set up to help modernize the farmworker system that we have for folks in this country of which we should have some recommendations for the rest of our colleagues and for your department and the administration that helps both domestic and immigrant producers and folks who are working at these very hard jobs able to have the opportunity to put food on the table of american so thank you for that. the other question i have is a little bit different. you were recently in my district heward albuquerque south valley we were announcing a monumental investment in broadband for rural communities. $48 million for the state of new mexico. secretary, how could we make sure those dollars are being spent in an efficient way that truly delivers a conductivity rural communities need including small and medium producers that could now take their businesses online and produce niche products that could help support rural economies. what are the plans for the administration in terms of

oversight and it ministration of these broadband dollars? what's each of the projects awarded resources have a team at usda that follows the construction, the implementation of the grant to ensure things are done in a proper way and a timely way. i can guarantee that will take place for every one of the projects we awarded resources too. i think the other issue is there are other programs outside of the usda that are very important to keep an eye on and that is the resources being provided to states and state governors to basically fill the gaps. in the gaps. our program primarily is focused on improving the level of service available so people actually have meaningful broadband access. we do serve underserved areas but we also make sure the level of service is adequate so more than a one person can be downloading something at home. >> secretary think of your investment in mexico.

thank you chairman i yield backwards i think the gentleman not recognize a gentleman from m tennessee for five minutes. >> thank you chairman thompson and thanks to ranking member scott for holding the hearing thank you secretary bill sec for being with us today time is limited i will dive right in. walking horse industry is a special industry that frankly is extremely important to my constituents and when i value personally. during a farmville listening session tour representative and i hosted in tennessee i along with representative joined by chairman thompson and also representative jonathan jackson visited a walking horse stable facility walking horse celebration is a time-honored tradition in tennessee that began in 1939 over 2000 horses compete to be crowned the world grand champion which is always ground the saturday night before labor day i see you are writing

that down. this year's celebration will be held august 21 through august 31 in tennessee. mr. secretary i would like to extend a personal invitation for you to attend this unique event and experienced firsthand the long-standing tennessee tradition. mr. secretary, schedule permitting, would you be willing to consider attending this your celebration? >> i would be happy. they do not put me in charge of my schedule. it would be chaotic if they did i would be happy to make sure people are aware of your kind invitation we will certainly take it under consideration for effects i invite you because it's part of my visits to the celebration of recent years i've had the opportunity to take a look at what your staff is doing their to inspect the horses and it's really quite something. the efforts, taken to make sure these horses are treated humanely, fairly, and so it would be useful to you to see

that. and compare and contrast that to what happens elsewhere in the equine industry the lack of equivalent oversight going on with respect to other shows and respect other breeds i would encourage you to consider coming it would be insightful for you to have a sense of the scope of that inspection process. i'm going to shift gears is extremely alarmed to read december 20, 2023 press release from the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of mississippi announcing a usda employee named ella martin was sentenced to 35 months in prison for using her usda position to create fraudulent warranty deeds with the intent to deprive the actual owners of the real estate the use and benefits of the property. mr. chairman i ask unanimous consent of the text of the press release entered into the record progress without objection progress mr. secretary what specific policies and procedures

has usda implemented and light of this development to strengthen internal controls and prevent similar fraudulent activity like this from occurring in the future? what's everything time something like this occurs our inspector general gets engaged involved basically gives us activities or steps that could be taken to ensure there is not a repeat situation. we obviously very interested in making sure it does not happen again. we institute training. we institute new guidance. we institute oversight to make sure these kinds of activities do not occur on a regular basis. >> recently at usda publish an organic livestock standard final rule including standards led to animal welfare for the first time. previously the agricultural marketing service stated the organic foods production act does not authorize this sudden

change in statutory interpretation leads me too believe this action could be interpreted as arbitrary and capricious. secretary the second to further explain why usda feigns their interpretation of the statute? >> it's important for brand perspective we do what we can to ensure the organic brand remains. there is a certain expectation from the consuming public when they pay significantly more for organically produced items that they are produced in an appropriate way. what the industry itself us. >> is. >> thank you for that insight. we go back the balance of my time to correct the judgment yields back. please to recognize a gentle lady from ohio provokes thank you chairman thompson. thank you for holding the

steering today and secretary vilsack thank you for being here it's great to see you again. we are months pass original deadline to get the farm bill done and we're just months away from new deadline. i would mention by my colleagues it's been six months since our last hearing on this committee and i to a bladder getting back to business it is past time to get serious. so it secretary vilsack's ranking member of the general farms commodity credit subcommittee i appreciate the emphasis in your testimony on small and midsize farming. we know our traditional farm program seem to work for everyone. not just the biggest players. increasing each year promoted the growth of small, bedside, urban is an effective way to bring new younger faces into the industry. and you talk more about the usda's efforts were small midsize and urban farms

specifically target two are beneficial for new producers into the agricultural state? >> there are a couple. as a couple urban center initiatives we place a farm service agency and one of the 17 cities. all the programs are farmer it would have wherever they are located is available to the urban farmers. all the conservation programs from hoop houses to extend the growing season, things of that nature are available of the assistance. we have best and former market promotion programs that is why we have our local marketing effort they produce a product

that's why we are focused on ensuring local food purchasing agreements. they are doing business with local, small, midsize producers. that's all we track the information. emergency resources the food assistance resources to funnel into that local regional food system. the reason for it is simply go to the gushes for the farmer gets 15 cents of every food dollar that is spent the net if that is 7 cents to the farmer. when this out to a local direct to consumer opportunity they get 50 -- 75 cents. it is a way of helping the small midsize operators of a market more designed for their capacities. there is research we are investing in. there are systems to help the

farmers transition to organic there interested in that. we also have a local and regional food system the center of 12 centers across the country that are providing assistance and help to those who want to establish a local regional food system. there is a multitude of efforts underway to help folks regardless of whether located projects thank you very much. i'd also like to touch on food assistance there are more than 80000 households reliant on step benefits within my district representing where the largest concentrations in the country. when it come to the upcoming farmville there's a lot of noise about the thrifty food ran some republicans have suggested we hold future re- evaluations of this arbitrarily cross neutral in an effort to save money. to holding thrifty to the cost of the 2021 plan for another 20,

30, or 40 years. most importantly how would it impact snap specifically? in the case of waiting 45 years to do what we did recently. that inadequately if you will meets the requirements in the modern-day needs of a family. what we found will read did the snap 50 food plan consistent with the farmville wasn't thrown into the system what's happening in the real world with real world data and information. to better inform the system that is why congress directed us to do that. it is clear to essential objectives to strengthen and

expand our long-standing agricultural program. the critical nutrition assistance. the joint democrats including people with politics without researcher might yield backpack for gentle lady yields back. please recommend a gentle eddie from texas congresswoman for five minutes. >> thank you chairman. thank you for being here today. as you know texas is one of three states that grows sugarcane. i am proud to say that in my district texas 15 is deep south texas provides good jobs. and it provides economic opportunity for our community. unfortunately it has been

incredibly challenging for our sugar mills in our area due to the lack of water. this is in large part because by the 1944 water treaty with mexico. are you familiar with the water treaty? >> not specifically without specific treaty. >> how important this tree is. this treaty and under this treaty mexico supposed to get the united states farmers three or 50000 water every year. mexico has failed to do this. i am proud to tell you might ranchers have bipartisan manner to pass the house resolution that has overwhelming bipartisan support. but the house resolution did was asked mexico to give us our water. his steeply needed.

where in the fourth year of a current five-year cycle will mexico is deficient over 760,000 feet of water. this is simply unacceptable. it's causing lots of harm and hurt to our farmers and ranchers. are saying that due to lack of water they are going to have to close. let me ask you this, how do you feel about knowing that there

sugar mills in south texas that are about to close due to this lack of water? >> i think it's important for us to have a focus on this issue of water not just specifically for the sugar mills but for farmers and ranchers and producers across the united states and in particularly the western part of the u.s. it's one of the reasons why we established western water initiative which i probably should make sure your staff is aware of if they aren't already which is focused on sustaining agriculture productivity and taking a look at ways to protect both surface water and ground water and restoring wastelands in terms the of water utilization. >> it's such an important issue and like my colleague across the aisle said we don't want to play partisan politics with farmers and ranchers. i would like your commitment to stand with me and our farmers

and ranchers and meet with and talk with secretary blinken about mexico's lack of abiding to the 1944 treaty. can i have your commitment to stand with the ranchers and farmers and speak to secretary blinken about this treaty? >> i'm happy to take a look and learn more about this and get back to you, congresswoman. i think that's fair. >> thank you, i greatly appreciate it. with that the, i yield back. >> i know you have not been able to come and visit yet but please, we welcome you to do so. we had significant damage, over

6400 acres burned. $23 million in damage, that may not seem like a lot in some communities but very big for ours, so, again, thank you but we do know that there's a lot of work that needs to be done. we need to start funding the efforts so you and your team can do good in the communities. i will try to jump to different one that is have not been touched on. i wanted to talk the a little bit about our need to continue our ongoing commitment to 1890 -- i neglect that we have discussed this, mr. secretary before when you spoke to asian pacific american caucus, however, i reiterate the need for congressman's opportunity

act of which aisle an original cosponsor and what is your position to support asian american and pacific islanders, agriculture research and scholarships and what steps has the department taken to support nhpi farmers as well. $262 million from the rescue plan and made sure that our office as it administers program ensures it's administered in a holistic way and i think that you will see there are more grants and more scholarships awarded recently.

>> i would reiterated as well and we spoke about this before as we do outreach to these particular communities we need to be conscious the best way to reach out to them oftentimes to consider language access and barriers so that may be cultural barriers well. making sure those students have access and able to participate actively, i would appreciate that. >> we have an extensive process now where we are trying to convert to multiple languages to make sure information is more readily available to a broad, broader scope of individuals. >> thank you, and somewhat along those lines when i take a look at -- when we talk about i dig house agriculture if you're able to join us in hawaii we can expose you to uniqueness of native hawaii and pacific islanders, traditional farming and techniques, staple crops for us and specialty crops for

others. mr. secretary underrepresented and underserved producers have been calling on the department for navigator program to help navigate usda systems and processes for some time now. what's your position on the need for and the effectiveness of such a pilot program to be able to connect farmers, ranchers with the help that is available. well, the farm service agency and nrcs have engaged in the signing of series of cooperative agreements similar to what you've outlinedment farming services have over 30 of these agreements nrcs has over a hundred of them with organizations and entities design today provide outreach to historically underserved producers to make sure that they are aware of programs and to

help guide them through whatever the application process needs to be. so that's already taken place in both, both of those agencies. >> i will humbly suggest and glad to see that the cooperative agreements are in place but for many of us that represent communities with high populations, for example, i'm specifically talking about aanih communities and make sure individuals that we are contracting with and method through outreach are the most effective possible. so welcome further communication with you on this because at the end of the day i want to make sure my farmers, ranchers and producers can engaging with the usda in a meaningful way. i have a number of other questions related to natural disasters and rural health. i know chair interest you and i both. we can help rural communities and we will submit that for the record, thank you, mr. chair.

>> thank you, mr. chairman gnomes, anything that you can do, mr. secretary, with the consumer protection financial bureau, con fumer financial bureau to the loosen the screws

a little bit of ag lend asking going to be very, very important. anything that you can do with the farm credits to make sure that ag lenders can get their growers through this crisis because if you look at the aggregate numbers, american farm values and ag revenues are down tens of billions of dollars in the last couple of years in specialty crops in california a lot of the high-export crops it's disproportional pain. it's a crisis. the crisis stems greatly from trade deals, from trade. not necessarily lack of trade deals, yes, there's a lot we can do there but the retaliatory agricultural tariffs from china, india and turkey, those are the big pieces of pie chart are really what is causing in my opinion the agricultural crisis today, the commodity gluts, the low prices and the low farm returns. i'm carrying the bill but i believe that you have it within

your power to look at the commodity credit corporation, my bill is called foreign retaliatory supplement and use commodity credit fees instead of the other programs that are elevating farmers to low prices to simply supplement back. if we export almond to 25% tariff to china supplement that back to the exporter and get it back to the grower and that would eliminate glut that are killing farms today. i would like to connect with you and everybody in the trade ag proposal. we want a 5-year trade organization and those ag tariffs are still in place and crushing on american agriculture. so i'd invite you to look at that. i also want to look at, i worked in sam plant technology over the

years, g netting is a new frontier in plant bio tech and improvement and serving long-term sustainability problems and challenges that we have in a growing crops especially crops like grapes and almonds where it's not easy to reap new seed every year. i'm getting feedback on is rale stricting the type of editing that can be done in plants and classify to exclusions. it's really not the realm of usda to be delving and make sure that america maintains its leadership in plant biotechnology especially in the gene editing area. i think it's important. i hate to see america give up

our leadership in biotechnology which we have established over many years. and fourth i'm not letting you talk much today. you've had a lot of that. these are not breaking your chops too hard. the fourth thing i'd want to talk about is the crop insurance and easing the example of the citrus producers in california is the case. we have the oriental and the queens on fruit flies infest california citrus causing huge problems within our fresh crop and citrus and i want to make sure that our crop insurance programs allow for marketability losses due to the exotic pest infestations and disease infestations as well as catastrophic weather events and other losses. these things cost farmers the same loss in returns in revenue as as catastrophic weather

events. thank you for listening, i'm sure that you'll have something to say for the next person. thank you, mr. secretary. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> i recognize the general lady from minnesota congresswoman craig which we share a very happy birthday to begin with. >> what a way to spend a birthday? >> there you go. >> 5 minutes of questioning. >> thank you so much, mr. chairman. thank you for being here secretary, it's great honor to be here with you on my birthday. from your own visit to minnesota two weeks ago to deputy secretary in 2021i know that you and your team at usda have been great partners in working to support family farmers in rural -- economies and i know that you have put miles on yourself in

the last 3 years and appreciate dedication to family farmers. i have a few questions. i won't let you get quite as easy. first of all, we have a unique opportunity in front of us to get sustainable aviation fuel off the ground and in places like my district in rural america into this emerging market that we fought for in the inflation reduction act. i want thank you so much for your support and your championship of faf. it does not go unnotice by my family farmers and by myself. however, it's frustrating to hear that there's still some uncertainty about the updated greek model. i know the president has a goal of hitting 35 billion gallons of saf by 2050 which is laudable yet we are still waiting on determination from the inter agency working group on greek modeling. let me push here how the discussion has been in the

interagency group and can we expect those updates to be announced on march first as originally directed in the december guidance from treasury and if not when should we expect them. >> i'm confident that there's a genuine desire on the part of all the agencies and the white house the meet that march first deadline. >> excellent. that's a great answer. thank you. i know that you'll see this soon but i'm leading a bipartisan bicameral letter with colleagues on the issue and set to be with the members of the working group at the end of the day today and please know that there are american farmers that have been unable to scale up their production because they are waiting on this guidance and we certainly are looking for it and hopefully by the march first timeline. my second question is about the conservation reserve program, crp. we know it is an absolute

critical program that supports farmers and the work that they do to sustain the lens that they farm and thank you for your remarks and your opening statement there. my home state of minnesota is eighth in the country for the number of acres enrolled and third in annual rental payments for program. so i know there's ongoing conversation about turn thing crp into a dollar-based program. given the rising cost of land, how do you foresee this impacting crp's effectiveness if that happened? >> you know, what's interesting about the grassland part of the crp program is we are at record level of enrollment. there's a lot of activity and interest in the grassland and we continually see that each year in terms of the signup. there's still robust interest in crp and i would anticipate and expect that's going to continue. you know, i think there's -- there will be an interesting intersection of climate smart activities and ecosystem service markets and the potential

opportunities for crp to be integrated into that system but i think right now we're excited about the opportunities and we continue to see a lot of interest in it and, you know, we are sensitive to making sure that the rates are in a situation where they don't necessarily encourage or discourage encourage or discourage the use of productive farmland for productivity and nonproductive land for crp. >> i think i have enough time to sneak one more question. american ag is at a cross roads. it's essential for the safety net. what should legislators be keeping in mind as we look to the strengthen the farm safety net in the farm bill from your perspective, secretary vilsack? >> strengthen safety net without necessarily jeopardizing assistance to do what it needs

to do and without taking resources away from conservation which benefit a broad array of producers. i think that's the key. >> i couldn't agree with you more. >> gentleman from iowa. >> thank you very much, mr. chair. we are talking to farmers who are facing larger than expected year to year losses. in fact, they drop net income and this is one of the largest drops of nearly $40 billion that everyday farmers across the country are facing. in fact, it's down 25% just from

last year, so let's get directly to it. look, the reality is that the taxpayers have invested over $500 million in the expansion of biofuels and i expect my colleagues on the other side of the isle. we work hard on this issue but taxpayers have put $14 billion in electric vehicle mr. secretary, we could both agree to that, is that right? >> yes. >> biofuels have lower carbon footprint when compared with traditional fuels? >> yes. >> do you believe that america's energy independ thence is priority for national security? >> sure. >> so here we are in a situation where we are now putting $40 billion directly into a competition of an electric vehicle system that directly funds one of our key competitors that of china. are you aware of the fact that

china uses child slave labor for production and eliseation of a number of the critical minerals necessary to build batteries? >> that's why we are focused on investing in battery production in the u.s. >> but we haven't done that yet. mr. secretary, i would like to talk about where some of the additional competition comes from and that's export markets. when we talk about foreign competitors, let's talk about brazil. you know, last year the u.s. exported 1,600,000,000 bushels of corn. additionally the u.s. exported 1.25 billion gallons of ethanol to that market. but, mr. secretary, isn't it true that brazil has increased tariffs on u.s. ethanol 18% last year? >> that's true. >> the united states is importing nearly 40 million bushels? >> i don't know what the exact number is but i'm sure -- >> certainly makes it harder for iowa farmers when we are competing in a tariff

environment. i would ask the administration to look into this and push back on competitors not just brazil but around the world. >> and we do. >> do you agree that lack of access to global markets is harming the u.s. biofuel industry? >> i wouldn't agree with that. >> us not being able to sell to foreign countries doesn't harm u.s. farmers? >> we are seeing activity on the export side of biofuel. we have seen it in japan. >> not nearly enough to make up what we are losing in the markets like brazil, like africa. >> your question is that we weren't doing anything and that's just not accurate. >> mr. secretary, there are 87,000 farmers in our home state. the average farmer is 57. in fact, most of those farmers are approaching an age where they are over 70 year's old. here is what i'd like to ask of us, please join with this committee as we have done in the

farm bill, nontraditional farmers, veteran farmers, these are things that not only help grow the economy but keep competitive. some of the conservation practices that are coming out of iowa are not only for u.s. but one the usda could learn from. right now working with the usda while appreciate the individual groups is top-down only approach. i see folks, the audience today. usda has consistently fallen short enforcing puppy mills in iowa. our local law enforcement have asked usda for support and time and time again they have made it difficult. that's part of what's in the farm bill. mr. secretary as we work together on a farm bill, i hope that your agency and this committee continues to listen to iowa farmers who are leading the charge in this not just biofuels but best practices across the board. mr. secretary, i will send where we started here.

is this effort for year-round e15, you commit today this committee last year is going to be ready in 2024? >> i think we will have the 15-year round. i'm confident that we will -- >> i appreciate that, mr. secretary, but the reality has been -- >> let me finish. >> years in the making. i have 8 second left and i want to highlight mr. secretary. it is important that we not only work together but follow through -- >> with that mr. chair, i yield back. >> mr. secretary -- >> you made that commitment that we would be -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> we are. you told me 2025 or some time in the future.

>> we will be -- >> that's only because of iowa farmers that have led the charge on this. that is a huge -- >> recognize the general lady from connecticut. >> nice and chilly for you secretary vilsack. it's no surprise you already know what i'm going to ask about. i want to make note of the fact that we saw a chart earlier from the republicans that showed that neutrality plan would not cut snap benefits. i think it is pretty basic math to the say as more people are accessing these programs and growing if we are not continuing to invest in them that is in essence cutting snap benefits. you can call it what you want. we pulled data from the cbo and

if we keep the thrifty plan neutral. this is the republican's plan and this is the democrats' plan, benefits will be decreased. i would like to enter that into the record, mr. chair. >> without objection. >> snap is the leading antiunger program in the nation. program reduces food insecurity by 30%. i've heard several times in this hearing that the food is national security, so i would hope that we would be trying to feed more people not less here in america and to do that we heard a lot about the data and how it's collected, snap administrators provide application assistance, answer client questions and offer verification guidance for snap applicants throughout the pandemic as you mon