▶ 0:18:06Chair Boozman: Good afternoon. It is my privilege to call the meeting to order. I think my colleagues for joining us today and I want to thank our witnesses for being here you. Many of you farm and we all know what is an important time of the year for you to be one of the farm as you plant your next crop. Today's hearing comes at a time of great financial stress for america's partner.
▶ 0:18:37Chair Boozman: It doesn't matter what you are planting or where you are planting, no row crop is currently profitable. In my home state of arkansas the last three years have been absolutely punishing and that grows -- goes across the board with our row crops and all of agriculture. Except for cattle. Arkansas now holds the unfortunate distinction of leading the nation in chapter 12 farm bankruptcies, a sobering statistic.
▶ 0:19:06Chair Boozman: I remain committed with my colleague from north dakota and everyone on the committee to pursue additional financial assistance for our farmers to lengthen and widen the farmer bridge assistance program of president trump.
▶ 0:19:27Chair Boozman: The recent history of high input costs and high interest rates coupled with lower prices and significant trade headwinds for certain commodities should give us good reason to think about what the future of agriculture in the united states should look like.
▶ 0:19:49Chair Boozman: China is not a dependable trading partner and brazil is doing everything it can to take over agriculture markets that traditionally have been dominated by the united states. I commend the administration for pursuing new markets in holding our trading partners accountable.
▶ 0:20:05Chair Boozman: Agriculture and trade must remain, developing new trading partners is crucial to the success of american producers and our rural communities. However, recent experience made me think about how we can build more robust domestic markets that will not subject our producers to the wind -- whims of foreign governments.
▶ 0:20:34Chair Boozman: This hearing is intended to begin that conversation. My hope for today as we start exploring new domestic opportunities for our farmers, what of the impediments limiting domestic consumption, what incentives would be helpful, are there legal, regulatory, or procedural helps at the federal, state, or local level that need to be addressed? Is the tax-cut structure to make american grown commodities more attractive?
▶ 0:21:04Chair Boozman: Do we have the necessary process and infrastructure? In the coming weeks and months, the committee will continue to explore this. I continue to plan to discuss this. The domestic market will remain a priority of this market.
▶ 0:21:34Chair Boozman: I now recognize my friend and colleague, senator klobuchar.
▶ 0:21:39Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you so much Mr. chairman and think you for holding this important hearing. Whether a farmer grows corn and soybeans or blueberries and apples, our farmers need domestic marketing opportunities to stimulate growth throughout our country. They needed now more than ever as you pointed out, Mr. chairman. Few ideas sites south there. One is e 15. Making that permanent year-round.
▶ 0:22:11Sen. Klobuchar: There is bipartisan support for this and I want to thank senator fischer and duckworth and so many others who have worked on this issue. We need to get it done. Bipartisan farm bill seems to be a place or we can get it done.
▶ 0:22:27Sen. Klobuchar: We can also expand domestic opportunities by expanding in local markets by purchasing fresh produce and meat supporting local supply chains and families. I was frustrated to see the administration cancel the local food purchasing assistance program last year and I hope that we can reinstate this investment.
▶ 0:22:53Sen. Klobuchar: We can also invest in organic agriculture, expand support for real businesses and develop new revenue streams for farmers. I have long supported bipartisan efforts to grow new domestic production there was a lot more we can do on hand. That is a subject for another day. That's a growing market we should be looking at an in and backward on.
▶ 0:23:27Sen. Klobuchar: These opportunities provide farmers innovative sources of revenue. It is no secret we are exploring these domestic marketing opportunities. We would be anyway, but the chaos caused by our tariff and trade policy is causing many issues. I appreciate my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have joined me in pushing back on the tariffs.
▶ 0:23:50Sen. Klobuchar: The impacts and the need to invest in domestic markets are top of mind for minnesota farmers. I recently held two roundtables, one and southern minnesota, one in breckenridge in western minnesota where I heard directly about uncertainty facing our farmers and ranchers. And that is the hardest thing for so many of them. A tariff changes, it goes up, it goes down, they don't know what to plan or invest in.
▶ 0:24:24Sen. Klobuchar: The best thing we can do in addition using a chisel or a hammer instead of a sledgehammer would be good. The second thing would be a bipartisan five year farm bill that meets the moment. Farmers need reliable access to credit, modernized conservation programs, and new uses for their products.
▶ 0:24:49Sen. Klobuchar: These ideas could be included in a bipartisan farm bill and at the same time our farmers and ranchers are struggling, we also have families struggling. Paychecks are stretched because of rising grocery and health care costs and now gas costs. Just as antihunger programs face the steepest in a generation. We must do something here and I did not like the way the state shifts lender on snap.
▶ 0:25:22Sen. Klobuchar: I understand our colleagues would engage in some cuts to snap this last summer and I'm hoping we can get to a better place. I think it is important for people to know that because of the way this is structured because of the highest ever rate states getting off scott free, 10 of them, and the lowest having to pay, there is a whole bunch of us in the middle is in the entire midwest that will see a norma's cost shifts to our states and in some counties.
▶ 0:25:52Sen. Klobuchar: That's why the bipartisan national governors association, I'm not talking about the democratic governors association, the national governors association have come out with a proposal to delay these cost shifts. The national conference of state legislatures and local officials. We should give the states time to get error rates down and delay cost shifts and we certainly shouldn't be benefiting height ever rate states over one's that have lower error rates.
▶ 0:26:25Sen. Klobuchar: As we look at a farm bill and I know there is work being done over in the house thank you, Mr. chairman, and I look forward to today's discussion.
▶ 0:26:38Chair Boozman: Today we are joined by our colleague from ohio, senator john hughes did, who will introduce two of our witnesses. I didn't realize ohio was taking over the meeting. [laughter] well represented. Thank you for being here and I know everybody else's incredibly busy so thank you for taking the time. Sen,
▶ 0:27:04Sen. Husted: Thank you for allowing me introduce -- me to introduce two witnesses today. Let me introduce scott metzger, the president of the american soybean association. I'm proud to introduce scott today to provide insight on how we can increase domestic consumption of these home-grown products. Mr.
▶ 0:27:31Sen. Husted: Metzger is the sixth generation farmer from williamsport, ohio, where he grows soybeans, corn, and wheat. Mr. metzger's leadership has been guiding one of the largest farm organizations in the country, a testament to ohio's agricultural impact on our great farm economy and I want to thank you for joining us today, Mr. metzger. We are looking forward to hearing your testimony.
▶ 0:28:03Sen. Husted: Secondly, I want to introduce Mr. jed bower. He raises corn and soybeans with his wife emily and their children ethan and emma on the the fifth-generation farm in washington courthouse, ohio. In addition to advancing corn growers interests as the president of the national corn growers association.
▶ 0:28:27Sen. Husted: He previously served as the president of the ohio corn and wheat growers association and continues to serve as an active member of an cga's farm led committees. They strive for economic growth and ensure the state remains a leader in agriculture and his leadership with the national corn growers association underscores the role ohio farmers play in shaping the agricultural landscape across our country and I appreciate him coming to testify today.
▶ 0:29:00Sen. Husted: And to the committee members, these gentlemen are highly relevant in our state. Thank you for allowing them to appear before the committee today.
▶ 0:29:17Chair Boozman: Thank you and thank you for taking the time to come over. I'm pleased to introduce Mr. zippy duvall, he and his son raised beef cattle, broiler chickens, and grow a. He has led the american farm bureau federation as president since 2016.
▶ 0:29:43Chair Boozman: He has a personal understanding of how several factors before this committee may impact the future of american agriculture. Welcome back to the committee and you have been here several times and we really do appreciate your leadership.
▶ 0:30:10Chair Boozman: >> it's my pleasure to introduce matt perdue, president of the farmers union in north dakota. Zippy is here for farm bureau. Both are powerhouse organizations.
▶ 0:30:40Chair Boozman: Particularly at these times where our guys are facing a hard go of it. Your advocacy is incredibly important. That in addition is a lifelong farmer. I was farming with his family. They farm in northwest north dakota. We love that part of our country and our state. On his farm they raised our own, lentils.
▶ 0:31:11Chair Boozman: You know he reflects what we need to get more of, younger farmers into farming. That is why it is so important that you and the ranking member are having this hearing today because it is about markets. Our guys want markets here at home and around the world.
▶ 0:31:32Chair Boozman: And anything and everything we can do to help them is strictly important and that is why it is so important that our commodity groups led by the farm bureau so important we have this incredible network of family businesses, family farms and ranches. We take it for granted at our peril. I know that is what this hearing today is all about. Thank you.
▶ 0:32:03Chair Boozman: Next, senator klobuchar is going to introduce our next witness, Ms. burns.
▶ 0:32:13Sen. Klobuchar: I don't know if Mrs. burns is the youngest person to head up her organization, but I do thank her for coming today. She is the chief executive officer of the international fresh produce association. She serves the entire fresh produce and floral supply chain including farmers, consumers, processors, and retailers.
▶ 0:32:38Sen. Klobuchar: She has over 30 years of industry experience including her time as the produce marketing association, at the produce marketing association, and serving as the leader in the grocery retail sector. Thank you for being here today, and thank you for your work in support of specialty crops, which has been a growing part of our agricultural profile in our country and I really appreciate it.
▶ 0:33:04Chair Boozman: I don't know if she is the youngest, but she is one of the most effective in twisting her arms. [laughter] I would now like to introduce Mr. nathan read, a great arkansan hailing from marianna arkansas located in the heart of the mississippi delta region. Nathan and his wife kristen and their four wonderful children grow cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans.
▶ 0:33:32Chair Boozman: Nathan currently serves as the chairman of the national cotton council. He serves as the executive officer of the arkansas ag council. I look forward to hearing his testimony as he represents farm families across the cotton industry. Welcome back to the committee.
▶ 0:34:04Chair Boozman: Again, I think all of you all for being here. You can go ahead and come up. Ok, so we are ready to roll. Mr.
▶ 0:34:34Chair Boozman: Devol, you are recognized for your opening statement. -- Mr. duvall, you are recognized for your opening statement.
▶ 0:34:49Mr. Duvall: Thank you, Mr. chairman and members of the agriculture committee. My name is zippy duvall and I'm a third-generation farmer from georgia. My family raised beef cattle, poultry, and hay and I'm honored to serve as president of the american farm bureau federation representing more than 5 million member families who grow every crop produced in the united states.
▶ 0:35:20Mr. Duvall: Our members are the economic backbone of rural america but they continue to face historical headwinds in the farm economy. When adjusting for inflation, the usda projects farm income will be down nearly $50 billion below the level of just a few years ago.
▶ 0:35:41Mr. Duvall: One of our young farmers from oklahoma pointed out to me recently that his prices have failed -- have fallen to the lowest level in his lifetime while input costs have continued to increase faster than ever. The conflict in iran is expected to make costs of fuel and fertilizer soar even farther.
▶ 0:36:04Mr. Duvall: Congress and the president have delivered critical support and we are grateful for that support and investment in our risk management tools, trade promotion, conservation, and addressing animal diseases. Bridge payments provided lifelines to farmers to help farmers make it to this planting season. But farmers do not want to rely on government aid.
▶ 0:36:31Mr. Duvall: And aid should not be needed year in and year. That is normal -- that is not a normal volatility. It is a structural imbalance and that is why this hearing is so important today. We must strengthen domestic demand for american agricultural products and we must support increased production of critter rural -- critical act supplies and restore domestic processing.
▶ 0:37:00Mr. Duvall: We must ensure our safety nets are strong and expand fair access to markets abroad. More than 20% of the total agricultural products are exported in a typical year. When that export engine slows, farm level prices drop quickly. Export markets must be strengthened through fair and enforceable trade agreements. Global competitors have expanded their acreage.
▶ 0:37:29Mr. Duvall: They have improved their yields and they are investing heavily in the rail system. That competitiveness is not going to go away. We must be competitive in the export market, but we also need to expand our domestic demand and processing capacities to truly be resilient. There are many ways to drive domestic demand. Biofuels represents a clear example.
▶ 0:38:01Mr. Duvall: Ethanol production now accounts for 40% of the total U.S. corn usage. Renewable diesel and biodiesel markets continue to transform demand. This shift has driven expansion and soybean threshing capacity, creating jobs and strengthening our local communities. Sustainable aviation fuel represents another opportunity.
▶ 0:38:31Mr. Duvall: Another aspect of domestic demand is federal purchasing. Federal agencies purchase almost $7 billion of U.S. grown food and agriculture products last year. By america policies are patriotic and powerful, but oversight and enforcement can be strengthened.
▶ 0:38:52Mr. Duvall: For example, the national school lunch program provides nearly 5 billion meals annually and they are supposed to be domestically sourced, but the rules allow for significant share of foreign products. Enabling schools and food banks to be sourced directly from U.S. farmers is another demand booster, especially in fruit and vegetable growers.
▶ 0:39:22Mr. Duvall: Incentives can also help. The bio american cotton act is a good example of legislation that builds demand through a tax credit for businesses using american grown cotton. A key pillar of a strong farm economy is an adequate farm workforce. The current labor shortage is unacceptable. And unnecessary.
▶ 0:39:51Mr. Duvall: We need modernized agricultural labor programs and guestworker programs. Otherwise farm production and food processing will continue to move outside our borders. American agriculture remains one of the most innovative and productive sectors in the world. We must ensure that markets, infrastructure, and policy evolves alongside that productivity.
▶ 0:40:15Mr. Duvall: I look forward to working with this committee to ensure america's farmers and ranchers can continue to supply food, fiber, and fuel to families across our great country and beyond. Thank you for the opportunity to give testimony before you today.
▶ 0:40:29Chair Boozman: Thank you. Mr. perdue.
▶ 0:40:35Mr. Perdue: Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I farm with my family. I'm honored to serve as president of the north dakota farmers union and on the board of directors of national farmers union. Family farmers are facing significant economic headwinds. Our input costs are high, commodity prices are low, our markets are extremely volatile.
▶ 0:41:12Mr. Perdue: Further deepening the crisis for many. In the last year, trade disputes in the war in iran have compounded these -- compounded these pressures. Farmers union has been critical of the administration's trade strategy but we must also confront the reality that U.S. agriculture is facing increased competition in international markets.
▶ 0:41:41Mr. Perdue: Strong domestic markets are critical to the long-term profitability of family farms and ranches. And we can grow those domestic opportunities by bolstering renewable fuels markets, expanding local and regional supply chains, and strengthening competition in agricultural input markets and the markets we sell into.
▶ 0:42:01Mr. Perdue: Renewable fuels play a vital role and they strong domestic biofuels industry provides strong demand for agricultural commodities offering greater price stability and that stability is badly needed right now. We appreciate the work of senators fisher and klobuchar and many others on this committee to secure permanent year-round 15.
▶ 0:42:25Mr. Perdue: As you well know, farmers are frustrated by the repeated delays to the legislative process. We need the demand boost and we need it now. It is time to get it done. We are also encouraged by the administration's proposed increase under the renewable fuel standard. We support those increased volumes and will continue to support finalizing the proposal and provide certainty for farmers and fuel producers.
▶ 0:42:54Mr. Perdue: Long-term, we look forward to working with this committee to grow these markets further and we support efforts to advance higher blends of ethanol we support the clean fuels production credit and its timely implementation and we are excited to help grow demand through sustainable aviation fuel. While expanding renewable fuels markets will boost, we can create more beyond traditional commodity channels.
▶ 0:43:25Mr. Perdue: Helping farmers and ranchers strengthen profit margins. Programs like the local food purchase assistance and local programs supported that development. While we were disappointed that usta terminated funding for those programs last year we appreciate the inclusion of both in the house farm bill. As this committee takes up the farm bill we encourage you to authorize these and build upon the house proposal by providing both programs mandatory funding.
▶ 0:43:54Mr. Perdue: We also strongly support efforts to bolster local and regional livestock processing. Federal and state programs had meaningfully expanded opportunities for north dakota ranchers. Those investments are having a real impact for real families.
▶ 0:44:12Mr. Perdue: For example, the brynner family has built decoder angus beef, a brand that has statewide recognition and they are selling their own beef directly to consumers and restaurants, capturing a larger share of the consumer food dollar. Their story is a great example of how targeted support can help hard-working producers create new opportunities for themselves, their families, and their neighbors.
▶ 0:44:38Mr. Perdue: Finally, we must recognize most of the markets we buy from insult to our heavily consolidated. That limits options for farmers and ranchers and compresses our margins. We appreciate the administration's recently announced investigations into farm inputs for meatpackers but investigations will not help farmers and ranchers unless they are followed by real enforcement . We urge congress and the administration to work together to provide meaningful antitrust relief and remedies for farmers and ranchers.
▶ 0:45:11Mr. Perdue: Family farmers are experiencing real economic pain, we need real solutions. We look forward to working with this committee to expand domestic opportunities, create new ones, and ensure all our markets are fair and competitive. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, I look forward to answering your questions.
▶ 0:45:31Chair Boozman: Thank. Mr. reed.
▶ 0:45:36Mr. Reed: Good afternoon. I'm nathan reed from marianna, arkansas, I farm with my wife and our four children in the mississippi river delta where we raise cotton, rice, corn, and soybeans. We are grateful for the work of this committee over the last year to mitigate economic conditions facing cotton producers.
▶ 0:45:59Mr. Reed: Congress, the usda, and the white house have stepped up to the plate by providing additional support to production agriculture. However, the financial situation of U.S. cop growers continues to deteriorate with market prices still well below the cost of production. This is on top of deep losses producers suffered in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
▶ 0:46:24Mr. Reed: We are encouraged by chairman boseman and senator hogan's efforts to provide additional economic assistance for 2025 losses and we look forward to working with you and the leadership in the house and senate to achieve this result. Unfortunately for domestic producers, brazil has surpassed the U.S. as the leading global export of cotton and is projected to produce almost 19 million bales up from 6 million bales a decade ago. And far surpassing current U.S.
▶ 0:46:55Mr. Reed: Production of 14 million bales. Cotton has seen no consistent demand growth. To make matters worse during the same period man-made fiber consumption has more than doubled. With much of that being chinese polyester priced at $.42 per pound. While ad hoc assistance and farm bill provisions have helped substantially, the U.S. cotton industry cannot survive without stronger demand.
▶ 0:47:24Mr. Reed: We are grateful for the leadership of senator cindy hyde-smith who last year introduced the buying american cotton act. In january, a house companion bill was introduced by representatives greg murphy and terry sewall. It has strong bipartisan support that extends far beyond the cotton bill. As evidenced by house cosponsors from new york, new jersey, ohio, and maine.
▶ 0:47:52Mr. Reed: In addition, it has very broad industry support as highlighted in a letter as highlighted by brands and retailers from all over the country. Products sold containing U.S. cotton would qualify for a transferable tax credit that scales with a level of U.S.
▶ 0:48:18Mr. Reed: Cotton content it applies to items produced entirely in the united states or countries with the phratry agreement. Purchasing the equivalent of 40 million barrels of fiber. Yet we estimate only 10% is U.S.
▶ 0:48:48Mr. Reed: Cotton. The other 90% of american consumer purchases are supporting international cotton and synthetic fiber producers. Baca will correct this imbalance by increasing demand for U.S. cotton, thus positioning U.S. cotton to compete more effectively. Ultimately, it will enhance cotton prices for american producers, reducing costs and reliance on farm bill support programs.
▶ 0:49:20Mr. Reed: It will encourage additional cotton production and increase domestic economic activity. We estimate each dollar at the farm gate generates $28 through the broader economy. It is critical not only for cotton producers but the rural economies that depend on healthy profitable family farming operations.
▶ 0:49:44Mr. Reed: I commend this committee for conducting this hearing on building domestic demand for our agricultural products. Most importantly, we urge congress to pass the buying american cotton act this year. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I'm pleased to respond to any questions.
▶ 0:50:01Chair Boozman: Thank you. Mr. bower.
▶ 0:50:06Mr. Bower: Thank you. Chairman, ranking member, members of the senate committee, thank you for your invitation to testify today. On the fifth-generation farmer from washington court house, ohio. I currently serve as the president of the national corn growers association.
▶ 0:50:30Mr. Bower: Founded in 1957 it represents more than 30,000 dues paying who contribute to their states. It is an honor to testify before the committee today. In this hearing on domestic demand expansion could not come at a more critical time for our industry. 2026 is america's 200 year.
▶ 0:51:00Mr. Bower: The american success story. Unfortunately, the legacy that generations of corn growers have built is in jeopardy. Today, corn farmers are facing many challenges and the ability of the next generation to take over the farm is in question for too many families right now including my own. With the next 250 years in mind, we are doubling down on the demand agenda to diversify near and long-term market opportunities for corn and corn products.
▶ 0:51:30Mr. Bower: While my written testimony covers a broader range of topics that are important to growers, profitability such as trade and risk management because today's hearing is focused on domestic demand, I will concentrate on two key priorities, expanding markets for ethanol and scaling the utilization of bio-based products. Since its inception, the ethanol industry has strengthened rural economies, created jobs and driven farmer profitability.
▶ 0:51:59Mr. Bower: Today, over a third of each year's crop is turned into fuel. We believe there is room for growth and on road, marine, and aviation fuels. Farmers have waited far too long for this simple deregulatory bill to be passed. Aside from the economic boost it would provide to farmers, it would lead to significant savings for american consumers, strengthen U.S.
▶ 0:52:28Mr. Bower: Energy dominance at a time when geopolitics are complicating markets and supply chains and I want to thank chairman boseman and ranking member klobuchar for their public support of year-round you 15. Second, the renewable fuel standard remains the cornerstone of biofuels policy. Strong, predictable renewable obligations are essential giving farmers, ethanol producers and fuel retailers the confidence to invest and grow.
▶ 0:52:58Mr. Bower: We appreciate the epa's current approach and look forward to seeing the finalized as soon as possible. Beyond maintaining current markets, we must look toward the future and new opportunities for biofuels to helped he carbonized the transportation sector. One of the most promising a sustainable aviation fuel. Corn based ethanol can play a major role as feedstock.
▶ 0:53:25Mr. Bower: The 45 c tax credit which congress wisely extended and the one big beautiful bill act is poised to help stimulate the expansion in the rising industry. Corn growers are actively exploring ethanol and marine fuel. This has the potential to be a 4 billion gallon market in the next five years and it's sick -- symbolizes an unprecedented opportunity for american corn growers. It represents an important economic opportunity for farmers.
▶ 0:53:55Mr. Bower: When corn and ethanol are used as feedstocks, they also prevent a more environmentally sustainable alternative for ingredients than americans use in their everyday lives, such as fibers and polymers, capturing just 10% of the global plastics market with bio-based alternative to generate a demand for an additional 15 billion bushels of corn.
▶ 0:54:21Mr. Bower: We are working with industry partners to establish a federal tax incentive that would encourage the conversion of U.S. grown agricultural feedstocks into renewable chemicals and materials. This investment and production credit would diversify demand for agricultural products, strengthen domestic bio manufacturing and stimulate rural economies. We encourage congress to invest in these tools.
▶ 0:54:46Mr. Bower: In closing, I think the chairman, the ranking member, and the members of the committee once again for today's focus on expanding domestic demand markets. This objective is imperative to our future. I implore all numbers of congress to work with us to advance real solutions like the ones discussed here today. Please fight with us -- fight for us to secure the next one hundred 50 years.
▶ 0:55:14Chair Boozman: Mrs. burns.
▶ 0:55:25Mrs. Burns: Thank you for the introduction and the opportunity to testify on behalf of the international fresh produce association. I'm proud to represent the thousands of U.S. food and vegetable producers who feed american families, strengthen rural communities, support more than 2 million jobs, and contribute more than 335 billion dollars to the national economy.
▶ 0:55:43Mrs. Burns: Ifp a is guided by a simple but powerful goal, to grow a healthier world by increasing americans access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables grown here in the united states. The science is clear. Eating more fruits and vegetables is one of the most effective ways to improve health, prevent chronic disease, and reduce health care costs.
▶ 0:56:10Mrs. Burns: This is reflected in the dietary guidelines for americans and aligns with the priorities of the make america healthy again movement. Yet 90% of americans still fall short of recommended intake levels. Increasing consumption is not just a nutrition issue, it is an economic issue and an economic opportunity. When we strengthen produce consumption, we strengthen domestic markets for american farmers.
▶ 0:56:40Mrs. Burns: To meet this opportunity, we need systematic solutions, systemic solutions to make it easier for everyone to choose fruits and vegetables. Everything from strengthening federal nutrition programs to ensuring the industry has access to federal investment to enhance our competitiveness, resiliency, and our efficiency.
▶ 0:57:03Mrs. Burns: The good news is that congress has powerful twos -- tools specifically through federal nutrition programs. We need congress to continue to fully fund the wic fruit and vegetable benefit and expand online access. And sure school meals include a wide variety of fresh produce, expand the fresh fruit and vegetable program to reach more elementary schools.
▶ 0:57:32Mrs. Burns: And modernize usda procurement so it reflects nutritional value, not just the lowest-cost and includes more U.S. grown produce options. Embedding produce prescription as a standard benefit across the federal health programs will improve the health of nearly 150 million americans. Ensuring hsa and fsa's can be used purchase fruits and vegetables is another commonsense step.
▶ 0:58:02Mrs. Burns: While these actions will help drive consumption, congress must also support a competitive and resilient supply chain. From the moment it is harvested, fresh produce must move fast and growers today face rising input costs and increasing natural disasters.
▶ 0:58:23Mrs. Burns: Over the past two decades the united states has lost more than 230,000 farms, a stark reminder of the economic pressures facing producers. Policies that support farm profitability and encourage new investment in specialty crops are essential.
▶ 0:58:45Mrs. Burns: Strategic investments in research, risk management, and conservation programs help growers remain competitive across all production systems, conventional, organic, and regenerative. A coordinated national approach to produce packaging is also critical, one that avoids conflicting state rules and balances sustainability goals with food safety, shelflife, and affordability. Finally, consumer confidence depends upon a strong, modern food safety system.
▶ 0:59:14Mrs. Burns: This includes continued investment in fda's human foods program including traceability, implementation, and reliable funding for an consistency across state food safety programs. These are all essential to protect consumers and support growers. Despite the challenges they face, america's fruit and vegetable producers are ready to meet the growing demand, but we cannot do it alone. We need your leadership.
▶ 0:59:44Mrs. Burns: Congress has a vital role to play in ensuring every american has access to fresh fruits and vegetables while creating economic opportunity for farmers across the country. On behalf of the international fresh produce association and U.S. growers we represent, thank you for your leadership and for your partnership and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:00:05Chair Boozman: Thank you. Mr. metzger.
▶ 1:00:08Mr. Metzger: Thank you, chairman, and ranking member and members of the senate agriculture committee. It is an honor to testify on behalf of the american soybean association regarding domestic manufacturing opportunity. I'm a sixth generation farmer from ohio.
▶ 1:00:30Mr. Metzger: I also serve as the asa precedent which reckoned -- represents soybean farmers across 30 producing states. It has a profound positive impact on the economy generating an economic impact of 124 billion dollars in 2025 but the trait uncertainty this marketing year highlights house important strong domestic markets are.
▶ 1:00:57Mr. Metzger: While the soybean industry continues to diversify export markets embracing federal policies that can promote and expand domestic markets is critical. U.S. soybean farmers play a critical role in fueling and supporting the world well supporting soy bio products from fuels to new opportunities for soybean meal and the development of soy-based bio products, there is the -- immense domestic market potential for our crop.
▶ 1:01:31Mr. Metzger: The biodiesel industry was developed with the support of the soybean farmers in the 1990's. Biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel support american energy dominance while using U.S. grown soil feedstocks. The U.S. consumed over 5 billion gallons in 2024, which created over 42 billion in economic impact. Now the industry is on the brink of additional expansion.
▶ 1:02:01Mr. Metzger: While the bbd market increased, the percentage of soy oil used in bbd production decreased as imports of used cooking oil and tallow searched from china, brazil, and other overseas destinations. Asa thinks congress for its improvements to the tax credit.
▶ 1:02:25Mr. Metzger: The changes eliminated the penalties on act based biofuels doubling the tax credit. Further, congress prohibited fuel and feedstocks imported from benefiting from the tax credit. Now, treasury must finalize the guidance so that the value chain can utilize the tax credit.
▶ 1:02:48Mr. Metzger: The renewable volumes obligation for 2026 and 2027 must also promote biofuel industry expansion. The june 20 25 draft epa rule is the most positive proposal asa has ever seen. It will provide increased certainty for domestic markets and drive investments and turn increasing consumptions of U.S. soil.
▶ 1:03:19Mr. Metzger: Soy is also a critical component in the U.S. food systems. Soy oil serves as an affordable, heart healthy ingredient for home cooking and packaging foods. Regulations and policies must continue to follow sound science. As state-level food labeling proposals continue to emerge, asa urges congress to ensure food availability remains top of mind to increase consumer costs by 12% nationwide.
▶ 1:03:52Mr. Metzger: As soybean processing increases to meet domestic demand, soy meal offers additional opportunities. Soy meal is used as a base ingredient in soy foam, a firefighting foam that is pfas free. Soy foam offers a biodegradable american alternative.
▶ 1:04:23Mr. Metzger: Widespread use of soy foam will ensure firefighters like my son when no longer have to worry about regular pfa's exposure while on the job. Soy-based oil products offer immense domestic market growth opportunities. The scalable potential of these products is limitless like biodiesel. Most soy bio products can be traced back to the soy checkoff.
▶ 1:04:56Mr. Metzger: It is critical to ensure research and development into new domestic market opportunities. As we work to maintain and grow domestic markets for U.S. soy, congress must focus on biofuels, edible oil, bio products, I also urge for our soy checkoff which is a critical tool to U.S. soybean farmers to use the markets today. Thank you for this opportunity.
▶ 1:05:29Chair Boozman: Thank you very much. There has been a dramatic decline in cotton processing. 85% of U.S. cotton production is exported.
▶ 1:06:01Chair Boozman: The trend and the processing ability. We all know community is, that there is some sort of a gene factory, they all disappeared.
▶ 1:06:19Mr. Reed: On the cotton gin side, there has been a reduction in cotton acres which is close to many cotton gin's. As far as textile mills, they have had a very tough time. It started when china entered the wto.
▶ 1:06:41Mr. Reed: We started losing textile mills and more recently the mass importation of cheap, synthetic chemical fires flooding our market, our textile market in america. We got it reversed, the way to reverse this trend is through baca.
▶ 1:07:07Mr. Reed: The whole cotton industry, textile, providing more consumption of american cotton will absolutely reverse the trend of the loss of cotton processing facilities because once they are gone, it is very difficult to get that back.
▶ 1:07:26Chair Boozman: Mr. duvall, you talked about the importance of reliable labor. I was glad to see the department of labor support efforts to codify the rule. What else can congress or the administration be doing to modernize ad labor programs?
▶ 1:07:50Mr. Duvall: Well we need to continue to work together to bring a farm labor bill and get it on the president's desk so we can have a reliable source of labor for agriculture.
▶ 1:08:11Mr. Duvall: The programs we work with now, year-round workers needed and much of agriculture today all across america and we need to continue to work on that. We are very appreciative of the work the administration has done , the department of labor has done.
▶ 1:08:33Mr. Duvall: As you look up across america, it is the number one issue they are facing, this long-term issue. Of course the economy right now is the biggest issue that faces them, but labor is the biggest limiting issue we have an agriculture today.
▶ 1:08:52Mr. Duvall: It prevents young people from coming back to our industry because they have to expand their family farms and they need additional labor to do that and we are not able to do that and it is overregulated and costs too much. Larger farms have a tendency to be able to adapt to the program because larger farms possibly could have an hr department and attorneys working for them were small or medium-sized farms, it is all most impossible for them to adapt to the systems that we have, so we need to look at this
▶ 1:09:23Mr. Duvall: Ended can be fixed. It is unnecessary that we are short of labor. There are people in this world who want to do our work and we need to find a way to let them come here and do that.
▶ 1:09:34Chair Boozman: You mentioned one of the answers to increasing specialty crops is the various usda programs that are out there. But we have problems with them. Sometimes, the bureaucracy, sometimes this or that.
▶ 1:09:59Chair Boozman: Do you have any specific ways we can make those programs better, easier for farmers to use?
▶ 1:10:07Mrs. Burns: I think anytime you can make the process simpler or easier for our growers, it is a win. Some of these programs that are in place have an opportunity to scale. So the construct already exists. Some of them need funding. I will tell you, fully funding the benefit is our crown jewel. It really does make a difference in those young families. If you think about school meals, our schools are the largest restaurant in the country.
▶ 1:10:39Mrs. Burns: So, we need to ensure that we are providing the variety of fruits and vegetables for our kids because we need to start those habits at a very young age. Streamlining processes always, but some of the recommendations we have put forward don't cost a lot of other bureaucracy. It is just a matter of opening up the policies like ensuring hsa and fsa's are used to purchase fruits and vegetables.
▶ 1:11:06Chair Boozman: I spoke with the school lunch professionals today and they were making exactly the same points he said. Senator klobuchar.
▶ 1:11:14Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you, Mr. chair. I have long led bipartisan efforts with so many of my colleagues to making 15 available year-round. I appreciate so many of you bringing it up. It is an obvious solution to what we are facing now which is some higher gas prices which we weren't facing a few months ago. It seems to me like the moment to show we have a diversified fuel supply and it is already 10% of our fuel.
▶ 1:11:44Sen. Klobuchar: I just think this would be the smartest thing to send a message to those soybean and corn farmers, that this is a market that we want to fill. And this is the time to do it. Some new economic analysis from the university of missouri shows that e 15 is currently saving drivers about $.25 per gallon.
▶ 1:12:03Sen. Klobuchar: With the cost of production being so far above the current price of corn, what with the availability of year-round e 15 and higher blends of ethanolamine for corn growers across the country?
▶ 1:12:15Mr. Bower: Ranking member, thank you for the question. Absolutely tremendous. As we look at potentially our fourth year of losses in a row and trying to at least on my personal farm, trying to figure out how I'm going to pay for my inputs that are so drastically out of line. As we look at 2015 could potentially do for growers, for every 1% we increase that blend wall, for every 1%, that is 490 million bushels.
▶ 1:12:48Mr. Bower: So for farmers, it varies depending on the market, but we are may be looking at $.35 a bushel. Some numbers are lower than that, but any relief right now is tremendous for growers.
▶ 1:12:58Ranking Member Kobuchar: I think of it as fuel we need right now so if we put you in such a perilous position, if the government policies do that, and you are not able to keep producing, then we are going to be screwed because -- this is a great moment to do that. Mr.
▶ 1:13:21Ranking Member Kobuchar: Metzger, be quick in the answer because I have a few more.
▶ 1:13:29Mr. Metzger: Thank ranking member klobuchar. -- significant potential through higher annual blending targets and safeguards against the flood of imported feedstocks. A strong rfs will help american soybean farmers.
▶ 1:13:54Mr. Metzger: We are in the same role as corn, looking to have more access, become more economically viable with our products.
▶ 1:14:07Ranking Member Klobuchar: Thank you. Miss his, the $12 billion in economic assistance announced by fda, only certain specialty crops will be available for assistance. Do you believe the economic assistance is adequate and are you in favor of advancing the farm bill?
▶ 1:14:29Mrs. Burns: Not adequate. We need at least $5 billion. We are a third of the crop sales , we are not getting a third of the economic assistance.
▶ 1:14:48Ranking Member Klobuchar: Thank you. Mr. perdue, how can conservation programs reddit using ccc funding help create new markets?
▶ 1:15:00Mr. Perdue: I appreciate the question. The reality is consumers are often willing to reward farmers for adopting certain practices, producing a commodity in a specific way, and farm bill conservation programs are a key opportunity and support we can provide producers to transition their production system whether it is incremental or wholesale.
▶ 1:15:28Mr. Perdue: We get caught up on words a lot, sustainable, carbon neutral, climate smart. It does not matter to me, but it matters that a consumer puts value into it and conservation programs help us meet that.
▶ 1:15:39Ranking Member Klobuchar: We just had the pheasants forever convention in minnesota and there was a lot of interest in this for reasons outside of farmers. Mr. duvall, could you talk about investments, maybe around e-15 and aviation fuel which gives us these opportunities to move into with conservation and fruits and vegetables but could you talk about how investments in agri-search -- ag research
▶ 1:16:11Ranking Member Klobuchar: Benefit us right now, especially when you see the ability of technology to help us get to that level.
▶ 1:16:15Mr. Duvall: That is why it is so important for us to get a modernized farm bill. All of the research that goes into agriculture helps us stay on the cutting edge. We see other countries, where their agricultural communities are growing and they are adapting to the things we've adapted to many years ago.
▶ 1:16:41Mr. Duvall: That research keeps us on the cutting edge and gives the consumer out there what they really want. It is vitally important for us to have additional money for research. It helps us do the things the people of this country want us to do, from conserving natural resources to creating new products and crop protection tools we can use.
▶ 1:17:01Ranking Member Klobuchar: Thank you.
▶ 1:17:08Chair Boozman: Senator hoeven.
▶ 1:17:11Sen. Hoeven: We included updates to crop insurance, very important. Our chairman lead that effort, a big-time effort that is going to help our farmers but it really kicks in, in october. We are still working to get our guys from where we are now to october.
▶ 1:17:37Sen. Hoeven: Senator boozman and I have introduced a bill to provide additional disaster resist -- disaster assistance. We would also like to include e-15 in that as well. Starting with Mr. devol, -- Mr. duvall, what are your thoughts?
▶ 1:17:57Mr. Duvall: We do need that additional money. The moneys have gotten our farmers through to planting season but there is not enough until those title I problems come into effect. It is vitally important that we not only get the modernized farm bill but it is also important that we have a real focus on specialty crops.
▶ 1:18:27Mr. Duvall: We have to have that to get our farmers and ranchers through.
▶ 1:18:33Sen. Hoeven: Mr. perdue, same question.
▶ 1:18:35Mr. Perdue: I appreciate your work on this issue. Absolutely it is going to be critical in the months ahead that we provide additional financial support. There is not enough money in farm country right now. One of the things in north dakota, we tend to have a higher basis. Something that wasn't reflected in the former bridge assistance.
▶ 1:19:03Mr. Perdue: That means we get underpaid compared to the losses that our neighbors in other states experience.
▶ 1:19:10Sen. Hoeven: Specialty crops are an important part of the legislation.
▶ 1:19:14Mrs. Burns: I appreciate you calling this out. This is a very important topic for our growers that needs to be addressed through the farm bill. Specialty crops don't really have a crop insurance program that is affordable or effective, so the specialty farm crop bill allows us to do just that and we are proposing significant reforms to the current programs.
▶ 1:19:44Mrs. Burns: We have high volume products with a high impact on americans health and we need this.
▶ 1:19:50Sen. Hoeven: We want to thank secretary rollins for the farm bridge assistance. That has been really important and much appreciated. But we need to finish that bridge assistance which is what we are trying to do here, to get to the provisions we included. The focus is how we increase domestic markets. Both the chairman and I and others have talked on a continuous basis.
▶ 1:20:19Sen. Hoeven: We have to have not only international agreements to export but we have to get the actual hard sales as fast as we can. I know we are focused on that. I guess the issue today is what more we can do domestically. We made a huge push in our state on value added. Mr. purdue, are there other things you think we could do?
▶ 1:20:44Mr. Perdue: One of the biggest things to point out in north dakota's story is we have made big strides on ethanol, on soybean but we also have craft molting and a lot of diversity. Wheat flour milling. That is driving a lot of opportunities for producers. We are still in tough economic times.
▶ 1:21:10Mr. Perdue: But the more we can create diverse opportunities for producers, the better off everyone is. It bolsters our resilience on the farm in north dakota and across the country.
▶ 1:21:22Sen. Hoeven: A lot of it is because we have the ability to do processing. Mr. perdue, what can we do on the input side, fertilizer and those kinds of things, to help? Input costs have gone up so much. What are the things we can do there? Mr. duvall, I'm sorry.
▶ 1:21:44Mr. Duvall: We need to look at the tariffs and make sure we exempt all inputs that come in from out of country, and the crop protection tools we utilize. That would help to make sure that we can retain those exemptions. Of course we need to look for ways to increase the production of those ag supplies we need in this country.
▶ 1:22:12Mr. Duvall: I know that would take investment and a long time but if you look at our dependence on the rest of the world for these inputs, it really is important for us to do that because we don't want to be taken to our knees when it comes to our food supply. It is a national security issue.
▶ 1:22:32Sen. Hoeven: Working with both the usda and department of energy, we can do more to use the energy we produce to provide our inputs and that is a double win. Security on energy and on food. Thank you Mr. chair.
▶ 1:22:50Chair Boozman: Senator smith.
▶ 1:22:55Sen. Smith: I really appreciate this hearing, and hearing the testimony of all of you and as we think about what it's going to take to boost domestic demand for american grown food and fuel and fiber, I want to say thank you for your strong support for biofuels year-round, and the opportunities around sustainable aviation. It is exciting to think about what we can do with bio-based products.
▶ 1:23:22Sen. Smith: Minnesota companies are working on this and there is a huge opportunity. I am struck by how our innovation and value add has always been our competitive advantage in this country and that has been fueled by a big public and private partnership.
▶ 1:23:39Sen. Smith: You've got private industry, academic institutions, the federal government, land grants, all doing the kind of research that it takes and I just hope that as we think about the role of the federal government, as we think about a farm bill that we are paying attention to the support that we need to provide to research because I think it. Is crucially important I also -- because I think it is crucially important.
▶ 1:24:07Sen. Smith: I also want to put a point on the impact of labor shortages you've been talking about and what that means for farm country. I cannot let this moment pass without observing that in my home state of minnesota, the administration's immigration policies have had a devastating impact on farm labor and food processing labor.
▶ 1:24:30Sen. Smith: As we think about hitting ready to go into the field and the work we have ahead of us this spring, there are a lot of people who are just not there anymore. Not because they were here illegally, but because it is too risky for them, even with their legal status to be here in minnesota to do the work. I think we all need to think hard about what impact these immigration policies are having on our domestic food production.
▶ 1:25:02Sen. Smith: I want to go to something, Mr. perdue, you were talking about that was interesting and relevant to this conversation. We've got rising input costs, the impacts of the tariffs and the iran war on pushing costs even higher and it is no secret that one of the biggest factors we have here is the lack of options that farmers face because of corporate consolidation.
▶ 1:25:28Sen. Smith: This is an issue both on the supply side and on the demand side. Who you can sell to. Minnesota farmers will often say to me, I feel more and more like I am just a contractor to a big company. That my business is not even my own. This is an issue folks on both sides of the aisle have worked on.
▶ 1:25:59Sen. Smith: Could you speak to this and what impact you see this consolidation has on the overall competitiveness as we want to build bigger domestic markets for american grown food?
▶ 1:26:10Mr. Perdue: I appreciate the question. When you look at the reality of the markets that we buy from and sell to, most of them are controlled by three or four companies. One of the things that I consistently hear from neighbors, friends, fellow farmers across the state is input costs are through the roof. We need to figure out some way to provide relief.
▶ 1:26:43Mr. Perdue: We have additional geopolitical tensions, the strait of hormuz and the challenges there, driving another increase in already high fertilizer costs. That's about 40% of your production costs and that's going up 30% now. You can't make it work. We have to look at market structures in the ways in which they create challenges for market participants.
▶ 1:27:11Sen. Smith: I would add, there are a lot of good ideas on both sides of the aisle. I have legislation with many of my colleagues to get out this consolidation issue and the direct impact it is having on the ability of producers to make a profit.
▶ 1:27:31Sen. Smith: You said there is just not enough money in farm country and I would argue that there is a lot of money in farm country, just that it is going to fewer and fewer institutions and organizations, and that is the problem we have to get after. Thank you Mr. chair.
▶ 1:27:46Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator ernst.
▶ 1:27:52Sen. Ernst: Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here. I've been traveling across iowa and I meet with farmers all the time and I hear one very clear message and many of you have stated it already. Markets, not aid. I hear it all the time. Since coming into congress in 2014i've been fighting to grow our domestic markets and increased consumption of american grown commodities.
▶ 1:28:23Sen. Ernst: Today, farmers in iowa whether you are traveling to my family farm in southwest iowa all the way to the other side of the state, eastern iowa, and across the country because I'm hearing it from you, all of these farmers are being squeezed by the high input costs and low commodity prices. So congress has a real opportunity right now to respond by expanding our domestic markets. Putting more money into the pockets of our producers and rural communities.
▶ 1:28:56Sen. Ernst: And a new five-year farm bill would be an exceptional place to start, and I do applaud chairman thompson for moving a bipartisan package in the house last week and I am hopeful we can make the same progress in the senate very soon. But the farm bill is not the only avenue to do this. We should be looking at every opportunity to increase demand at home. We are going to stay on some of the themes you've heard already.
▶ 1:29:23Sen. Ernst: The recent spike in oil prices following activity in the middle east reminds us how vital energy security is. Energy security is national security. Food security is national security. And how higher blends of ethanol can help keep gas prices affordable here at home. Producers and consumers alike deserve long-term stability. Mr.
▶ 1:29:47Sen. Ernst: Bower, how does e-15 strengthen our nation's fuel supply and support strong grain prices for farmers?
▶ 1:29:57Mr. Bower: Thank you senator. To reiterate on what you just said, the conflict going on right now, this is a prime example and prime time to bring that strength in domestic production up so we are less reliant on the foreign countries. We grow product here, we produce it here, we can burn it here. It is a perfect opportunity for the american people and I think we are in a prime position to move that forward.
▶ 1:30:28Mr. Bower: It is so relieving to see so much support in this room for that. Tremendous for growers as well. Input prices are completely out of sight, and we are losing sleep every day on how we could raise another crop next year. We need this market boost, as we try to figure out how to pay for the inputs this year and market this year's crop.
▶ 1:30:54Mr. Bower: It is a time -- a prime time for this to happen and if we can lower the price 25 cents a gallon, everybody in america gets a break. I am so thrilled to hear all of you talk positively about it.
▶ 1:31:08Sen. Ernst: Mr. duvall, do you have any thoughts as well?
▶ 1:31:12Mr. Duvall: E-15 is a win win win. A win for consumers, the farmer, and for you, to make sure that you can do that for the consumer and the farmer at the same time. There is no better time to do that, especially with the threat of fuel going up because of the war.
▶ 1:31:38Sen. Ernst: Thank you so much. I will add that we need to make sure the infrastructure requirements don't stand in the way of offering e-15 to those who want that cheaper fuel source. I am leading a bill, ethanol for america, to deem existing fuel equipment as compatible with ethanol blends up to 15%.
▶ 1:32:01Sen. Ernst: It is a simple fix and it would avoid costly infrastructure upgrades and build on the $6 billion in savings from securing permanent year-round e-15. So president trump has already asked congress to deliver a bill to his desk and it is well beyond time to act. I would love to talk more about 45z as well.
▶ 1:32:31Sen. Ernst: We have the clean fuel production credit hanging out there. I would like to see more work done on cover crops and other initiatives that our farmers have as well. I think that has been lagging. I will be sending a letter to reiterate this point, and the treasury and the department of energy and the department of ag, they really have to work together to ensure that the final rule they put together truly does put our farmers first.
▶ 1:33:02Sen. Ernst: Thank you all for being here and with that Mr. chair, I yield back.
▶ 1:33:07Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator slotkin.
▶ 1:33:12Sen. Slotkin: Thank you. I want to reiterate a lot of things that senator ernst just said. We owe you a farm bill, that is our job and we've always had a great tradition here. The woman I replaced, that was a big deal to her, and it is a big deal to michigan. I want to put down, it seems very bipartisan, e-15 year-round, can we just do it?
▶ 1:33:42Sen. Slotkin: I thought there was a moment. Let's just do it. Good for the consumers, good for our farmers, it is a good deal. I think the thing I want to talk about, we are talking about expanding american markets but just review the bidding on where we are here. I'm going to do this as neutrally as I can and I want you to correct me because I'm not trying to be political, I am trying to review the facts for the farmers.
▶ 1:34:15Sen. Slotkin: Particularly specialty crop farmers. I come from michigan and we are the most diverse crop state in the country with access to water. The president in his first term put on a bunch of tariffs. Farmers started feeling it immediately. Then he spent 23 billion dollars in bailouts and I've heard over and over again like senator ernst, we don't want bailouts, we want access. We don't want this money to be paid when we are suffering, we want access to markets.
▶ 1:34:48Sen. Slotkin: Second term, comes in and the secretary of agriculture was here and I said can we not rinse and repeat from the first time we are having to again fill out farmers? We put a bunch of different tariffs on. Right now so far, the bailout package for farmers is 12 billion dollars and we are just 14 months in.
▶ 1:35:12Sen. Slotkin: It feels like taxpayers are kind of in this loop where a bunch of tariffs are put on, we want our farmers to succeed and in order to keep them afloat we have to bail them out with taxpayer dollars. It seems unnecessary in my mind but in that package and miss his burns, this is for you, we had a lack of clarity on what this aid means for specialty crop farmers.
▶ 1:35:38Sen. Slotkin: $1 billion was put aside for us will stop you said in your opening statement he needs to be more, but we don't even know how they are going to calculate that aid, when it's going to come out . Can you hum a few bars on what this is doing to our specialty crop farmers question mark Mrs.
▶ 1:35:54Burns: It is not doing enough. If I think about that $1 billion, we have to share with others. It is not just specialty crops. It is our expectation that we get no less than $5 billion. But at the end of the day, we need and want open markets. The critical thing is that it is the mechanism and the construct of how that money gets distributed. That is where we need a process and real support.
▶ 1:36:24Burns: It should not be on acreage and it should not be product by product commodity. It should be on crop sales, revenues, receipts. That's critical. Our growers are hurting just as much as my colleagues and we don't have the mechanism and construct to get that money out to our growers and that could be the biggest help that could happen right now.
▶ 1:36:49Sen. Slotkin: Thank you for that. Mr. duvall, I wanted to get your sense. A senator was talking about iran and right before farmers were sorting to think about planting, more shocks to the price of fuel and the price of fertilizer. I don't think the average american understands the role of the strait of hormuz and the persian gulf to their farmer that lives down the corner. Can you walk through the official farm bureau position on this?
▶ 1:37:19Sen. Slotkin: Walk us through where you are.
▶ 1:37:20Mr. Duvall: Yes ma'am and thank you for the question. It is timely to talk about what we need to be doing. Our government needs to use the navy to make sure those ships can freely come through and work with our partner countries to make sure they come through. Also the financial insurance. When it was shut down, the insurance company cut off insurance, they parked the boats.
▶ 1:37:50Mr. Duvall: We need to use every opportunity that we have in our country to make sure we solve that problem. Once we get it here, we need to make sure that we waver the jones act. The president has often done that in difficult times like this. We also have to make sure that ports and rail and everything is going to get it to the farmer real quickly, tear down any barriers that might be in that area.
▶ 1:38:19Mr. Duvall: Last but not least, the kind of duties that are charged needs to be going off so it'll be easier and make it more affordable for our farmers. It is a serious time. My phone is ringing off the hook since last week when the strait was shut down.
▶ 1:38:42Sen. Slotkin: Thank you, I appreciate that.
▶ 1:38:51Chair Boozman: Senator tuberville.
▶ 1:38:56Sen. Tuberville: Mr. duvall, I'm going to give -- to correct this god-awful mess. What do we do?
▶ 1:39:06Mr. Duvall: I don't know that there is just one wish that can solve this problem but we need open markets, we need a labor force. And we need to tear down regulation, take down those barriers and have people be able to make a living on the farm.
▶ 1:39:24Sen. Tuberville: Thank you.
▶ 1:39:30Mr. Metzger: Thank you. There is not a one answer fits all on this.
▶ 1:39:36Sen. Tuberville: Give me a good shot at it.
▶ 1:39:39Mr. Metzger: Let's get some markets opened up, continue with the trade that we've had and on domestic markets, getting those ramped up. 45z, get the rvo numbers out and finalized.
▶ 1:39:57Sen. Tuberville: Thank you.
▶ 1:40:00Mrs. Burns: I will do a third one. I think the federal government can take action to incentivize healthy eating, and incentivize and provide better access to domestic grown products. We can do that by driving consumption. A huge opportunity. And americans will be healthier.
▶ 1:40:23Sen. Tuberville: Thank you.
▶ 1:40:25Mr. Bower: Short term, that is a challenge for new markets. E-15 is poised to be right there but another one I need to bring up is we need to continue support for the renewal of usmca. That is critical to our crop farmers. Mexico is our number one export market for corn, canada is our number one export market for ethanol.
▶ 1:40:52Mr. Perdue: Thank you senator --
▶ 1:40:56Mr. Reed: Thank you senator. As a cotton farmer, we need to be able to leverage the power of the american consumer. Thank you.
▶ 1:41:08Mr. Perdue: Senator, I would say the single biggest impact would be drawing our fields markets. It'll improve prices for wheat. We also need to make sure we have strong competitive fair markets for farmers to buy inputs from and sell their commodities to.
▶ 1:41:29Sen. Tuberville: Thank you very much. Mr. reed was talking about the buy american cotton act, which I sponsored with my cohort, cindy hyde-smith. I hear that this would revamp the cotton market. Because if we don't do something we are going to lose it all. In alabama we are losing $400 an acre before it is even planted.
▶ 1:41:56Sen. Tuberville: Could you explain what this act would do?
▶ 1:42:01Mr. Reed: The american cotton farmer can produce the highest quality most environmentally friendly best cotton in the world and we can produce it cheaper. Unfortunately with other countries without as strict a regulatory environment and moran said that -- and more synthetics, we have not been able to compete in the world market. Our domestic textile industry has been decimated.
▶ 1:42:29Mr. Reed: Domestic textiles, the farms, the gins, the cottonseed crushing facilities, there is so much that goes into cotton production just beyond the cotton farmer. A lot of these small rural communities depend on that.
▶ 1:42:44Mr. Reed: When you lose the cotton industry, you don't just lose the farmers but you lose the whole industry in america and we feel the buy american cotton act will reverse that and allow us to use the power of the american consumer, that consumes 40 million bales of textiles a year, it'll allow us to bring that market back. There are rewards for domestic produced thread and fiber.
▶ 1:43:14Mr. Reed: It will allow us, until our mill industry comes back, we export the cotton and we import american cotton garments that have been made overseas. It'll increase demand for american cotton.
▶ 1:43:29Sen. Tuberville: Thank you, a great explanation. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:43:35Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator lujan.
▶ 1:43:39Sen. Lujan: Thank you Mr. chairman for calling this hearing. Thank you to our guests for being here and taking time away from home. It's not easy when you have other responsibilities. That does not include the -- that is not just include the farm, it includes the family. Before I jump into questions, I want to reflect on something here.
▶ 1:44:04Sen. Lujan: We all thought for seats on this committee because we care about farms, ranchers, the people, access to food. I was a little saddened by the markup that came out of the house of representatives on the farm bill because it is not bipartisan. It didn't take into account all of the programs that have been devastated for folks across the country.
▶ 1:44:31Sen. Lujan: I certainly hope that in the senate, we can show our house colleagues that we know how to count. Growing up on a little farm, my grandparents taught me when I go get those eggs that sometimes there weren't eggs, and not to count them before they hatch. Basic arithmetic around here seems to evade everyone. I don't understand.
▶ 1:44:54Sen. Lujan: If we are going to talk about getting a strong bipartisan bill that's going to help our farmers and ranchers and make sure we have food for hungry people, that we are going to do something real, that we find a way to do it. I certainly hope that everyone hears that loud and clear. If we can't address the food problem that was created in some of these pieces of legislation, that shouldn't be a starter for us.
▶ 1:45:26Sen. Lujan: Cutting these food programs and access to them, that hurts all the farmers across the country as well. Keeping grocery store shelves empty, that's not good for anybody. A big percentage of that dollar that is spent, I think $.20, when it comes to buying food in grocery stores, that little amount is what goes to the farmers and ranchers.
▶ 1:45:49Sen. Lujan: For all of our folks that aren't here, canned food, they can't afford to do it anymore. Oddly enough, the tariffs, they don't hit the tin that has food in it that comes into america, just the empty can. I'm beside myself trying to figure out these crazy rules. I'm hopeful we get there. We are seeing additional kickers when it comes to the cost of fertilizer, the war in iran.
▶ 1:46:20Sen. Lujan: I didn't realize we got so much fertilizer input from that strait. I'm realizing how much that is hurting our farmers and ranchers as well. I hope we look at this labor shortage, a bunch of usta staff were fired, a bunch of farmers and ranchers in new mexico tell us it is great to get a farm bill but if there is no one at usta to implement these programs, they don't get any help.
▶ 1:46:48Sen. Lujan: I certainly hope that when we talk about these programs, that we have the usda professional staff in place at the local and federal level to make sure these programs actually get to families back home. With my remaining time, Mr. perdue, I would like to begin by discussing the challenges facing specialty crop producers as well. We've gathered today to talk about increasing domestic consumption of U.S.
▶ 1:47:15Sen. Lujan: Agriculture products and usda announced the cancellation of two local food procurement programs that did just that in 2025. Created a pipeline from local farmers to schools in food banks. The cuts totaled about 900 million dollars. Farmers and ranchers back home told me these cancellations had negative impacts on their operations.
▶ 1:47:38Sen. Lujan: Can you speak to the uncertainty of these cancellations on fruit and vegetable growers, especially folks who made purchasing and planting decisions based on these grants?
▶ 1:47:48Mr. Perdue: I appreciate the question. Certainly there were benefits to the lfpa program. In north dakota there were 400,000 dollars in products purchased from north dakota farmers, ranchers and processors, that were then used to support hungry people through our great plains food bank. That is an important demand boost.
▶ 1:48:18Mr. Perdue: If you want a base of demand for those operations, you need some of that institutional demand, and pulling that away certainly had significant negative impacts.
▶ 1:48:29Sen. Lujan: As my time expires I certainly hope we keep an eye on some of these as well because these are good for farmers and ranchers. For folks saying why all of the senator saying up there, they don't know a thing about our farms. My hands are cut from cleaning in ditches this week as well. The senate has made my hands a little softer will stop all of the calluses I got as a kid have gone away.
▶ 1:48:53Sen. Lujan: One of the things that prepared me was when my dad would make me clean the shit out of the sheep pen as well. I think that a few of us need to take more shovels to the dirt and understand what you guys are going through every day so that we can fight for these programs that make a difference and make sure we get to you as well. I look forward to working with my colleagues. Mr.
▶ 1:49:20Sen. Lujan: Grassley, let's get more places to put up that meat and get it on a plate.
▶ 1:49:26Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator grassley.
▶ 1:49:31Sen. Grassley: I'm sorry I missed all of your testimony, but listening to your answers of questions of my colleagues and what my staff said, who heard all of the testimony, I think all of you said things that I would agree with so I want to thank you for your great representation of american agriculture and thank you for coming and testifying.
▶ 1:50:00Sen. Grassley: I will submit my questions for answers in writing and give you some of my frustrations and for the benefit of iowa farmers and the benefit of my colleagues, some of the frustrations I have and I'm going to start with a lot of things that have already been talked about. E-15 and the importance of biofuels, iowa being the number one producer of biofuels with about 50,000 jobs with it.
▶ 1:50:32Sen. Grassley: A tremendous market for our corn. One of the frustrations I have is dealing with refineries and things like that, that are holding up getting e-15 by legislation.
▶ 1:50:49Sen. Grassley: Because the frustration comes from the fact that for the last year or two years of trump one and now trump two and the four years of biden, we had e-15 by presidential waiver and still have it by presidential waiver and not any of those six or seven years did I hear one peep out of refineries.
▶ 1:51:15Sen. Grassley: But somehow you are going to make it law and I think somebody figures I can get my hands in the cookie jar, and benefit from it. Because I know that some of these midsize refineries are a billion dollar business and I'm not hearing from any small refinery that's not making some money, so what's the big deal?
▶ 1:51:39Sen. Grassley: But it's holding it all up, and we are not going to get that $14 billion that the economists for the corn association say we are going to get if we get e-15 nationwide year-round, because you will never get the retailers to invest in the pumps that it takes unless they know it is permanent law. I just don't understand it, but we've got to get it done.
▶ 1:52:10Sen. Grassley: There is good talk that we are getting close. But we were there in february until some refineries wanted to get their hand in the cookie jar. And then we don't get it in the appropriation bill. Then they tell me there's a good chance it could pass the house of representatives as a separate bill, if they get this final agreement but you will never get it through the united states senate as a separate bill, it's got to be put someplace.
▶ 1:52:40Sen. Grassley: That could be a five year farm bill, it could be money for the iran war when we supplement our defense expenditures. It could be this housing bill that's on the floor right now. But there's no reason that we can't get it done.
▶ 1:53:01Sen. Grassley: And this is all going on at the same time that we've got people in congress and maybe even the administration talking about giving a hand to the farmers, of a certain number of billion dollars. How many times have we heard farmers in iowa say we don't want money from the federal treasury. We want it from the marketplace. That's what it's going to take.
▶ 1:53:32Sen. Grassley: I heard my colleague from iowa talk about 45z. We have some regulations for 45z. But it has not covered agriculture. The only thing I want the administration to keep in mind when it comes for regulations for farmers to qualify for 45z, don't make it as egregious as they did with 40b.
▶ 1:53:59Sen. Grassley: Be more realistic when you require farmers to benefit from their cut down on carbon. The last thing deals with tariffs. I don't understand if we are losing a dollar on corn, we are losing two dollars on soybeans. If we can get the cost of production down a little bit, there is no reason we should have tariffs on phosphate coming out of morocco when one company in the united states has 80% of the market.
▶ 1:54:30Sen. Grassley: There is no reason we should have tariffs on -- coming out of trinidad when two companies dominate the market in the united states. There is no reason we should have any tariffs on potash. You've heard my opinions. Thank you very much Mr. chair. [laughter]
▶ 1:54:54Chair Boozman: Thank you senator grassley. Senator durbin.
▶ 1:54:59Sen. Durbin: Senator grassley and I may disagree on college basketball teams but we agree on everything else. I have to tell you, you and I go back on this e-15 debate to the days of gas-o-hol. I'm with you all the way.
▶ 1:55:23Sen. Durbin: I listened, I had a hearing but I listened to your testimony and the three things that came out to me. Mr. duvall talked about farm labor. Immigration, and we have to be honest about immigration. I've got farmers, dairy farmers, people who own orchards and the like tell me this -- they can't get anyone to help and they are going to give it up. They do their best.
▶ 1:55:53Sen. Durbin: Those that have loyal employees and came in from mexico for example, they bring their family every year, good family relationship between the owners of the farm and the workers, they are scared to death to come to the united states right now. You know that for a fact and I do too. Not just farming but processing as well and that is the reality. We have to get serious about immigration. We did a bipartisan comprehensive bill.
▶ 1:56:24Sen. Durbin: We had a farm program that was damn good. If we had that today we would be much better off. The second issue applies to virtually everybody is tariffs. I hear when a door closes on the farm groups and no one can hear them, how frustrated they are with tariffs. Farmers have long memories. They remember when richard nixon put brazil on the map for soybeans.
▶ 1:56:55Sen. Durbin: The supreme court has given at the boot and I hope it doesn't come back. The third area is what the war in the mediterranean is going to do to input costs. It's got to be bad, when you consider what goes through the strait of hormuz. You have three policy decisions by this administration that really put us in a challenging situation. Miss burns, I would like to ask you a question.
▶ 1:57:25Sen. Durbin: I don't mean to pick on you but, one of the hottest debates I can remember in the democratic caucus was over the issue of -- it went on for days. We have a new debate coming up. You know from secretary kennedy and others, what it is, it's about processed food and what it is.
▶ 1:57:53Sen. Durbin: Tell me if your industry, specialty crops is thinking ahead, about a proactive position when it comes to alternatives to processed food. Do you see some opportunity?
▶ 1:58:04Mrs. Burns: You are giving me an opportunity to address the question. We have such an opportunity in the U.S. to increase domestic production by increasing domestic consumption. Only one in 10 americans are eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables. 90% are not. Just an increase of 10% would be $33.5 billion.
▶ 1:58:32Mrs. Burns: If we got the american population to eat the amount of fruits and vegetables we are eating in protein, 50% based on the dietary guidelines, that would be an extra $134 billion.
▶ 1:58:47Sen. Durbin: You see this whole debate about processed foods as an opportunity then?
▶ 1:58:54Mrs. Burns: I see an opportunity to drive incentives for our products. Programs in snap drive incentives for americans to buy more fruits and vegetables. Health is having a moment, you said it yourself. As a specialty crop industry, we must take advantage of that.
▶ 1:59:15Sen. Durbin: Go into a high school in chicago. As we are leaving, I say let's walk through the cafeteria. I want to see what you are serving for lunch. I'll tell you what they were serving. Corn dogs, pizza, tater tots. How about that for a meal? I think we can do a lot better and I think we need to be proactive in that area.
▶ 1:59:39Sen. Durbin: I'm so happy to hear that you are not taking a defensive position on this but a proactive position and I invite the others at the table to see it the same way. There is going to be a national debate about nutrition. Let's do our darndest to make sure it is balanced.
▶ 1:59:56Chair Boozman: Senator hyde-smith. Who has been waiting patiently.
▶ 2:00:02Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you Mr. chairman, and thank you to all of you for your willingness to come and testify. You've done very well and I appreciate your efforts because I know you could be doing a lot of other things but we are so glad you are here. We've been talking about ways to increase domestic consumption of U.S.
▶ 2:00:24Sen. Hyde-Smith: Grown agricultural products, and the buy american cotton act which I introduced last year would achieve exactly that. I asked for unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter sent today to the senate from industry stakeholders, textile mills, major retail brands and bureaus from across the country.
▶ 2:00:51Sen. Hyde-Smith: Companies like target, american trench, gap, dignity apparel all support this initiative.
▶ 2:00:56Chair Boozman: Without objection.
▶ 2:00:57Sen. Hyde-Smith: Thank you. Congress must deliver on two things to save american agriculture before it is too late, before we have to rely on foreign adversaries such as china to feed and clothe us and it is imperative that we provide an additional round of short-term support to supplement the farmers bridge assistance program. Until the achievements of the one big bill act become available which is going to be later in october.
▶ 2:01:29Sen. Hyde-Smith: Invest in a long-term demand building initiative such as buying american cotton act which would reduce our reliance on ad hoc assistance and farm bill safety net programs in the future. This will help keep american farmers and ranchers in operation while saving taxpayer dollars down the road. Not long ago, a colleague from a state that does not grow cotton asked me why should we support the cotton industry.
▶ 2:01:58Sen. Hyde-Smith: It is too small for us to care about and we don't grow it in my state. Last year the U.S. grew more than 95 million acres of corn, 80 3 million acres of soybeans but less than 10 million acres of cotton. Synthetic fibers are on the rise . Here is why we should care about the U.S. cotton industry.
▶ 2:02:24Sen. Hyde-Smith: While cotton planted acreage is small compared to other major crops, the economic output and associate jobs dwarfs other major crops on a per acre basis. The supply chain is far more intricate than other crops. That means jobs, more money. U.S. producers now have to export more than 85% of the cotton they grow.
▶ 2:02:54Sen. Hyde-Smith: We can use it right here. Most products americans use today are made of synthetic fibers or foreign grown cotton from brazil and china. In mississippi we grow a lot of corn, peanuts, sorghum and cotton. Some see year-round e-15 as a long-term fix for ag. Some point to the clean fuel tax credit but if we pick winners and losers among commodities, we've already lost.
▶ 2:03:27Sen. Hyde-Smith: In washington we need to adopt a comprehensive strategy for domestic consumption that lifts all american agricultural products. That is how all growers benefit and it is the only fix worth having. Today I am here to emphasize that complex problems are rarely solved with one simple solution, and that buying american cotton should be part of the overall solutions we are seeking.
▶ 2:03:56Sen. Hyde-Smith: This question is for chairman reed and president duvall. How would the buy american cotton act support producers and the entire cotton supply chain, and what will happen if congress fails to strengthen the domestic cotton market?
▶ 2:04:15Mr. Reed: I would very much like to thank you for cosponsoring this bill. As you know, cotton has been in a big decline. In that region of the country, we have much higher production costs will stop we depend on crops that are higher gross crops and cotton is one of those. In addition to that we have the whole infrastructure that surrounds it as we have discussed.
▶ 2:04:44Mr. Reed: But we are in a dire situation due to cheap polyester and foreign cotton. This is a way for us to leverage the american consumer to help support our industry. There would be some cost offsets because the price of cotton goes up and payments go down to farmers.
▶ 2:05:11Mr. Reed: It is a win-win across the board and supports the industry, the whole industry all the way through the supply chain.
▶ 2:05:21Mr. Duvall: Thank you senator. I know how hard they are struggling out there. Your bill will incentivize companies to use american grown cotton which is a good thing for our cotton farmers. When nafta was passed, all of our textile mills left and went overseas.
▶ 2:05:42Mr. Duvall: That is where cotton had to go and now we need that production to come back to this country but the key thing is not only will it help farmers. It will help rural communities will stop 1700 cotton gins since 19 -- that infrastructure will never be replaced again.
▶ 2:06:04Mr. Duvall: All the jobs that went with it and all the communities that depended on that infrastructure just went away and we've seen it all over the south east and southern part of our country. That bill would be a tremendous help not only to farmers, but it would be a big help for our rural communities in those areas.
▶ 2:06:24Sen. Hyde-Smith: We want corn growers to grow corn but we want cotton growers to grow cotton and I think Mr. bower mentioned that in a podcast. I have a question about that but I am out of time. Thank you for your willingness.
▶ 2:06:39Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator warnock.
▶ 2:06:46Sen. Warnock: I am all for helping our farmers sell their crops across the country and coming from the state of georgia I certainly support any efforts to strengthen and bolster the hands of our cotton growers. We are talking about increasing american markets, today in part because international markets are decimated, by the president's.
▶ 2:07:14Sen. Warnock: We need our growers to be able to sell here in the united states, certainly. But we also need them to be able to sell globally. The presidents tariffs, taxes which are what they are, have increased the cost of everything farmers need like fertilizer, fuel and equipment and it is eroding the very slim margins that they already had left.
▶ 2:07:47Sen. Warnock: Farmers for me, they answer to a basic prayer we christians say all the time, give us this day our daily bread. There are so many things we can't control. The president's tariff taxes have made it a tough business -- have made a tough business even tougher. Mr. duvall, it is good to see you again. Thank you for your leadership.
▶ 2:08:15Sen. Warnock: Now that we are approaching a year into the tariffs, what is the latest you are hearing from farmers about the effects on their business since last april?
▶ 2:08:25Mr. Duvall: It's been very difficult for farmers because they've had to raise the cost of inputs. Some have been accepted -- exempted but not all. We lost some markets in the first trade war that we never recouped. We appreciate the work the administration has done in opening up some of that market but we have not gotten back to the place that we were in the first trade war.
▶ 2:08:54Mr. Duvall: We've had promises of frameworks, trade treaties, all over the world. I understand eight of them have been closed. Until we see ships leaving the dock with our products in it, going to a destination, our farmers are not going to find any relief. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, you want to talk about usmca. It is so important for us to renew that.
▶ 2:09:22Mr. Duvall: It is so important for us to have something like a rapid response technique, to be able to deal with the flooding or dumping of products from other countries. Our fruits and vegetable guys are devastated because when they go into production, these other countries will dump product in and destroy the market and it takes it below the cost of production for our specialty crops.
▶ 2:09:52Mr. Duvall: The other thing is we need to emphasize the importance of our federal government. When they purchase foods, that they purchase american grown food. We have to protect those markets so that farmers can stay in business and produce fruits and vegetables. Our school system, 90 4% of the fruits served in our school system come from out of country. 53% of the vegetables. Why?
▶ 2:10:21Mr. Duvall: Because we don't have the producers producing it because there is no certainty. They don't have any risk management tools, there is no protection from other countries dumping and those need to be solved before we can get to certainty out there, and bring young people and farmers back into the business of producing specialty crops.
▶ 2:10:44Sen. Warnock: Absolutely and as the ranking member on trade for the finance committee I'll be taking a closer look at usmca. On the other hand, I think it would help if we could get a farm bill, a bipartisan farm bill passed through this congress. I was glad to see that the usda admitted that farmers have been hurt by the presidents tariffs. It is one thing to have a theory of a case.
▶ 2:11:12Sen. Warnock: The president has clearly had a theory of a case for 30 years. Usda has admitted as much by having a bridge payment program. And while the farmers appreciate the bit -- the bridge payment program. What I hear from farmers all the time, and senator grassley said the same thing, they want trade, not aid. I was disappointed to see that only $1 million was dedicated for specialty crop farmers.
▶ 2:11:44Sen. Warnock: As the former president of the georgia farm bureau, you know as well as anyone how important specialty crops are, like blueberries, peaches, peppers. What is your view on how much of the funding is going to specialty crop farmers, based on your understanding of the specific market conditions? I know I am running out of time.
▶ 2:12:03Mr. Duvall: $1 million does not even come close to covering the losses in specialty crops. Like other programs that are there to protect producers, specialty crops do not have those risk management tools and they don't get the attention that they need because in this country, the consumers want more and more of those fruits and vegetables and to compound the problem is a lack of labor.
▶ 2:12:32Mr. Duvall: It is a lot more labor intensive and we don't have the labor to get out there and get it to the stores.
▶ 2:12:38Sen. Warnock: So across the board, tariffs are putting pressure on farmers. Immigration policy that is so unforgiving that you are struggling with labor and now facing usmca. All of these make very difficult mix for our farmers. I think we need to hear what they are saying and then we have a chance of getting the policy right. Thank you for your work and thank you to all of our witnesses.
▶ 2:13:07Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator fischer.
▶ 2:13:12Sen. Fischer: Thank you for being here today. It is no secret that we are facing challenging times right now with the farm economy, all across this country. I appreciate this hearing and the need to reinforce how we can grow demand.
▶ 2:13:30Sen. Fischer: While it's been touched down already, it is -- touched on already, it is really important for me to underscore the emphasis -- the importance of biofuels as a key driver for nebraska crops. Not only do they drive demand for our crops but they play a crucial role in our energy security. There are several ways before us that congress and the administration can and to it could take action and they should take it immediately. Mr.
▶ 2:13:59Sen. Fischer: Bower, through a patchwork of regulatory actions, we've had year-round e-15 since 2019, but that patchwork of emergency fuel waivers does give certainty. How does congress passing a year-round e-15, which I've had a bill for, for 10 years, how does that translate to greater corn demand?
▶ 2:14:26Mr. Bower: Thank you for being such a champion on this issue. -- was pivotal for the american corn farmers.
▶ 2:14:42Mr. Bower: E-15 would provide certainty to the retailers, which in turn builds the infrastructure out, to lower the cost for consumers and in turn bring that back to the farmer at a time when we are so desperately needing some relief. I can't emphasize how much it would mean to my operation and to all of my friends and colleagues across the country. We are all in a tough time and it is not only the growers but the consumers as well.
▶ 2:15:14Mr. Bower: We have to have that certainty for that infrastructure to go in and for people to have the ability at every station.
▶ 2:15:25Sen. Fischer: I appreciate you talking about consumers, because this is a way that we can save consumers money every time they fill up at the pump. Thank you for mentioning that. Mr. metzger, the rfs rule is certainly pending at omb for soybeans. Can you discuss what strong rbo's would signal to the market?
▶ 2:15:49Mr. Metzger: Yes. With the strong rvo's that are in the office of budget management, it is going to be critical. I've been in that five point six gallon -- 5.6 one billion gallon area. That's a lot of bushels used up domestically and that'll help with oil, to get bushels used up and help drive some of this domestic demand that we are needing.
▶ 2:16:20Mr. Metzger: Soybean farmers are in the same boat. This last year we were about $100 per acre loss, also the lowest on the fba payment. Things like this are going to be critical for american soybean farmers to become more economically viable in the future.
▶ 2:16:45Sen. Fischer: When our corn and soybean farmers are successful, our rural communities are strong and the heartland is strong. Rural america has value and sometimes it is hard to explain to some of my colleagues. But it is so important that we continue to find that dignity in hard work, to find that value in strong communities and strong families, so thank you both. Mr. duvall, good to see you.
▶ 2:17:16Sen. Fischer: As I mentioned, e-15 is a significant byproduct of corn and it is more out of reach with a bushel -- with each bushel of corn. With nebraska being the beef steak, beef byproducts are also essential in driving domestic and international demand from hides to specialty cuts. The industry has significantly increased its efficiency in using carcasses.
▶ 2:17:47Sen. Fischer: We also have seen interest from some producers whether in the cattle, dairy or hog industries of turning animal waste into potential streams of revenue. -- create products for the livestock industry and what opportunities do you see for maximizing potential revenue streams from all livestock production?
▶ 2:18:16Mr. Duvall: Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question, which is not simple to answer because most of that market is overseas and that means we can move those products out of here and give individual farmers access to that. One of the big things to have those byproducts that a farmer can use, the farmer doesn't have any place to take their animals on a small scale.
▶ 2:18:50Mr. Duvall: The big packers dominate and it is very difficult to find local processing plants for smaller amounts of cattle or any livestock. So to help small processing plants, to be able to be with low interest loans or some kind of grants so that they can sustain themselves and these communities.
▶ 2:19:17Mr. Duvall: I'm in the beef business myself and I would love to take a certain percentage of my cattle straight to the consumer. But there is nowhere within 400 miles of me to process and get it done so it is not practical. We need more small processors around. So that farmers can utilize straight to the consumer and also take some of those byproducts and expand on that. The research and development dollars to be able to handle that would be a necessity.
▶ 2:19:47Sen. Fischer: I agree with you. As the beefsteak, we've had cow production, backgrounders, and we have three of the four big packers in the state but we've also seen growth of smaller packing plants in nebraska and I agree that is a direction we need to go.
▶ 2:20:10Sen. Fischer: One way we can address that, at the federal level is looking at the regulatory environment that affects all of agriculture, but sometimes it is a really large hindrance when you are looking at putting up those smaller packing plants that can help smaller communities and still be able to thrive in the marketplace with the big four so thank you.
▶ 2:20:39Mr. Duvall: The regulatory requirements and the cost that goes with that and the lack of technology we are allowed to use in those small plants and whether or not they could afford it. It is just like any other technology or renovation. Bigger producers can afford it while the smaller and middle sized producers cannot. It is putting pressure on them and pushing them out of business whether it be a process or a small family farm.
▶ 2:21:08Mr. Duvall: We have to bridge that gap to make it affordable so they can use the innovation and technology in the future to preserve that small family farm.
▶ 2:21:19Sen. Fischer: I've got some bills on that with precision agriculture to have our small farmers take advantage of that technology out there that would help them be more profitable and is also good for their economy and the environment as well. Thank you, sir and thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 2:21:39Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator marshall.
▶ 2:21:45Sen. Marshall: Thank you to all of our witnesses. We appreciate you being here. If I had an export market that we could double overnight, 2 billion bushels of corn, we have a new market that would add an additional 2.5 billion bushels of corn consumption, would you be excited about that?
▶ 2:22:08Mr. Duvall: I would be really excited and celebrate with you.
▶ 2:22:14Sen. Marshall: Of course we have that in our backyard. The year-round e-15, would be the equivalent of doubling our exports. The beauty of that is we don't have to depend on the ups and downs of having to deal with another country. All of these types of things. How big of a win would this be?
▶ 2:22:37Mr. Duvall: It would be tremendous.
▶ 2:22:40Sen. Marshall: Mr. bower, is there anything that is a bigger priority, that could change that income today?
▶ 2:22:50Mr. Bower: When you talk about the number of bushels, farmers are looking for a way to make a profit and they are hoping that this is the light at the end of the tunnel. I think we've seen a lot of acres transition just for the hope that we will get e-15 and bring some profitability back.
▶ 2:23:24Mr. Bower: -- Sen. moran: -- Sen. marshall: what would be the impact of 45z, on markets?
▶ 2:23:29Mr. Bower: Again, absolutely tremendous. We are the best in the world at raising corn. We will produce the corn, we just need the markets.
▶ 2:23:43Sen. Marshall: This is just the number when I had from president trump. Proceeding with 45z, we even got un-denatured alcohol so we can export that as well. Are you happy with the president's rules for 45z?
▶ 2:24:02Mr. Duvall: We are. We could always modify them a bit.
▶ 2:24:14Sen. Marshall: Looking for your graphs here, it is very enlightening that we saw a record decline in net farm income in 2023 and 2024. That drop in farm income and then we talked about input costs and I think that is the number one challenge right now is the input costs. Input costs seemed stable in 2017, 2019.
▶ 2:24:45Sen. Marshall: 2021, we saw a record increase in input costs and they continued upward, but they have not come down. People tell me input costs come down when commodity prices go down. Why do the input costs go up so much and what are the solutions?
▶ 2:25:07Mr. Bower: The costs went up because they could. No one told them they couldn't. As the farmers, we are left out in the weather and the cold and there's been a lot of consolidation in that realm and with a lot of things happening around the world, our ability to source fertilizer inputs has really declined and we are left stuck with what we've got.
▶ 2:25:39Mr. Bower: >> when you say no one told them you couldn't, you are referring to a concentration of industry. Chemicals and fertilizers would be the big chunk of input costs. Diesel fuel is in there as well. Until nine days ago, these were coming down. A former million-dollar operation loan. Interest rate went from 2% to 9% overnight, so it's good that's coming down as well.
▶ 2:26:10Mr. Bower: Anything to add on input cost? >> we know events around the world with the war in ukraine and now the war in iran is not helping things. It's been challenging. We have encouraged the people providing those inputs to be more transparent so we could understand why those increases have come.
▶ 2:26:40Mr. Bower: The other increase we have not mentioned is the increase of machinery. I don't grow cotton but I know you can't touch cotton for less than a million dollars, and it does one thing, picks cotton for a month. It has probably doubled in price the last five or six years.
▶ 2:27:01Mr. Bower: There is really no explanation other than what is happening transparency so we can understand why these inflated prices are there.
▶ 2:27:12Sen Marshall: Mr. chairman, I think I will leave it there.
▶ 2:27:19Chair Boozman: Thank you very much. I have just got a couple more things. Matt, tell me -- I had a situation -- this has been probably five or six years ago where I was at a meeting and they were talking about sweet potatoes.
▶ 2:27:43Chair Boozman: Actually I was meeting with a guy that farmed all kinds of stuff, a guy that knew how to make it work, like you all, at the top of your fields. I told him, I'm going to go to a meeting about sweet potatoes. Again, not a lot growing in arkansas. He was intrigued, so he said, I'm going to come with you. We get in the car and go over there.
▶ 2:28:13Chair Boozman: He looked at the presentation, researched it, wound up planting a bunch of sweet potatoes and making a bunch of money out of it. I don't know what they are doing now, but at that time, savvy guy. Are we doing a good job informing our producers, our farmers about the alternatives. We are in a situation now where this isn't the first year it's been bad.
▶ 2:28:40Chair Boozman: What's making this year so bad is this is the third year of being bad. I see john newton in the audience, our great economist. He is going to tell us next year doesn't look a whole lot better. It really makes it difficult, these years doubling up.
▶ 2:28:57Chair Boozman: Are we doing a good job telling the agriculture community to start looking for ways to look into different crops, not necessarily their own crops for what they are used to, but in addition?
▶ 2:29:18Mr. Perdue: Appreciate the question. There is always time to approve research and extension and make sure farmers understand the opportunities to diversify. Where there needs to be a focus is creating those market opportunities. On our farm, we raised malt barley for many years. We don't do that before because there is not local contract. That's a good reminder to us all to drink more beer.
▶ 2:29:48Mr. Perdue: But it also demonstrates you need to have that local market outlet. In southwestern oklahoma, there was hardly any corn raised for grain they are 15, 20 years ago. There is an ethanol plant now. A lot of people have success raising corn for grain and selling it to an ethanol plant. We need to make sure we are providing more diverse market opportunities for producers.
▶ 2:30:13Chair Boozman: Let me ask in regard to that, as we have some things coming up the line with opportunity, are we worried about people changing their planning decisions? And in a situation where everybody is drawing, you have an increased supply and that lessons your cost? Makes sense?
▶ 2:30:45Mr. Metzger: That's always an issue depending on how rotations go every year. We get into tighter economic times like this, a lot of times there will be an increase in soybeans and a little bit decrease in corn acres. That would be a concern, but that's where we get some domestic demand use up with it.
▶ 2:31:12Mr. Metzger: That will help those increase takers that we have, if the higher yields come to fruition.
▶ 2:31:20Chair Boozman: Kathy, you got any words of wisdom as we leave?
▶ 2:31:26Mrs. Burns: Yes, I am so excited they grew sweet potatoes. Those are our people. The demand for sweet potatoes must have been increasing. Right now specialty crops are grown in all 50 states. Domestic consumption, and also opening markets. Our growers will grow anything that will increase their acreage if the markets are there and the demand is here domestically.
▶ 2:31:58Mrs. Burns: It will improve the health of all americans.
▶ 2:31:59Chair Boozman: How many special crop producers have we lost? In the last 20 years?
▶ 2:32:04Mrs. Burns: Total farms over the last two decades is about 230,000.
▶ 2:32:14Mrs. Burns: It's a significant amount. Because of the high labor cost. If we could get 50% of americans eating the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, imagine the labor it will take to harvest that.
▶ 2:32:31Chair Boozman: We could look at specialty crops. It didn't start this year. It is a great example of what could happen, losing so much. My concern is that could spread across the commodity sector. We need to beef up specialty crops, protect what we have in the commodity sector.
▶ 2:33:01Chair Boozman: That's going to take all of us working together. We appreciate you. Today was very helpful. I can't tell you how busy it is around here. There's lots going on, but we had all kinds of members coming to participate, so you can be proud of that. That says a lot for you all that they wanted to hear what you had to say. We appreciate it. The way you can help us, and I speak for myself and senator k-lo bashar, let us know what you are thinking.
▶ 2:33:32Chair Boozman: You are not bashful so we don't have to worry about that. We really appreciate all that you do helping us get through a very difficult time. Thank you very much. With that -- where is my stuff? The record will remain open for five business days. Today's hearing is now adjourned.
▶ 2:34:02Chair Boozman: [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]