Other Ag News: Riders in the Night: Harmful Provisions in the House Spending Bill

Funding for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and three other federal departments, is set to expire at midnight this Friday, March 1, absent congressional approval of a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations bill, or an extension of current funding. Amidst final-hour congressional negotiations to fend off a government shutdown, several policy “riders” have emerged as sticking points in reaching a deal on agriculture spending in particular. A “rider” refers to a non-germane legislative provision tacked onto a must-pass appropriations bill.

The House of Representatives’ FY24 Agriculture Appropriations bill – initially unveiled almost a year ago, in early spring 2023 – includes a number of harmful policy riders on top of deep funding cuts. This post briefly examines several proposed policy riders as Congress seeks to conclude FY24 appropriations negotiations. 

One such policy rider, related to the implementation of rules associated with the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&SA), would effectively prevent the USDA from promoting fair market competition for livestock and poultry growers, both now and in the future. The P&SA was passed in 1921 to combat anticompetitive practices in the livestock and poultry industries as corporate meatpackers and processors (also known as integrators) consolidated and amassed substantial power over producers. Enforcement waned over time and in 2019, almost a century later, just four companies processed 85 percent of beef, 67 percent of pork, 53 percent of chicken, and 55 percent of turkey. 

Congress directed USDA to modernize the P&SA in recognition of this unprecedented market consolidation in the 2008 Farm Bill. But for 15 years, each attempt by any Administration to act on this mandate has stalled. Members of Congress opposed to P&SA reform consistently included riders to annual appropriations bills that obstructed USDA’s ability to make progress.

In 2021, the Biden Administration announced a renewed directive for USDA to strengthen the P&SA in alignment with an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. USDA announced a final rule on promoting transparency for contract poultry growers in 2023 and is expected to soon finalize a proposed rule that protects producers from anticompetitive discriminatory and predatory practices.  

Now, some members of Congress have revived a decade-old strategy to oppose modernization of the P&SA that would promote fair market competition for livestock and poultry growers. Active riders to the FY24 appropriations bill in the House would not just undo USDA’s recent and ongoing rulemaking. They would also prevent USDA from strengthening the P&SA in the future. This would be a devastating blow to the many livestock and contract poultry growers trapped in an anticompetitive industry or in hostile arrangements with integrators.  

Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Representative Andy Harris (R-MD-01), has made the inclusion of this rider a top priority to advance the spending bill to the House floor. The National Farmers Union delivered a joint letter to the House Appropriations Committee leadership earlier this month in opposition to these riders. NSAC and a number of member and allied organizations were signatories to the letter. In addition, Senators Grassley (R-IA) and Tester (D-MT), both farmers, recently penned a letter to colleagues lauding the importance of a stronger P&SA to protect farmers and ranchers and urged members of Congress to oppose any such riders. 

Another proposed rider seeks to restrict USDA’s ability to direct Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) resources toward emergent agricultural needs. This in turn could deal significant blows, both now or in the future, to initiatives such as the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, the Organic Market Development Grants, the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, and the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.

The CCC is the mandatory funding mechanism for many federal agricultural programs.  A wholly owned corporation of the United States government, the CCC was created during the New Deal and put into its current statutory framework in 1948.  The CCC is used to fund commodity, conservation, bioenergy, and trade programs included in the periodically re-authorized federal farm bill. 

The House’s FY2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill proposed a restriction on the discretionary use of the CCC, and depending on the precise policy language, this rider could significantly hamper USDA’s ability to respond to emerging agricultural needs. Ultimately, the bottom line is that any inclusion of language that would hinder the Secretary of Agriculture’s flexibility to respond to emerging needs, such as the fracturing of supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the potential to impact the continued delivery of programs that address acute regional and nationwide needs. 

For example, the USDA made additional funding available to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) in November 2022 to maintain and improve regional agricultural supply chains. Through cooperative agreements with States, Tribal governments, and territories, LFPA strategically leverages CCC funds to create economic opportunity for local producers and underserved farmers, build local food supply chains, and address food insecurity. This additional funding offers an opportunity to build on the program’s initial success, with projected estimates of more than $1.5 billion in local economic impact. 

Recently, 153 regional LFPA implementers and stakeholders across the nation delivered a letter to Congressional leadership to express their strong opposition to any rider that restricts the Secretary’s current authority to utilize CCC funds. 

Beyond these threats, the House bill also includes several riders that would block USDA from carrying out a variety of its racial equity-focused initiatives, including anything related to Executive Orders 13985, 14035, and 14091, or the creation and establishment of an Office of the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. This rider, like the others, is counter to NSAC’s mission and vision.

As Congress seeks to resolve FY24 Appropriations negotiations in the coming days, numerous riders – each of which carries their unique negative impacts – continue to be debated. NSAC believes including any of the aforementioned riders would lead to a less just and resilient food and farm system. Consequently, Congress should pass a clean FY2024 agriculture appropriations bill by keeping these and other riders out of any final deal. 

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