the agriculture improvement act of 2018, the farm bill. the goal, the responsility, the absoluteme requirement is to provide our farmers and ranchers and growers and everyone within america's agriculture and food chain certainty and predict ability. especially during these very difficult times. this is paramount. absolutely paramount to many other issues or any other issues and concerns. it's not an exaggeration to say our nations food and fiber capability with regards to production hang in the balance with what we do here on this legislation. simply put, let's get this done. many of my colleagues have introduced legislation over the last year that address priorities and stakeholders in eir states. the bill that passed the agriculture committee with the help of partnership of my distinguished ranking member passed with a strong bipartisan vote of1 20 - 1. earlier this month. that bill addresses many of these concerns. in fact the ag committee bill includes this bill we are considering today. portions of 65 standalone bills and an additiona

department of agriculture programs. while we talk about subsidies, it deals with development, housing, pretty much every sector of the rural economy because the usda is very expensive. every area gets modified by the farm bill, but that particular area doesn't have incredibly major adjustments. i would not expect huge changes in how business is being done. host: james from wichita, kansas. what is your question? caller: what we have learned from other countries in regard to food policy. alan: what can we learn from other countries? on subsidies you see a lot of changes in regimes, everything from new zealand getting rid of farm subsidies and going very export oriented, the u.s. doing that. the european union is having a big debate over the common agricultural policy. agricultural systems become a big part of trade disputes. we see that in nafta with canadian dairy, the tpp. there is a lot to learn. how we can apply to the u.s. farm bill applies to the context. from spring hill, florida, snap recipients. what is your que

he has managed the agricultural policy reform effort since 2012. 2012. when not trickle working on federal agriculture policy, josh manages research and outreach on tcs efforts to perform the army corps of engineers, government, general government transparency. so let's start with scott. we will providief rocks and then will take questions from you. -- brief remarks. >> hello, everybody. my name is scott faber get and the vice president for governmental affairs for the environmental working group, and as you heard from senator grassley, americans overwhelmingly support providing farmers with the tools necessary to manage the ups and downs of the agriculture, but as senator grassley put it, much better than i will, farm subsidies should only flow to farmers and only to those farmers who live and work on farms. and it's also important that work should meet a commonsense definition of the word worker. of the gao which found a few weeks ago, nearly a quarter of subsidy recipients who are required to be actively engaged in farming as as a condition of receivi

agricultural policy is simple. we spend about $87 billion a year on food and agricultural, about 20 billion of that goes to farmers and about 20 billion goes out in subsidies. forms,sidies flowing two some of which are subject to payment and some are not. ourstory we tell about subsidy system makes it sound more confusing than it is. the folks who are paid every day to defend the status quo have significant resources. whoevery person like josh is here advocating for the taxpayer, there are 1000 people being paid to defend the status quo. those are three reasons, but there are many more. daren: question over here? i am catherine with politico. their chances of getting some of these amendments into the senate bill, the house process was so closed and none of these amendments made it through the rules committee. is the senate a better bet? how successful do you think it will be? >> i ledago not to bet on anything in the senate. with mr. grassley's amendment, specifically, this is an amendment that passed both houses o

agriculture is in the bones of our state. it's a huge part of who we are, from soybeans and corn and hay and tobacco and poultry and livestock, kentucky agriculture encompasses a multibillion-dollar industry that supports thousands and thousands of good jobs in nearly every corner of the commonwealth. kentuckians know as well as as anyone just how important american agriculture is. and we understand as well as anyone all the unique challenges that it faces. that's why i'm pleased to support this bill, which will bolster the safety net programs for our producers. it will also enhance infrastructure investment in rural communities on everything from local water projects to broadband internet to helping curb the drug epidemic in rural america. and it gets washington out of farmers' ways in areas where bureaucracy is holding them back. one such area is industrial hemp. consumers across america buy hundreds of millions in retail products every year that contain hemp but due to outdated federal regulations that do not sufficiently

and just as climate change impacts our agricultural systems, our agricultural systems also impact the climate. although it is often not discussed in the same breath as transportation or power generation, the global agricultural industry is actually one of the largest contributors to climate change. some estimates suggest up to one-third of our global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, and these numbers are projected to grow and grow and grow. as people's diets around the world continue to change. in fact, as china and india and parts of africa are moving to a western diet, our globe simply cannot sustain that impact. global agriculture emissions as people shift to our diet are projected to rise another 80% by 2050 alone. this is huge. this is unsustainable. and annal agriculture in particular, industrial animal agriculture in particular is especially harmful to the climate. this factory farming is having a tremendous impact on our climate. global livestock production alone accounts for nearly 15% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, which is greater than the tota

when it comes to american agriculture. from the farm bill to trade, taxes, energy, healthcare, bankruptcy, and the federal regulatory regime. senator grassley is a fierce advocate for farmers and families who live and work in rural america. please join me in welcoming senator grassley. >> hello everybody. ve me a kind introduction. the only thing that i would add to it is since you said i am a lifelong family farmer, if robin grassley heard you say that he would say why didn't you tell them i do multiple work. then we have our grandson in the farming operation now. quite frankly i get the feeling that when you have a grandson and the farming operation that they do not really want grandpas around very often. i sleep on the family farm on friday. and saturday nights. but the usual work of working a couple months in the spring and a couple months in the fall is not as often as i would like to have it happen to be honest with you. you give me a kind introduction. think the entire organization for inviting me here to speak. i d

, and our agriculture sector accounts for 13% of our economy annually. and we're proud to grow about 300 different types of products, nearly 40,000 farms, and as i said 164,000 washingtonians employed in that sector. so we continue to work to make sure that the type of research that's represented in this bill, in the r&d that's provided, in the great institutions in our state like washington state university providing good information for us our agriculture extension programs are funded and to make sure that conservation is an opportunity for our farmers so that they can continue to have resources within their farms and diversify on different products and rotation of -- in rotation. all of these things are important in moving a farm bill through the united states senate and on to the president's desk eventually. i'm very concerned that my colleagues in the house of representatives want to cut or limit the snap program. this has been an essential tool as part of ag for a long time and should continue. the notion that we are going to hold up an ag bill at

it's hurting our agriculture economy. it's hurting our communities and most of all it's hurting our farmers and their families. one big reason is that our dairy insurance program just didn't work. i've heard from dairy farmers all across new york who have been essentially ripped off by the dairy insurance program because the program failed to cover our farmers when they need it the most, when milk prices have plummeted. our dairy farmers need a lifeline, and i was very proud to add a provision in the senate farm bill for $77 million of those premiums to be returned. this is great news for our dairy farmers but there's still so much more we could do. so i've asked the secretary of agriculture for emergency funding to address this issue now. but he refuses to help our dairy farmers. so, mr. president, i'm introducing an amendment that would require the department of agriculture to help our dairy farmers with emergency funding now. i'm asking the secretary of agricult for the exact same amount of funding that he just gave co

the agricultural research we are doing things in agriculture, food fuel and fiber we wouldn't have even dreamed of a few years ago we wouldn't have to go back to those we could go back five years we are growing crops for energy and other uses in addition to food we couldn't grow and reaches of the country before and had to take university-based we need them both and we cover those b pieces here obviously the no-cost sugar program is big in our part of the world as a huge industry and it goes back to making sure there's a fair opportunity to compete in global markets. programs like the vaccine link bank to make sure we keep them healthy and access to capital is one we are going to work on some more we will get something done there may be back and forth but we've got to make sure farmers and ranchers can get that access rticully in the east of times. i will wrap up again thanks to alln, the members willingness to work together but it starts with our leadership and i want to thank you and again the staff for all the hard work. >> thank you mr. chairman. i think the senator outlined the pri

agriculture. i was also pleased to see my amendments were included in the managers package. i want to acknowledge the partnership program is an excellent tool for bringing partnerships and additional nonfederal funding to the conservation effort. my home state have benefitted from the rise partnership efforts of ducks unlimited, usa rice, arkansas rice, nrcs through rcpp. it is being significant and meaningful. however, i have concerns regarding the changes to rcpp that will allow 30% of the funding to be allocated as grants to these organizations. the vision has always been the best of government and the best of partnerships working for the producers and the natural resources. the program is delivered in this regard, but i fear we are opening the door to conservation dollars being diverted to organization capacity building and supporting certain organization members, rather than continuing to leverage private funding to the benefit of many producers in a given region. my constituents at home have

measures on july first american goods worth some three point four billion dollars are affected from agricultural products to steel to bourbon whiskey. mexico has already imposed tariffs on u.s. goods and earlier this week canada announced it would also retaliate the escalating dispute has unsettled many companies including german agricultural machinery producer klaus it depends heavily on exports and is now worried about its future. and the fear of my didn't hold as a company with a high percentage of exports we can see that additional customs duties will make our products more expensive abroad and that means demand will decrease and we will produce less the result is a threat to our sales because the fence that's the only outs but the water is the company's biggest market outside europe is the u.s. duties on farm machinery aren't currently being discussed but global trade disputes and the threat of sanctions are unsettling to executives here klaus is staying away from the iranian market even though pent up demand for farm machinery there is an enormous the company doesn't want any problems with

and then focusing on the 16 million jobs and counting that come from agriculture. i want to thank senator roberts for being a great partner and our staffs have worked very closely together on this. that we is significant have not changed or increased overall dollars, we have been able to strengthen things in the commodity area. conservationgth on and we can address issues and making themrograms more effective. and strengthening some areas in conservation. to theome integrity nutrition title while creating more opportunities for states to establish jobs programs and jobs training programs to be able to show what works. and then, overall, i would say given a time when agricultural has a lot of uncertainty, we makinghen the title mandatory ongoing funding for trade promotion which is really important in agriculture. our farmers need predictability. we are working hard to do our part to make that happen. >> questions? about that?ou think >> let us ask senator grassley. but, we will be happy to work with him. senator grassley has always been able to get a vote on limita

to get a lot of theoretical teachings in school that does not give us this insight into what agriculture elitists today i'm so excited because i was a good to privileged to talk to young people about this and i don't speak to them like our lecturers used to do i speak to them from the practical point of view bringing economics into what they do how they can actually become down boss the training courses all relevance to many different kinds of farming former students peter it all started a fish from four years ago he breeds around fifty thousand catfish. the entrepreneur has managed to make his business not only profitable but also sustainable. i mean if you teach and you said what can you do so i put up a proposal. to. integrate it from a business that was coming from you can use it to groove vegetables organic to ideate aims to help farmers in nigeria produce more food while minimizing the negative impact on the environment and contributes to food security in africa has hit on a good africa we had lots of reports about kool aid years and pulled out that us enough from scientific resear

agriculture is the number one industry. the land will be well served by the legislation being presented from this committee. we authorize the cost loss and the commodity title to ensure producers have adequate protection when market prices are low and maintaining support structure to help larger producers to remain in business when times get very tough. the land owner will be able to set aside less protective land for the purpose of wildlife protection and water improvement. with respect to the nutrition title, i'm encouraged that annual spending over the life the bill i'm also pleased that it seeks improvement to the snap program to increase integrity and focused on snap beneficiaries. as we move forward i hope the committee will seek further reform to provide help for those in need and the path to employment and self sustainability. in closing i would like to thank you and members of your staff for including my amendment in the package of amendments but i look forward to continue working with you on this farm bill process

that was during the good times in agora agriculture. perhaps farmers might want to at least consider the program. i've heard the calls from both of these senators and we've tried to work together to incorporate as many changes as possible. it includes multiple improvements including increases the substitute yields to 75% and requires the use of trend adjusted yields in several technical changes. i do have concerns with the far-reaching impacts of the exchanges to the price loss coverage, reference prices. i would have to oppose the amendment in the current form but i understand your focus is to improve it, and i share your concern in that regard. i would like to continue to work with you as we head to the senate floor to consider further changes to commodity programs that provide producers more certainty and predict ability. i appreciate the senator withdrawing the amendment. i would only add that in the current form, kansas would lose 436,000 acres in their acreage base. the kansas bkers association estimates that would reduce land val

because of the name and sam beef is an important business in zambia as agricultural sector. contributes to food security and food supplies in the country. you know and it generates employment in a marginal region and gives the people there an opportunity to work in the you know the sort of mention i'll buy i think on i'm. zandi from ploy six hundred workers on the oil palm plantation during the harvest but only one hundred forty of them are employed year round everyone else is a seasonal worker. critics say that for investment sums of such magnitudes the gains in development should be significantly higher. than when you ask d.g. about such projects they always say it's a great example of good development aid they never address the criticism they just brush it off. many questions have been posed to the german parliament about d. g.'s role twenty seven organizations submitted a petition calling for d.e.g. to be required to publish information about its involvements and loans. that's the basic problem with the g is that it's a black box we don't know what it gets up to because

european agriculture was devastated.hen you start invading other countries, people are no longer going to be able to grow food. many countries and farm areas were certainly not capable of providing the foodr e infrastructure needed to bring foods to market. you could not operate on roads. they would be blocked off bythey fighting. france suffered tremendously as a result of this. in fact, as i mentioned, the nazi plans to take over the ukraine was real. i mentioned the other issue that affected the way people manage to their food. i have shown you the war ration booklets, which i think is a good example. there are not many around. but what is amazing is what the americans did after the second world war as well. that is -- how many of you know about the berlin airlift? i had to go back and look up a lot of things. i have actually seen temple hops airstrip in berlin, because it is not in the center of the city, it is near the free university of berlin. and what happened after the second world war is that stalin went back o

trade and and she said this she said there is been no agreement on agriculture yet agriculture is very important to the u.k. with regard to europe eighty percent of exports go to europe that's what peta harvick is that he's the director of exports until you hire a sort of you create the program and that's why it's so important will it be bumpy absolutely because the does not want to let go of their agreements really easily and they know that britain is very dependent on the e.u. as a trade partner there's new news today i want to ask you about it after after this . according to the results of an almost two year investigation released today by the senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations the obama administration took an extra effort in twenty sixteen to assist iran in recouping previously sanctioned oil revenues that were stranded in an overseas account after their renia nuclear deal went into effect and twenty fifteen the report says the administration actually misled congress regarding those efforts and president trump who as we all know criticize the agreement calling it hor

the africa agriculture and trade investment fund for short the german ministry of economic cooperation and development invested the biggest share forty five million euros of taxpayers' money along with twenty million from the k f w development bank and twenty million from dawn to bank the funds worth climbed to one hundred twenty five million euros. it invested around nine million euros in the company chhobi agora vision in zambia. one of its farms is located in central zambia and is one of the biggest in the country the fund prospectus advertises that r.t. if raises local incomes and therefore food security. the money was used to set up a large soy plantation. but here too the land was not empty some farmers were relocated. the majority of the land was forest it has been cut down. on my right hand side behind it you can see some of the natural natural bush forest that was so these particular fields were cleared from that source. and to do that to carrots and make it just ready to accept planting you probably talking three thousand dollars a hit. in addition to the cost of clearing the

global market in other words just four corporate entities will determine the direction of global agriculture and the nutrition of humanity this while the world population grows to ten billion people by two thousand and fifty according to current estimates since farmland is an increasing these farmers will have to find new strategies to increase agricultural production that explains why the agro chemical industry is widely seen as a growth market. in german auto parts maker accounting antis says the new e.u. data protection rules could cause it to accidentally freight the law it's banned what south and snap chat on thirty six thousand company owned mobile phones used by its employees continentals management thinks the two up supposed big risk mostly because they store user data on their own servers. the turkish central bank has raised interest rates to seventeen point seven five percent the move is aimed at propping up the lira and putting a lid on galloping inflation many investors have been pulling their assets out of turkey amid political turbulence president richard type heir to one annou

secondly, under the agriculture work force, the status quo is sustainable for american agriculture. whether the work force is sustainable for american agriculture. under current law in california and other states, farmers are facing chronic employee shortages. last fall, the california farm bureau announced the results of its informal survey of its members. the survey showed 69% of those surveyed were experiencing labor hortdls falls -- shortfalls. they still can't find enough willing and qualified employees. california farm bureau president paul winger said farmers have offered higher wages, benefits, and more year-round jobs. they have tried to mechanize operations where possible and even changed crops or left ground idle but employee shortages persist. the labor force status quo is simply unsustainable for american agriculture. clearly, this is not a situation that's going to be solved by granting permanent resident status to farm workers. in fact, that's what's the opposite what's needed. it will not do anything to ensure that farmers and ranchers have access to the labor they n

twenty two percent in the past two years according to the country's ministry of agriculture that's also a problem prices are going down as a result putting pressure on small scale growers many lack of fixed price contracts with rose oil producers and they have laborers to pay stakeholders now say the industry needs tighter controls to protect growers from volatility and to ensure quality. know when they met there needs to be control and regulation on every level in our production starting from the plants the material the picking process and choosing the flowers to finely the qualification and export of bulgarian rose oil. is north of the both of those almost all. bowl gary is government is now working on just such a plan supporters hope it can stabilize the industry and ensure there are enough roses for future celebrations. will the north korea u.s. summit happen the political poker game. the two sides will have to overcome decades of hostility. stoked by an unpredictable us foreign policy and the family of dictators united by one obsession. getting down on atomic bomb. the kim dynasty.

the africa agriculture and trade investment fund. for short the german ministry of economic cooperation and development invested the biggest share forty five million euros of taxpayers' money along with twenty million from the k f w development bank and twenty million from dontcha bank the funds worth climbs two hundred twenty five million euros. it invested around nine million euros in the company chhobi agra vision in zambia. one of its farms is located in central zambia and is one of the biggest in the country the fund prospectus advertises that are to raises local incomes and therefore food security. and the money was used to set up a large soy plantation. but here too the land was not empty some farmers were relocated. the majority of the land was forest it has been cut down. on my right hand side behind it you can see some of the natural natural bush forest that was so these particular fields were cleared from that bush. and to do that to carrots and make it just ready to accept planting you probably talking three thousand doll

what do you propose the agriculture secretary should do? a policy opposed by my republican colleagues, but what should they do? secretary ross: it's up to the secretary of agriculture to come. because each of the segments of agriculture is quite a different segment. i think he heard very clearly the comment from the farm state representatives that they don't want government aid. well, we have no control over what another country does in retaliation. but what the president just did announce to try to discourage retaliation when the chinese on the 301 announced that they would watch the $50 billion of product that we have put tariffs on, with their $50 billion, the president put tariffs -- said he will put tariffs on $200 billion. that's a very significant number -- senator bennett: sounds like the beginning of a trade war to me, mr. secretary. i think the sensitivity maybe on capitol hill might be we're looking at $1 trillion deficit next year, the largest deficit that we have seen outside of a recession or outside of a war because of this a

the agricultural community. we need men and women regarding agriculture. that is a legitimate issue. where are you on this moderate compromise proposal? would you agreed to supporting it if language is changed included to have the e-verify and agricultural guestworkers? guest: i am leaning to voted for it. i circui want to see language as it would relates to these issues that were discussed yesterday. guest: what happens -- host: what happens next on the house floor am a what happens over the weekend before you debate again? guest: undoubtedly the whip team is counting votes as to whether there is a majority. i would encourage to my credit colleagues to work with us. reached outhave not a hand to them. i want to reach out to them. i point out in the senate, on the issue of children being separated from their parents, i oppose that, senator feinstein and senator cruz are working together. i think that is a helpful sign. larger issue but that is important as well. host: would you agree to passing something narrow

we passed this bill 20-1 in the agriculture committee. i told the majority leader the other day when he came for our markup in the committee that i wish he'd send everything through the agriculture committee. then we might actually get something done for the american people around here. we might fix our broken immigration system and make sure our farmers have access to the labor they need. we might address the threat of climate change and the strain it will put on our food systems. we might address the backlog of infrastructure projects in rural colorado and all across the west where some of our pipes and dams date back to the 19 30's. we might push for a coherent trade policy that increase market access for our farmers and ranchers instead of subjecting them to retaliation and uncertainty. there's a lot we could do if we took a page from the senate agriculture committee and approached our work not oriented toward a political fight for the benefit of the cable news, but oriented toward a solution for the benefit of the american people. we

we always have self-declared secretaries of agriculture on the floor of the senate and i suspect we will have those same amendments that we've had before. we will deal them and ithk wils bill quickly. >> as early as next week? >> could be. i hope so. >> there's a lot of optimism from what happened today and going forward. how much concern is there on how the house will react to the bill? >> the houses considering the legislation, as the house always does and i know they are working hard to produce something. that bill is different. it will be a totally partisan bill. i think that's unfortunate but that's for the house wants to go and so we will just have t see. hopefully some version of the farm bill will pass. [inaudible] >> you could go back and remember all of the considerations on bills from the past. i know harry reid back in 2013 said it's possible this would take two weeks. it took two days. >> twoong days, but two days. hank>> tou. >> thank you so much. [inaudible conversations] "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday mo

it is generational lows for income and agricultural.here is waiting across the country. -- bleeding across the country. david: this allusion seems to be more trade but it seems the path will lead to less trade. it may be more fair but less trade. >> you make a great point. it has been a horrible roller coaster ride for myself and my constituents. the present -- president rob looked -- promises better trade deals. i am counting on them to get the nafta treaties done sooner to stop the bleeding. there is a $10 billion export outside to china for agriculture alone. i think the president has goals the same as mine but we are feeling pain right now. david: another subject very prevalent across the country, immigration. we have had this tragedy of children separated from their parents and the president says you are wasting your time to try to deal with immigration soon. where are you and kansans on this issue of immigration? >> we got good polling back from our constituents who support my position that we need a strong border security, first

the percentage of nativeborn workers to fuel construction and agricultural economies do not exist. we can either import workers or we can import our food. in a study published in 2013, economist michael clemens did a 15 year analysis of data on north carolina agricultural markets. concluding there is no supply of farm laborers in the state. this was true even in the depths of severe recession. in 2011 with 6500 available on ofs in the state, only 268 nearly half a million unemployed north carolinians applied for the jobs. 245 than 90% of them, people of those applying were uped, just 163 even showed for the first day of work. only seven native workers completed the entire growing season, filling only 1/10 of 1% of the open farm jobs. this is not an abnormality. migrantrld war ii, workers have fueled america as the bread basket of the globe. that may change. as i stated, we can either import workers or import food. the problem with the workforce maybe even deeper than we know. according to the centers for disease control, there were 60 births per 1000 lowerages 15 to 44, 3% than the

i have been more involved with agriculture because i was a big agriculture state. three meetings at the white house where these points of view have been expressed. remember this. we know from history, carter, reagan, george w. bush put on tariffs. agriculture is the first to be hurt by it. there is already some hurt with the uncertainty of it. there is hurt with the dramatic drop of soybean prices in the midwest, also corn prices. a terrible drop in soybean prices. a lot of us related to this. not just to the president himself in the white house. over the course of a year. with people who are close to him like wilbur ross. secretary mnuchin and to read they have heard from agricultural states generally. other interests as well as well. it could be very harmful. nobody is going to be offended if the president can succeed in getting a better deal on trade for all segments of our economy. it is kind of a big gamble. it seems the president is using the usual business tactics of negotiating, start with an extreme position and bring people to the brink. if he goes over t

on the abuses our interests in the halls agriculture and community and first two businesses are very much dependent on the state and the legislation of the state many see an indisputable conflict of interests between business activities and his role in politics business consultant brown knows the mood among czech business leaders how does he see things developing on the government will continue to align itself with the e.u. and the west and there's no danger of a checks it out. so it's likely the czech republic will stay loyal to the e.u. but it won't adopt the euro as a currency the economy is growing wages are on the rise there seems little reason for to change track. today with the world of business thanks for your company and have a great weekend. to to try . entering the conflict zone with tim sebastian faulks been challenging those in power asking tough questions demanding arms. as comforts intensify i'll be meeting with kid players on the ground in the sun zones of. cutting through the rhetoric holding the powerful to account facts the conflicts. conflict zones with tim sebast