As harvest season progresses, the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and other agricultural representatives are awaiting the results of a federal mediation process regarding the Lower Snake River dams in the greater Pacific Northwest, which play a critical role in the U.S. supply chain.
Breaching the Lower Snake River dams has been proposed by some entities as a solution to salmon population decline. The four dams – Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor – are the subject of a decades-long dispute over salmon and other fish species in the Columbia-Snake River basin.
Negotiations managed by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) began after a district court judge stayed a federal lawsuit over the dams in 2021. The mediation process, originally slated to end Aug. 31, was extended to Oct. 31, 2023.
Throughout this process, NGFA emphasized that breaching the Lower Snake River dams would create severe economic harm to the entire U.S. agricultural value chain.
Barge transportation moves about half of all grain exports to export elevators and is critical to NGFA members in the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia-Snake River System is the third largest grain export corridor in the world, transporting nearly 30% of U.S. grain and oilseed exports. Eleven states export wheat through this river system, which accounts for more than 60% of all wheat exports. In August 2022, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) released a report stating that “Salmon runs in the lower Snake River are uniquely impacted by the dam structures relative to other watersheds.” Their report also said the navigation benefits provided by the four dams would have to be replaced before the dams could be breached. The report suggested more transportation analysis should focus “primarily on potential highway and road impact that would result from the elimination of barging on the lower Snake River.”
Barges are Irreplaceable
NGFA responded to the Inslee-Murray report with a public statement saying any efforts that pave the way to breaching the dams are unfeasible. The benefits of barge transportation to the agricultural value chain and the overall U.S. supply chain cannot be replaced by rail or truck transportation.
“That infrastructure capacity simply does not exist, and it is highly unlikely that it could be created in an economically viable amount of time,” NGFA stated.
“Importantly, barges are the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation for grains and oilseeds, with one four-barge tow moving as much grain as 144 rail cars or 538 semi-trucks. This fact cannot be ignored in the debate about the environmental impacts of breaching the dams.”
FMCS invited public participants in the mediation process to speak at multiple listening sessions in 2023. Proponents of dam breaching dominated the sessions to assert that breaching the dams is necessary to restore dwindling salmon populations in the region. NGFA secured a chance to share its public statement in an overflow session held April 3 to document the industry’s strong opposition to any actions by federal or state governments that could result in breaching the dams.
“Removing the Lower Snake River dams will hurt producers and negatively impact the operations and livelihoods of NGFA members who have made investment decisions based on the ability to utilize barge transportation,” NGFA noted.
Meanwhile, a report published Aug. 13 and commissioned by the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association said dam breaching would risk bankrupting more than 7,600 farms that generate $2 billion in annual sales in the tri-state region. The report concluded that dam breaching would increase transportation and environmental costs in the United States by at least $7.3 billion over 30 years.
FMCS held its final public listening session in May. Since then, advocates for the preservation of the dams have had an opportunity to share the value of the dams to the economic fabric of the Pacific Northwest during a June 26 field hearing hosted by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
NGFA will continue to partner with lawmakers and other stakeholders that rely on barge transportation as the mediation concludes and the next steps in the process are clarified.
Prioritizing Marginal Land: Why We Need CRP Reform
As one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the United States, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has provided a variety of stewardship and natural preservation benefits on agricultural lands. However, its implementation has been overly broad, allowing large tracts of prime, productive farmland to idle even during times of high demand for U.S. agricultural commodities.
For years, NGFA has insisted that the CRP should target the most environmentally sensitive portions of farms and avoid enrollment of whole farms or large tracts of productive farmland. Many of rural America’s local economies are driven by agricultural production and enrolling whole farms in CRP often weakens those communities.
NGFA also recognizes the imperative need to balance agricultural production with conservation practices that enrich soil and water quality. Federal programs are critical in ensuring that conservation remains an economically viable companion to farming. We have long supported working lands programs that incentivize stewardship and proven conservation practices on working farms. The CRP – traditionally a cropland retirement program – must adapt its approach to remain effective.
As lawmakers negotiate the next farm bill in a fraught political environment, one possible solution for a more efficient CRP comes from a bipartisan pairing of Senate Agriculture Committee members.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently introduced the CRP Reform Act of 2023, which would reform the CRP to focus enrollments on marginal farmland and grasslands rather than prime farmland. The senators say the bill will meet the twin goals of generating more durable wildlife and environmental benefits while reducing competition for productive farmland between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and farmers, especially beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers.
This bill would codify into law several reforms to the CRP that have been advocated for by the agricultural supply chain, including:
• Maintaining CRP’s overall acreage cap at 24 million acres for fiscal years 2024-2028.
• Reducing the rental rate for general sign-ups to 75% of each county’s average cash rental rate.
Providing incentives for enrolling marginal land into CRP continuous categories.
To make a lasting difference, the CRP Reform Act emphasizes longer-term agreements and the preservation of grasslands. By extending maximum contract lengths to 30 years, the act allows for more comprehensive planning and implementation of conservation practices. This ensures that important habitat for wildlife is preserved and provides greater certainty for farmers, enabling them to make long-term investments in sustainable farming practices.
The CRP Reform Act of 2023 represents a practical and forward-thinking approach to conservation and sustainable agriculture. By focusing on marginal farmland, supporting new farmers, and prioritizing longer-term agreements and grasslands preservation, this act ensures the CRP remains relevant and impactful in the face of evolving environmental challenges.
Clarifying Rules for Reliable Rail Service
Agricultural shippers are urging senators to support the Reliable Rail Service Act (S.2071), a bill that would better define Class I rail carriers’ common carrier obligation.
Clarification of the common carrier obligation has been needed for decades, and this bipartisan bill provides the Surface Transportation Board (STB) with clear oversight rules to help address the nation’s freight railroad supply chain challenges and improve rail service for agricultural shippers.
Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) announced the bill’s introduction on June 28. NGFA has supported the bill since Sen. Baldwin first introduced the Reliable Rail Service Act in the 117th Congress.
During the annual NGFA fly-in in June, members met with hundreds of lawmakers to discuss several priority issues, including the industry’s support of this legislation.
The Staggers Act of 1980 required rail carriers to serve the wider shipping public “on reasonable request,” a principle known as the common carrier obligation. However, more than 40 years later, the common carrier obligation remains poorly defined with no established criteria.
The Reliable Rail Service Act statutorily clarifies the common carrier obligation and establishes specific criteria for the STB to consider when determining whether a railroad is meeting this obligation to provide rail service. If the STB determined a carrier was not meeting its common carrier obligation, the bill would empower the STB to prescribe service standards consistent with the needs of the shipper making the request.
Creating a Pathway for Novel Feed Additives
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has advanced a bill that would establish a new pathway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for novel feed additives to increase livestock efficiency and production.
During a June 15 hearing, the committee advanced the Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (FEED) Act of 2023 (S.1842), sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) in its reauthorization of the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA).
The Innovative FEED Act would modernize the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to enable innovative products to reach the market and advance improvements in food safety. “We strongly endorse this bill that would promote the availability of animal food products with novel benefits, such as improving the environment and reducing human foodborne illness,” said David Fairfield, NGFA senior vice president of feed.
NGFA participated in a virtual listening session on the issue held by FDA in 2022. NGFA’s comments made during the session and subsequently submitted to the docket urged the FDA to modernize its policies to allow animal food manufacturers to make truthful, non-misleading production, environmental, and well-being claims for animal foods that have been substantiated to provide such benefits more efficiently. Historically, FDA has required animal foods with such claims to gain approval as animal drugs.
In contrast, the Innovative FEED Act would allow products with these claims to gain approval as feed additives, a more efficient and predictable process.
In addition to establishing a new pathway for manufacturers to receive approval for feed additives, the Innovative FEED Act also establishes guardrails to ensure only qualifying products are eligible for this pathway while also ensuring products are safe to use.
NGFA will be looking for opportunities to gain support for this bill throughout Congress.
Editor’s note: To support any of the NGFA policy positions outlined in this article, go to ngfa.org/advocacy.
Mike Seyfert is president and CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association, Arlington, VA (202-289-0873).