Vilsack Comments on Ag Disaster Aid, Other Topics at House Ag Panel Hearing

China continues its big purchases of U.S. corn with another daily sale today

USDA daily export sale: 204,000 metric tons corn for to China during 2022-2023 MY.

Cargill announced they would not market Russian grain any longer. Grain trader and analyst Richard Crow says: “The question is, Will other international firms pull out? If they do, Russia may have trouble getting their wheat sold.” See more in Russia/Ukraine section.

Ukraine struck a railway depot and knocked out power in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, deep behind the front line, amid growing talk from Kyiv of a counterassault against Russian forces worn out by a failed winter offensive.

China threatens retaliation if Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen next week. Taiwanese leader’s plans to meet the House speaker in California are a provocation that harms its sovereignty, Beijing says.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized the Biden administration’s recent trade deal with Japan, saying that Congress and the public should have been able to review the deal for supplies of critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries, according to a statement viewed by the New York Times. The pact will give U.S. tax incentives for electric vehicles made with metals processed in Japan. The lawmakers also said the deal did not include important protections for workers or the environment. More in Energy section.

In a letter to President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) proposed attaching measures to lower energy costs and “make America energy independent” to a debt ceiling bill, to pass expedited permitting provisions in exchange for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. More in Policy section.

Food stamps and proposed work requirements was the focus of a Tuesday House Ag Committee meeting. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) said, “Work is not punishment, it is opportunity.” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said that making work requirements stricter would make it difficult for governors to manage their states in tough economic times. More in Policy section including Vilsack comments on other key policy issues, including ag disaster aid.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan commented Tuesday about the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule and news broke that he will in the future testify before the House Ag panel.

Equities today: U.S. Dow opened up around 200 points higher along with overseas markets following some positive bank headlines out of Europe and strong price action in Asian tech shares. In Asia, Japan +1.3%. Hong Kong +2.11%. China -0.2%. India +0.6%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.8%. Paris +1.3%. Frankfurt +1%.

An unconfirmed report that Amazon was nearing an acquisition of AMC sent the struggling movie chain’s shares soaring as much as 18% in Tuesday trading, though some analysts say the play is “extremely unlikely” given the cinema company’s massive $5 billion debt load.

U.S. equities yesterday: All three major indices finished in the red with the Nasdaq unable to trade in positive territory during the day and the S&P 500 managed only a brief time in the green. The Dow ended down 37.83 points, 0.12%, at 32,394.25. The Nasdaq was down 52.76 points, 0.45%, at 11,716.08. The S&P 500 eased 6.26 points, 0.16%, at 3,971.27.

Agriculture markets yesterday:

• Corn: May corn futures fell 1 cent at $6.47 1/4 and near mid-range.
• Soy complex: May soybeans rose 25 1/4 cents to $14.67 3/4, marking the highest close since March 20, while May meal futures rose $11.90 to $457.90. May soyoil closed 50 points higher at 55.05 cents.
• Wheat: May SRW wheat rose 1 3/4 cents to $6.99 3/4 and near mid-range. May HRW gained up 12 1/4 cents at $8.72 1/2, nearer the session high and hit a four-week high. May spring wheat futures rose 9 cents higher to $8.82 1/2.
• Cotton: May cotton closed up the limit at 82.52 cents, marking the contract’s highest close since March 8.
• Cattle: April live cattle rose 5 cents and settled at $164.95, near the top of today’s trading range. May feeder cattle lost 57.5 cents, settling at $200.80.
• Hogs: Nearby April hog futures led the complex lower, falling 87.5 cents to $77.75.
  

Ag markets today: Wheat futures extended their recent corrective gains overnight. Corn followed to the upside while soybeans pivoted around unchanged. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, corn futures were trading 2 to 5 cents higher, soybeans were a penny lower to fractionally higher, SRW wheat futures were 14 to 16 cents higher, HRW wheat was 8 to 14 cents higher and HRW wheat was 7 to 8 cents higher. Front-month crude oil futures were around 75 cents higher and the U.S. dollar index is near unchanged.

Technical viewpoints from Jim Wyckoff:

On tap today:

• Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr gives brief remarks on the Community Reinvestment Act at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• U.S. pending home sales for February are expected to fall 3% from the prior month. (10 a.m. ET)
• SVB bank collapse hearing. Fed Vice Chair Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg and Treasury Undersecretary Nellie Liang appear before a House panel to discuss Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse at 10 a.m. ET.
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appears before a House panel to discuss her department’s budget request at 10 a.m. ET.

Home prices fall for seventh straight month, the longest streak of declines since 2012. Home prices declined in January from the prior month as increased mortgage rates continued to slow the housing market. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the nation, fell 0.2% in January compared with December on a seasonally adjusted basis. The rise in mortgage rates in the past year has limited home sales and slowed home-price growth.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index was slightly higher with several foreign currencies firmer against the greenback. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was weaker, trading around 3.56%, amid a mixed tone in global government bond yields. Crude oil was higher, with U.S. crude around $73.90 per barrel and Brent around $78.75 per barrel. Gold and silver futures were weaker, with gold around $1,968 per troy ounce and silver around $23.32 per troy ounce.

• Banking-sector turmoil and worries about the economy have gold prices hitting $2,000 a troy ounce for the first time in a year. The most-actively traded gold futures contract reached an intraday high of $2,014.90 last week and is on pace for the largest monthly percentage increase since May 2021, the Wall Street Journal reports (link). Prices hadn’t topped $2,000 since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last spring. The latest gains have been fueled by nervous investors sheltering in the haven after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Ban.

• NWS weather outlook: Storm system brings more heavy rainfall/mountain snow to the West with cooling temperatures... ...Snow squalls possible over the Interior Northeast on Wednesday... ...Precipitation chances increase over the Midwest and Plains Thursday with a Critical Risk of Fire Weather for the Central/Southern High Plains.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Mostly firmer grain price tone overnight
• Cattle traders biding time
• Hog market fundamentals weaken

— Cargill’s Russian unit signals it will halt exporting Russian grain as of July 1, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday. “The cessation of its export activities on the Russian market will not affect the volume of domestic grain shipments abroad. The company’s grain export assets will continue to operate regardless of who manages them,” the ministry told Reuters. The Russian business daily RBC reported the Russian unit of Cargill told Agriculture Deputy Minister Oksana Lut via a letter that they would stop exporting grain in the new season. The report indicated that Cargill’s exports of Russian grain would total around 2.2 million tonnes for 2022-23, about 4% of Russia’s total exports.

— U.S. aid to Ukraine critical: Zelenskyy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Associated Press that he is aware there could be political actions in the U.S. that could impact the flow of U.S. aid to his country. But the Ukrainian leader in the interview commented about what might happen if the U.S. were to end its support of Ukraine. “The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win,” he stated.

In February, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a “Ukraine Fatigue” resolution signed by 11 other lawmakers urging a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia and calling on the Biden administration to halt all military and financial assistance to Kyiv. The questions Gaetz and GOP colleagues posed: “How much more for Ukraine? Is there any limit? Which billionth dollar really kicks in the door? Look around your house. How much stuff is made in Ukraine, or even Russia, for that matter?” he said last month.

— Russia’s economy is starting to come undone. The opening months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year drove an increase in oil and natural-gas prices that brought a windfall for Moscow. Those days are over. The Wall Street Journal reports (link) that as the war continues into its second year and Western sanctions bite harder, Russia’s government revenue is being squeezed and its economy has shifted to a lower-growth trajectory, likely for the long term. The country’s biggest exports, gas and oil, have lost major customers. Government finances are strained. The ruble is down over 20% since November against the dollar. The labor force has shrunk as young people are sent to the front or flee the country over fears of being drafted. But =there is no sign the economic difficulties are bad enough to pose a short-term threat to Russia’s ability to wage war.

— Biden again urges GOP to release budget plan so talks can continue after Easter break. President Joe Biden responded to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) relative to his call for talks to take place on the debt ceiling, telling McCarthy he hoped the Republican budget plan would be released before lawmakers depart for their two-week Easter break so discussions can take place when they return. Republicans say they won’t raise the nation’s authority to borrow to pay its bills without Biden’s agreement to shrink spending and deficits. But Biden said there would be no conditions on any action to address the debt ceiling, saying it had been raised previously with no conditions and that should be the case again. Biden sought to separate the debt ceiling from budget issues as some Republicans have called for major budget cuts before they will agree to raise the debt ceiling.

McCarthy in his letter floated five proposals that could elicit a debt limit agreement. One of them was “strengthening work requirements” for entitlement programs. The letter did not specify what programs he was talking about — Republicans have floated work requirements for Medicaid, food assistance and more. But any provisions on this topic will be difficult to get support from Democrats.

Republicans had trouble advancing a food stamp work requirement proposal when they had full control of government. A 2018 House push to tighten eligibility for food stamps led to a delay in the farm bill until House Republicans dropped the demand. “If you couldn’t do work requirements when Trump was president and there was a Republican House and Senate, I don’t know why you think you will be able to do that now,” one senior Democratic aide said.

An effort by some House Republicans this year regarding updated SNAP work requirements is not yet supported by House Ag Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.). “We have incredibly effective work requirements that are on SNAP right now. But I’m not here to prejudge. We’re in a listening mode,” he told reporters.

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), ranking member of the committee, is worried about a nutrition work requirement bill introduced by Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.). Scott said that would put the SNAP benefits of an estimated 10.5 million people at risk. The bill, if passed, would require able-bodied adults without dependents ages 18 through 65 to work or participate in a work training or education program for at least 20 hours per week to receive continuous SNAP support, and to parents with children older than 6. Johnson’s legislation would also remove states’ ability to request a waiver for the work requirement from USDA if states lack enough available jobs to hire enrollees. Existing rules apply to adults up to 49 and exempt parents with children at home.

Thompson however said that USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan update was “expedited” and “shoddy.” Thompson said Vilsack and his department authorized a revision that “upended congressional consensus,” and didn’t account for its effects in relation to record farm sector debt and a diminished safety net. “When parties begin to act unilaterally, trust begins to erode,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, this administration has consistently upended congressional consensus through a series of unilateral executive decisions that will resonate for decades.”

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) asked Vilsack to provide a percentage estimate of the number of “illegals” who were enrolled in SNAP, referring to undocumented immigrants. “I think that there’s no one in this room that can’t look at the news and agree that we have a problem at our southern border, with illegals flowing in,” DesJarlais said. “I’m not sure that illegal people can qualify for SNAP,” Vilsack responded. “There’s about 11 exceptions to those rules, and I’m sure you’re aware of them,” DesJarlais said. “I would say that there may be exceptions to this rule,” Vilsack said. “But for the vast, vast, vast majority of those 41 million, you’re probably talking about American citizens or people who are getting those benefits legitimately.” There are “estimates of 20 to 30 million people living here illegally, and the Center for Immigration Studies shows that 45% of non-citizen households are on SNAP benefits, and 21% of citizen households are on SNAP benefits,” DesJarlais said, citing a group that advocates for lower immigration levels. “I think that it’s fair to say that anywhere between 10 and 20% of the SNAP benefits are going to people here illegally, and no one’s given me the information I’ve asked for yet to disprove that.”

Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) asked Vilsack what the benefits of SNAP are that Congress should be aware of. “There’s data that indicates obviously that SNAP is one of the most effective poverty-reducing programs, if not the most effective, poverty-reducing program, we have,” Vilsack said.

Perspective: Congress raised the debt ceiling three times under former President Donald Trump without conditions. Meanwhile, there’s a concern that even if Democrats cut a deal with McCarthy, he won’t be able to deliver votes given his limited hold on the GOP conference.

— Other policy issued raised at Tuesday’s House Ag Committee hearing (link to video):

• Foreign ownership of farmland. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA’s knowledge of foreign ownership of farmland depends on self-reporting and that if Congress really wants to know how much farmland is foreign-owned, it needs to establish a registry that would require reporting from the nation’s 3,000 counties on all deed changes. Vilsack said the 1978 Agriculture Foreign Investment Disclosure Act did not give Congress investigative powers to find out if the reporting is accurate.

  Vilsack downplayed Chinese land ownership, detailing existing data show Chinese investors have purchased “less than 1% of 1%” of U.S. land. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) said he’s particularly concerned about Chinese-owned land near Whiteman Air Force Base, “home of the B-2 Stealth bomber,” in his district. “I agree with you, Congressman, that we have to be very, very careful about the ownership of foreign land near any of our defense installations, which is why a recent situation in North Dakota was brought to everyone’s attention,” Vilsack said. “I agree with you on that.” “The Chinese communist government is the number one threat to America right now,” Alford said. “And we’ve got to do something before they buy up farmland and they start firing missiles at our stealth bombers. It’s got to stop.”

  Vilsack said USDA has doubled the number of people focused on implementation of the current law.

• CFIUS: Vilsack was asked about USDA’s role on the Committee of Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) because USDA is not a permanent member. Vilsack agreed being on the committee full-time would help educate other members of CFIUS about agricultural issues.
• Mexico ban on biotech corn. Vilsack said the Biden administration couldn’t afford to let Mexico implement its ban on biotech corn. “This is a very important issue for us. We have to make sure that we are very firm about this, because it undermines our entire approach to trade. You have to have a science-based system.”
• Brazil BSE case. Vilsack noted Brazil’s delay in reporting a case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), but warned against blocking beef exports, saying the U.S. also has had atypical cases. “We have expressed concerns to Brazil about the lateness (of the notification). And we’ve also made sure that our surveillance at the border is as appropriate as it needs to be to protect our industry,” Vilsack said.
• Aid for 2022 ag disaster losses. Compensating farmers for 2022 disaster losses will be difficult, Vilsack said, since Congress provided just $3.4 billion for the payments, compared to the $10 billion appropriated for 2020 and 2021 losses. However, sources say the $3.4 billion figure came from USDA analysis.
• Phase 2 of ERP. Several members, including Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), pressed Vilsack on payments under Phase 2 of USDA’s Emergency Relief Program (ERP) for 2020 and 2021 crop losses due to natural disasters and extreme weather, particularly a change in the methodology from one based on crop losses under Phase 1 to one based on revenue losses under Phase 2. “The reports I’m hearing from Oklahoma is that due to the vast changes in the program, the drought impacted producers that were left out of Phase 1 are not qualifying for Phase 2 under the new parameters,” Lucas said. Vilsack said restrictions on the program mandated by Congress were one hurdle that limited the assistance available to producers. “The challenge is that programs sometimes leave out very, very small producers, they leave out folks who have not received any assistance at all,” he added. “The desire for the department was to create this revenue directed program, so that we’d be able to help those farmers out.” He said if resources are left over after Phase 2, USDA hopes to use them to provide additional assistance to producers still left out of aid under the effort. Lucas pressed Vilsack on whether USDA might return to a crop loss-based methodology for 2022 crop losses. “We will learn from the experiences of the first iteration of ERP, and we’ll certainly factor that into how we administer the program for this next phase,” he responded.
• Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia pressed Vilsack on current spending levels for farm commodity programs and the farm safety net, which represent 12% of the farm bill, in contrast to the roughly 81% spent on nutrition programs. “I think everybody in America that is watching this is smart enough to recognize that the volume of food, as we’ve seen with eggs, there are supply-and-demand issues there,” Scott said. “No matter how much you give somebody in SNAP benefits, the cost of groceries continues to go up because of inflation and bad policy, and then they have less food to eat at the end of the day.”

• Conservation programs. Rep. Thompson asked Vilsack about implementation of the SUSTAINS Act, which allows USDA to accept third-party donations to support several conservation programs including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). The measure was included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 omnibus spending bill enacted in December. “A number of opportunities and a number of partnerships that are already being developed,” said Vilsack. “We’re looking at a number of environmental and conservation organizations that have indicated a desire to partner with us.”

  Vilsack said the IRA funding gives USDA an opportunity to “reduce the backlog that exists and EQIP in some of the other conservation programs,” and added that it will also help the department make targeted investments to make targeted investments based on results from its $3.5 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) climate-smart pilot program.

  Rep Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) asked how sustaining higher funding levels for conservation programs in the 2023 Farm Bill would benefit farmers, given the push by some Republicans for across-the-board spending cuts. “I’m concerned about suggestions that we reduce the overall budgets by a significant percentage,” Vilsack replied. “That could result in as many as 84,000 fewer farmers getting the assistance and help that they want,” he added.

• EPA pesticide regulations. Vilsack said USDA made its concerns known to EPA but couldn’t control what that agency would unveil. “Our job is to basically provide the information provided as best we can… EPA makes the decision and then it’s our job to figure out ways in which we can help farmers comply, if they can,” Vilsack said.

— The White House is preparing to call for federal banking regulators to impose new rules on midsize banks, prompted by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month, the Washington Post reports (link). “The exact details of the White House’s recommendations are not clear, but they will try to reestablish rules for banks with between $100 billion and $250 billion that were deregulated by Congress and the Fed during the Trump administration.” But the WaPo article said, “It appears unlikely that the administration will ask Congress in the immediate future to undo a deregulation law passed five years ago with bipartisan support.”

— SVB and Signature Bank were the focus of a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday. When will Congress glean what went wrong that permitted vulnerabilities inside the bank to fester for years? Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said a central bank report will answer those questions by May 1.

“The bank failed because its management failed to appropriately address clear interest rate risk and liquidity risk,” Barr said, blaming executives at SVB and describing the situation as a “textbook case of bank mismanagement.”

Tester asks key question. During the hearing, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who is running for re-election in a conservative state, was among those who asked federal banking regulators how risk-taking and poor management inside Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) were apparent to California banking supervisors in 2021, but not corrected before the bank collapsed this month. “It looks like regulators knew the problem, but no one dropped the hammer,” Tester said. They were quite vulnerable to risk, to shocks and they didn’t take the actions necessary to meet that,” he added.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) also faced criticism for not moving quicker to clear the sale of the bank, forcing the government to step in and guarantee all deposits at the bank. But FDIC officials countered one of two offers was not valid and the other would have resulted in greater costs than liquidating the bank.

Barr and other federal witnesses will today reprise their testimony before the GOP-led House Financial Services Committee.

— External pressure will not stop Taiwan engaging with the world, President Tsai Ing-wen said as she left for the United States, hitting a defiant note after China threatened retaliation if she met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Link to more via Reuters.

— China to sell wheat, rice from state stockpiles. China will auction another 140,000 MT of state-owned wheat reserves on April 6. China will also auction 900,000 MT of state-owned rice reserves on April 4.

— China’s green loans near 10% of loan balance. China’s outstanding green loans currently exceed 22 trillion yuan ($3.2 trillion), accounting for about 10% of the country’s total loan balance, People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said. Separately, China’s green bonds have hit more than 2.5 trillion yuan, Yi said. To support carbon emission reduction, the central bank has lent more than 300 billion yuan via a relending tool which has helped banks to make 600 billion yuan in loans to green projects. The central bank said in January it would keep the relending tool in place until the end of 2024. Meanwhile, China is creating a policy environment to promote green and low-carbon development, Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission said. Beijing has set so-called “dual carbon” goals, which aim to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

— U.S. prosecutors have charged former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for conspiring to violate the anti-bribery section of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly bribing one or more Chinese government officials with about $40 million to unfreeze cryptocurrency assets held in the country by his Alameda Research hedge fund, per a newly unsealed indictment.

— Democrats blast administration agreement with Japan on battery minerals. The Biden administration’s accord with Japan on key minerals relative to battery production could end up getting Japanese-made vehicles eligible for some of the U.S. tax credits under provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, administration officials continue to note that eligibility will depend on the still-awaited rules from the Treasury Department.

Two Democrats Tuesday labeled the U.S./Japan deal as “unacceptable.” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) issued a joint statement criticizing the action. “Without enforceable environmental or labor protections, the administration abandons worker-centric trade policy and jeopardizes our climate work by opening the door for another environmental catastrophe,” the lawmakers said. “It’s clear this agreement is one of convenience.”

The two Democrats cited concerns they raised with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during her appearances before both panels that the administration “does not have the authority to unilaterally enter into free trade agreements. Human rights, environmental rights, and economic opportunity are all closely interwoven, and had the Administration wanted to include meaningful labor or environmental protections in this agreement, they would’ve engaged Congress.”

A similar agreement is being negotiated with the European Union on battery materials, but it is not going to be ready before the Treasury guidance that is due this week.

Upshot: Since the United States does not have an FTA with Japan, the Biden administration is using the deal as a loophole to reassure Japan that the IRA will not hurt it economically. More broadly, the deal also aims to secure supply chains in critical minerals for Japan and the United States, curbing Chinese dominance in this area. However, U.S. congressional opposition will likely look to undermine the deal by pointing out that it is a loophole for the IRA.

— California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed first-of-its-kind legislation aimed at penalizing companies for alleged price gouging at the pump. When the measure takes effect in about three months, a state agency will be tasked with establishing a maximum gross gasoline refining margin and setting penalties for any refineries in the state that surpass that margin.

— Probiotic supplements could do more harm than good. Those capsules, gummies, powders and pills that contain live microorganisms are believed to boost gut health. But results are mixed: If you’re healthy, they can disrupt your gut’s balance of bacteria, studies have found, although they may help people who have gastrointestinal problems. Link for more via the WaPo.

— Drugs that combat obesity could for the first time be included on the World Health Organization’s “essential medicines list,” used to guide government purchasing decisions in low- and middle-income countries, the U.N. agency told Reuters. A panel of advisers to the WHO will review new requests for drugs to be included next month, with an updated essential medicines list due in September.

— FDA approves first over-the-counter opioid overdose antidote Narcan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday approved for the first time an over-the-counter version of the opioid antidote Narcan. “The FDA remains committed to addressing the evolving complexities of the overdose crisis. As part of this work, the agency has used its regulatory authority to facilitate greater access to naloxone by encouraging the development of and approving an over-the-counter naloxone product to address the dire public health need,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a statement. “Today’s approval of OTC naloxone nasal spray will help improve access to naloxone, increase the number of locations where it’s available and help reduce opioid overdose deaths throughout the country. We encourage the manufacturer to make accessibility to the product a priority by making it available as soon as possible and at an affordable price.”

— EPA’s Regan to testify before House Ag Committee but date unclear. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has agreed to appear before the House Ag Committee, panel chairman G.T. Thompson announced. Thompson told reporters later that there is no date set yet for Regan’s hearing. Panel members will have several topics they will seek comments on from Regan, including the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule EPA unveiled in December ahead of a Supreme Court ruling expected later this year, biofuel policy and pesticide regulation, among other topics.

Regarding WOTUS, Regan told a House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday that EPA’s rule might have to be modified based on the upcoming Supreme Court decision. “I think we are ahead of the curve in terms of having the framework for moving forward,” Regan said. “The Sackett case may or may not have some impact on that. Whatever that ruling is, we will build it in and continue to move in addition to those exemptions that we built in.”

Regan conceded that “trying to regulate streams and rivers and ponds and ditches in North Carolina and Nevada is almost impossible.” But he added that the EPA’s rule was guided by the statutory requirements imposed on it by the Clean Water Act, and that the agency made several exemptions to help the agricultural sector.

Timing of EPA WOTUS rule again questioned. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee with EPA oversight, questioned why the EPA moved ahead with a new definition of WOTUS before the Supreme Court could weigh in with an opinion on the matter in Sackett v. EPA, a case over the definition of waterways. The Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion before the end of this term. “It’s almost like you’re trying to sway the Supreme Court, or say, ‘To hell with you, this is what we’re going to do,’” Simpson said.

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