶ 1:55:34to you know even do basic surveillance for HP so that's key number one but then our strategic initiative which I outlined in my written testimony again it's very similar to what Mr West is talking about getting the best and brightest in the industry together and coming up with Solutions and looking at how we can use potential Solutions such as vaccination to finally read ourselves of this virus it's going to take a lot of time and effort to come up with that plan and we need some help uh you know getting the people together to uh formulate those Solutions
▶ 1:56:04appreciate that uh thank you all for your efforts and please consider my office a friend and Ally in addressing uh you know these uh well this very serious situation um and thank you all and I'll yield back the rest of my time Mr chairman Mi Mr chairman May I Rise your point of order go ahead uh I'd like to uh enter uh into the record MK producers Council of California a letter that was addressed to
▶ 1:56:35me I made reference to it in my opening comments about the impacts of the poultry industry and the dairy industry with high path Aven flu and the dairy industry likes the poultry industry has been made available to part participate and file for emergency assistance for Liv stock uh honey beans and other farm- raised uh animals and so that's helpful with this elap application for milk losses due to high path however um The Hope has been
▶ 1:57:05put on hold do a stop in payments for USDA and milk producers Council wanted to raise that to our attention and if we can enter the letter to the record i' I'd appreciate it thank you could be it'll be entered thank you now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina thank you Mr chairman and thank you to all of you that have been uh very patient on the the panel today um there have been a series of questions that have popped up again about California's prop 12 and uh just for the
▶ 1:57:35record we know California's prop 12 requires Port producers to increase space for their Sals if they want access to the California Market it effectively baned gestation crates a common enclosure used by the industry to protect Sals and piglets during pregnancy and after birth the premise of this law implies that hog Farmers don't want their animals to be healthy and safe and I would just ask uh Mrs dmer um do you find that that's the case
▶ 1:58:05with the producers that you with the producers I interact with work closely with their veterinarians and Consultants to make the best choices for their farming operation based on their management style and prop 12 was not based on any scientific ific measures it was a number pulled out of the hat and um once again we producers in other states had no opportunity to provide feedback and yet it affects us so that's part of our concern is that
▶ 1:58:35Patchwork and that overregulation on our industry so California's law also seems to take an entirely different approach to animal safety than long-standing producer and veterinarian practices and I I wonder if you could confirm if there was any science really put in behind this decision no signs put behind it just arbitarily picked out a number of 24 square feet okay well I understand prop 12 went into
▶ 1:59:06effect just about a year ago and I wonder if you could take a few moments to talk about the extremely difficult decisions that producers are facing on whether not they comply with a forced mandate from California or try to their best to find another Market to sell into both of which are extremely uh costly in the process can you talk a little more about that yeah producers are you know making business decisions uh that
▶ 1:59:36whether they should incur costs to to comply to prop 12 and why there may be some premium involved with that that's not there's no guarantee that premium is going to last for a long period of time plus there's no guarantee that there's not going to be another State's uh regulation come along with a different square footage that would affect their their businesses so irregardless of your small large medium compliant non-compliant you're concerned about that Patchwork of regulations I would say that it's gone beyond the us our trading
▶ 2:00:06partners uh Mexico and Canada are concerned about prop 12 uh it's disruptive I mentioned earlier that we bring piglets down from Canada into the US Mex uh excuse me Minnesota and Iowa are a couple of states that given a lot of those Pig piglets uh Canadian producers are affected by prop 12 then and so you know they're just struggling to see how that can affect them in the chaos and and I will state it again that within California the USDA Chief Economist study showed that
▶ 2:00:36pork Prices rose 20% so it's affecting us as producers our costs are going up but it's affecting consumers also thank you and uh I I think you make a great Point uh about worrying that there's going to be continued fragmentation in state laws if Congress fails to act and I think that's going to be critically important I want to turn to Mr sander if I may for just a moment I I did note in your testimony that California's uh proposition 12 which largely focused on the hog industry
▶ 2:01:06is of huge concern to the National Cattleman's beef Association and its members and I wonder if you take a moment just to explain why this is so worrisome to you and other livestock producers thank you for the question U you know it becomes concerning for us when a state that produces less than 1% of the domestic hog production in the US starts dictating um animal husbandry practices to the rest of the country um you know we believe
▶ 2:01:37in the cattle industry that you I I personally have spent the last uh 50 years I'm not that old but I started really young uh you know learning how to do a good job of raising livestock and animal handling animal husbandry practices and we we are literally the original stewards of the land and of the animals and we believe that those decisions need to be made with us not just one state well thank you very much and chairman with that I'll yield back
▶ 2:02:07balancing my time thank you I now recognize the gentleman from New Mexico thank you Mr chairman thank you ranking member I appreciate the ability to wave on to today's subcommittee hearing um I represent New Mexico's second district the Chile capital of the world uh we produce uh the largest amount over half of the country's onions in June and July and we're also home to the wild turkey Grand Slam uh you can hunt a real grand mirams and a goul turkey in my district uh which I'm very proud of uh however we're here today to talk about livestock and DK
▶ 2:02:38uh two really critical Industries to my district as well now we have over 9,000 ranchers that raise over 1.2 million head of cattle and contribute over $2 billion to the new Mexican economy they hold 2,200 allotments across approximately 13.5 million Acres of public lands across the state however often times uh these ranchers are confronted with unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles that hinder their ability to do their jobs efficiently that's why I'm proud to have introduce
▶ 2:03:08the bipartisan ranching without red tape act uh which would cut through excessive regulatory delays and provide Ranchers with the flexibility that they need to make simple but critical improvements on their Federal leases so my question is to Mr sander uh Mr sander can you give me a few examples of range improvements that would trigger a lease re renegotiation yeah thank you for the question um you know I as I said our operations are in Kansas so we don't uh we don't graze
▶ 2:03:38many uh Federal lands but we do uh buy from a lot of uh folks in the west that uh you know graze over more than 60% of the uh the herd grazes Federal lands and um you know the ranches who manage those permits as I said earlier are some of the original stewards of this land and they know how to take care of land uh they're you know responsible for maintaining water troughs pipelines and fences are really good examples of that for you
▶ 2:04:08thank you Mr sander and I completely agree with you and that's why I believe my legislation is so important uh and it makes common sense to cut through that red tape and cut through that regulation and not have to renegotiate a lease with the BLM or another Federal Land Management agency uh is this something that you'd commit uh to working with me to help pass this legislation absolutely thank you so much um it's also important to emphasize that this bill is not about shortcuts or sacrificing environmental oversight uh however um there is another bill I want to get to before my time expires
▶ 2:04:38today also another bipartisan Bill I've introduced called the grazing for Wildfire management act with Mr lamalfa um we know that well-managed grazing plays a crucial role in Wildfire mitigation by reducing fuel loads uh the grazing uh for wildlife management act would make it easier for ranchers to access public lands uh to produce some of those fuels and prevent catastrophic wildfires like those in New Mexico two of the largest that we've seen in just the last year Alone um Mr shander from your perspective how would targeted grazing
▶ 2:05:09in these areas of increased fuel loads uh both contribute to Wildfire prevention over our land health and help ranchers again we've learned a lot over the over the years over many many years of how the SYM symbiotic relationship between grazing cattle and the environment uh can work amazingly well at helping to um not only uh reduce the undergrowth and uh the fuel that's there for fires but also slow down the flames
▶ 2:05:39in the process if if and when a fire does ignite um we are 100% supportive of this initiative as well thank you so much Mr shander and look one of the things I appreciate about serving on this committee is that we get to work with our colleagues on Common Sense legislation uh that we hope eventually makes it into a viable Farm Bill uh as a vehicle to get uh to get this passed and so I'm looking forward to working with my Republican colleagues on both of these initiatives and certainly uh anticipate and look forward to the support from uh
▶ 2:06:09the livestock industry cattle growers in my state who also support both of these pieces of legislation as well um and and that supports livelihoods in rural communities now I look forward uh to continuing this important work thank thank you all so much for being here today uh and I look forward to having further discussions uh in full committee for both of these bills thank you Mr chairman I you'll back thank you I'll now now recog recognize myself for five minutes uh thank you all for sharing your time and insight into this committee obviously Aven flu is top of mind for many members of
▶ 2:06:39the subcommittee here today I'm encouraged by secretary rollin's timely response to the issue and with Indiana being the fourth largest producer of turkeys in in America I'm hopeful the USDA Avan flu response will expand to support our turkey Farmers uh Mr Zimmerman American farmers are the most efficient turkey producers in the world but in your testimony you mentioned that pressures like animal disease are pushing them out of business what policies can Congress consider to keep our turkey Farmers on the map and is the Primacy of American turkey production
▶ 2:07:10at risk if Congress does not prioritize these issues thank you uh specifically concerning AMV including that in the livestock Indemnity program we could go a long way to adding certainty um to our industry uh one of the major concerns I hear from younger Growers right now is they aren't able to get uh financing because their Bankers don't know how they can survive with losing 30 40 50% of their flocks so providing that certainty that there is a back stop to these losses would be uh a godsend to our industry
▶ 2:07:40uh outside of that just certainty in our high path aving and influ influenza response as I mentioned you know Staffing to make sure that we are actively surveilling for this virus and that I'm very thankful that us now has a very concrete plan to move forward and we do hope that turkey is also included in that plan but just that that provides a lot of Hope to our to our Growers that U maybe there's some light at the end of this tunnel because God knows we can't survive uh doing the same old thing we've been doing for the last 10 years thank thank you uh recently egg prices have
▶ 2:08:10been all over the news egg prices are high and an an anomaly in Indiana but at one state in particular that has grown used to uh to high food prices since passing prop 12 residents of California have been subject to historically High Cost of protein and now Californians are unable to cushion themselves from the impact of supply shortages but this state initiative has trickle down effects impacting farmers in my district 2,000 miles away uh Mrs Ste Ste stevermer if Congress fails
▶ 2:08:40to include a solution to prop 12 in the upcoming Farm Bill what implications will there be for our farmers and the purchasing power of consumers and the Integrity of our food supply especially strains like animal disease if we don't address prop 12 uh and the patchwork of regulations is allowed to continue across the country so one state puts in a regulation that's slightly different from the next one and now all a sudden we as an industry are
▶ 2:09:10trying to Market our pigs and raise our pigs to a variety of of regulations it will be chaos and as I mentioned before uh the Next Generation looks at that and says I don't want to be part of that and so we will lose a generation of farmers and and consumers will have to pay more for their food prices thank you as everyone is well aware uh president Trump's tariff on Mexican and Canadian Goods went in effect this morning I know the potential of a trade War bring brings anxiety for producers in my district and Across
▶ 2:09:41the Nation but I also know tariffs can be a way to make sure our trade Partners hold up their end of the deal Mr sander where have our trade Partners most abused our current trade agreements you know a good example that comes to my mind is uh you know we've allowed Australia to have access to our markets here in the US for many years and uh we have not been able to send even $1 of our product into
▶ 2:10:11their markets and so that I I believe um that's that's an example of a market that export Market that needs to be held accountable thank you mrman I would re reiterate um Australia and New Zealand have pummeled the Sheep industry with lamb Imports for decades so when unfair Trade Practices like that are occurring tariffs are definitely warranted um they have all kinds of advantages that we don't have in the United States
▶ 2:10:42and it's important that we try to level the playing field so I think in the face of uh such unfairness we need tariffs thank you thank you well with that I'll yield back the rest of my time um before um today's hearing has been a perfect example of why the livestock sector oh he showed up yes yes thank you Mr chairman I appreciate it and thank you for allowing me to wave on to this um you
▶ 2:11:12were all here at a very timely juncture as the chair has just noted both in American history but what it means to Farmers across the country a guy from Iowa sixth generation Family Farm These impacts are felt across not only the my 87,000 family farms in Iowa but across the country we know that our farming communities are facing significant challenges from rising input costs to the ongoing diseases like bird flu I'd like to begin today by talking specifically Mr West Mr Zimmerman
▶ 2:11:42you know farming isn't just a job for many of us it's a way of life and diseases like bird flu and am PV threaten our Farmers livelihood and the Very future of their ability to farm and the last year alone Iowa's Farmers have lost over half a million Birds uh to AMV alone particularly in our turkeys Mr Zimmerman I'd like to ask is there a single USDA program that offers financial assistance to Turkey
▶ 2:12:13producers impacted by APV no that's right so I just want to repeat that again for all the folks who are watching at home and Reporting on this from the a side they're talking about the impact here not a single federal program currently exists to help our turkey producers recover from AMV and that's more than a million Birds lost just in Iowa across the country we are talking about true tragedy
▶ 2:12:43and that's exactly why I'm proud to lead the Iowa delegation and one that I think is important for the entire country here that the USDA urged them to allow AP AMV to qualify for the live stock Indemnity program or liip and Mr chairman I would ask that this um letter be entered into the record agreed Mr Zimmerman how would access to lip program benefit producers in the coming months it would
▶ 2:13:13provide a Lifeline as you said when you lose 30 to 50% of your flock that's a loss of 30 to 50% of your yearly income I means think of that if you're a salaried individual how would you survive losing that much and then again it will provide some certainty to our lenders that there is hope and that there can be some recovery from these losses in addition to that I would like to to address that you know there is a vaccine for ampv we are starting to see that now but the process that it took over a year for us to get that approved needs to be re-evaluated
▶ 2:13:43because this isn't the only animal disease we're going to have in the future and there's going to be vaccines that need to come into this country and they need to become you know need to be regulated and safe but it should not take over a year for us to have access to the tools we need to protect our flocks and I would agree with you on that it's not even just a family losing half of their income imagine a family farm or a HomeTown community that sees half of its income wiped out the Ripon effect here is huge and you're absolutely right this isn't
▶ 2:14:13just in the turkey sector but removing the regulation to be able to get you know the vaccines needed to the front lines it's not just in ampv it's also in bird flu Mr Wes I know you have worked on this with the prices of eggs nearly doubling something that you know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle maybe not didn't care about six months ago now it's all they can talk about but the reality here is that a lot of this is being driven directly by bird flu driving up cost both at the supermarket but on my breakfast table when I'm trying to
▶ 2:14:43feed six kids I want to check with you on this um how are farmers access to critical vaccines prevented by the spread of bird flu while at the same time if we could get these flu out here Not only would we help keep more flocks we'd help drive down cost for consumers I'm not sure I understand the question is is the question um the availability of other vaccines aside from AV an influenza yeah great clarifying Point both the access to
▶ 2:15:14them the regulatory items that Mr Zimmerman just highlighted and then being able to field that in a timely fashion we we have had zero issues with vaccinations and vaccine um to have inventory on our Farms to this point I can't speak to what's going to happen in the future but the vaccines that we need and use are are readily available at the moment would you consider them critical for the success that you've seen in fighting bird flu absolutely would you like to see that model replicated
▶ 2:15:44when it comes to fighting things like AMV for turkeys yes I would like to see influenza vaccine implemented and put into place and put into execution I would agree with you and I think that there's a good pathway that you've highlighted here thank you Mr chair with that I think we can all see the importance of the government getting to work on this to help communities in need while this is ongoing with that I yield my time thank you today's hearing has been a perfect example of why the livock livestock sector is
▶ 2:16:14so important as mentioned earlier agriculture is incredibly interconnected from the producer to the feed lot and from the Harvest facility to the distributor every role is important to delivering protein to the market and to our consumers to our Witnesses thank you for being here today we we've heard you loud and clear from supporting the three-legged stool to pushing back on unscientific salmonela framework to providing support to producers impacted by the Aven flu and expanding our markets for American exp American
▶ 2:16:44animal protein exports we have a work cut out for us I look forward to working with all of you and the livestock issues that are so important to America and as we re reauthorize one of the strongest Farm bills yet under the under the rules of the committee's hearing the uh the it will remain open for 10 calendar days to receive additional material and supplement responses from the witnesses to any questions posted by a member this hearing of the subcommittee on livestock Dairy and poultry is now adjourned