Politics NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Politics Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:54:29 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Jonathan Ahl Farmers are looking closely at what they might be able to expect from four more years of Donald Trump versus a Joe Biden administration, but they aren't finding a lot of solid answers. And any difference may not matter, anyway. To evaluate Donald Trump’s agriculture position, the best evidence is his actions and policies over the past 3 1/2 years. The highlight of that time has been creating a series of tariffs that has led to retaliation and a trade war with China and other countries, largely hurting foreign markets for farmers. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/plans-agriculture-differ-issue-unlikely-sway-presidential-election 924 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 07 Oct 2020 21:47:45 +0000 Plans For Agriculture Differ, But That Issue Is Unlikely To Sway The Presidential Election Grant Gerlock An event Monday planned to mark two Midwestern political appointees joining the U.S. Department of Agriculture was partly spoiled by a political dispute over biofuels. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-secretary-perdue-frustrated-stalled-appointments 396 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 30 Oct 2017 20:59:29 +0000 USDA Secretary Perdue Frustrated By Stalled Appointments Amy Mayer As President Donald Trump continues to fill political appointments, his nomination for the top science job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is raising unique concerns. Trump has chosen Iowan Sam Clovis to be undersecretary of agriculture for research, education and economics. Clovis served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force, has a doctorate in public administration, and taught economics at Morningside College in Sioux City. Sioux City is also where he gained a following as a conservative talk show host. Kathie Obradovich, a political columnist at the Des Moines Register, says the radio show gave Clovis name recognition that helped launch his campaign for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2014. During the race, his personality grabbed wider attention. “Sam Clovis was very articulate on the stump,” Obradovich says. “He did a really good job of boiling down complex issues so that people could understand them. And, frankly, he was funny.” He lost, coming in a distant https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/alarm-raised-over-presidents-choice-usda-top-science-job-hes-no-scientist 353 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 14 Aug 2017 21:04:57 +0000 Alarm Raised Over President's Choice For USDA Top Science Job: He's No Scientist Kristofor Husted President Trump made campaign promises to pull the U.S. out of big international trade deals and focus instead on one-on-one agreements with other countries. But that has farmers worried they will lose some of the $135 billion in goods they sold overseas last year. Two years ago, Missouri rancher Mike John expected the U.S. beef industry to grow by providing steaks and hamburgers from the Midwest to hungry eaters in Japan. He was planning on the Trans Pacific Partnership , or TPP, a massive trade deal among 12 countries, including the U.S. and Japan. It took eight years of negotiations to get each nation involved to agree to lower tariffs. Some economists expected the pact to add $3 billion dollars to the U.S. agriculture industry. Trump, however, called the TPP a disaster and pulled the U.S. out . “We were very disappointed,” John says. “The TPP was going to be a victory for us. It was going to open some markets and lower some tariffs and those are the things that give you access.” https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/midwest-farmers-looking-new-markets-worry-theyre-losing-out-trade 313 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 16 May 2017 21:43:46 +0000 Midwest Farmers Looking For New Markets Worry They're Losing Out On Trade Luke Runyon Farmers and ranchers, with their livelihoods intimately tied to weather and the environment, may not be able to depend on research conducted by the government to help them adapt to climate change if the Trump Administration follows through on campaign promises to shift federal resources away from studying the climate. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/climate-changes-will-farmers-depend-government-research-help 310 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 10 May 2017 15:27:30 +0000 As The Climate Changes, Will Farmers Depend On Government Research For Help? https://youtu.be/gDJED_NecsY Three months into his term, President Donald Trump now has in place his Secretary of Agriculture , Sonny Perdue. Here’s what you need to know: Perdue served two terms as governor of Georgia Prior to serving as governor of Georgia from 2003-2011 as a Republican, Perdue was elected to represent his Middle Georgia district in the state Senate as a Democrat. He switched to the GOP in 1998. While in office, Perdue was dogged by ethics complaints The complaints generally stem from Perdue’s involvement with family business ventures during his time as governor, as the New York Times reported . Perdue grew up on a farm and has worked in agribusiness Perdue earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine and has had a long career operating family agribusiness and transportation companies. His cousin, Georgia Sen. David Perdue, is a member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and supported Trump on the campaign trail. This is not, however, the same family as runs Perdue https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/watch-who-new-agriculture-secretary-sonny-perdue 299 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 24 Apr 2017 22:06:48 +0000 Watch: Who Is New Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue? Amy Mayer The nation has a new agriculture secretary. The U.S. Senate on Monday voted to confirm former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture. He takes over a department that was without a top boss for three months after former secretary Tom Vilsack resigned. Vilsack served the entire eight years of the Obama administration ( one of the longest-serving agriculture secretaries in recent decades). https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/months-after-nomination-sonny-perdue-confirmed-ag-secretary 298 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 24 Apr 2017 21:55:22 +0000 Months After Nomination, Sonny Perdue Confirmed As Ag Secretary Amy Mayer Three months after his nomination, Sonny Perdue faces a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate Monday for the post of secretary of agriculture. If confirmed, Perdue will find a desk at USDA piled high with priorities and will be one of the last members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to be seated. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/eager-plant-corn-belt-farmers-also-waiting-confirmation-new-ag-secretary 296 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Sun, 23 Apr 2017 09:27:00 +0000 Eager To Plant, Corn Belt Farmers Also Waiting On Confirmation of New Ag Secretary Grant Gerlock A new tractor often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, but not included in that price: the right to repair it. That has put farmers on the front lines of a battle pitting consumers against the makers of all kinds of consumer goods, from tractors to refrigerators to smart phones. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-front-lines-consumer-gadget-fight-lobby-right-repair-tractors 290 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 04 Apr 2017 12:52:00 +0000 Farmers, On Front Lines Of Consumer Gadget Fight, Lobby For Right To Repair Tractors Jack Williams The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, has been very good to many Midwest agriculture producers. That’s why many farmers and ranchers are nervous about President Donald Trump’s promise to either completely dismantle, or at least renegotiate, the free-trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/watch-many-midwest-farmers-wary-changes-nafta 289 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 03 Apr 2017 16:56:42 +0000 Watch: Many Midwest Farmers Wary Of Changes To NAFTA Jeremy Bernfeld Sonny Perdue, the former Georgia governor nominated by President Donald Trump, is one step closer to becoming U.S. Secretary of Agriculture after the Senate Agriculture Committee approved his nomination Thursday. Yet Perdue remains one step shy of the post; the full Senate has not yet scheduled a vote on his nomination. Perdue, however, is widely expected to be approved. After a congenial committee hearing last week , the Agriculture Committee signed off on Perdue’s nomination with an easy bipartisan voice vote. Republicans have generally joined many of the country’s largest agricultural interest groups in backing Perdue, with his background in agribusiness. Many farm-state Democrats have also praised Perdue, though Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) voted against his candidacy in committee, according to reporter Philip Brasher . A coalition of environmental groups that includes Food & Water Watch and the Center for Biological Diversity, in an email after the approval, called Perdue’s https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/sonny-perdue-one-step-away-becoming-agriculture-secretary 287 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 30 Mar 2017 15:23:35 +0000 Sonny Perdue Is One Step Away From Becoming Agriculture Secretary Amy Mayer President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, testified in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture committee today, but remains far from the head job at USDA. The committee did not indicate when it would vote on whether to advance Perdue’s nomination. Perdue was the last cabinet secretary Trump nominated, back on Jan. 19. Some senators, including Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley , have said one reason it took so long to get from nomination to confirmation hearings is that Perdue had to unravel himself from many agribusiness dealings in order to comply with financial disclosure and ethics requirements. Reuters has reported that Perdue’s disclosure paperwork says he’ll put his agribusiness assets into a blind trust, something he declined to do as governor. And, as POLITICO has reported, ethics controversies during his governorship included tax breaks that benefited him and improper funding of his campaign. Those https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/trump-s-usda-pick-gets-capitol-hill-hearing-no-vote-yet 282 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 23 Mar 2017 19:49:17 +0000 Trump’s USDA Pick Gets A Capitol Hill Hearing But No Vote Yet Bram Sable-Smith Darvin Bentlage says his health insurance plan used to be the same as all the other cattle farmers in Barton County, Missouri: stay healthy until he turned 65, then get on Medicare. But when he turned 50, things did not go according to plan. “Well, I had a couple issues,” he says. He’s putting it mildly. Over two years time he had Hepatitis C and diverticulitis, and that’s on top of his diabetes, persistent kidney stones and other problems. “I had to go back and refinance the farm,” he says, “because by the time the two years was up I had run up between 70 and 100-thousand dollars hospital bills.” He racked up those bills in 2007. Bentlage says all those pre-existing conditions made buying health insurance became impossibly expensive, which was a problem, because he needed more health care. So when the Affordable Care Act exchanges opened up in 2013, he says, “I was probably one of the first ones to get online with it and walk through it.” Bentlage was so vocal about how well it worked https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/gop-health-care-bill-could-hit-some-farmers-hard 278 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 22 Mar 2017 23:18:50 +0000 GOP Health Care Bill Could Hit Some Farmers Hard Amy Mayer President Donald Trump has nominated former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as Agriculture Secretary, bucking a recent trend of Midwest leadership at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and making many in the farm country of the Midwest and Great Plans a little leery. Coupled with the appointments of leaders from Oklahoma and Texas to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy, respectively, there looks to be a shift in the power center of the parts of the federal government that most directly impact agriculture. Trump picked former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department. When the presidency changes from one party to the other, political appointments can lead to an ideological shake-up across departments. In this case, however, it is not the change from Republicans to Democrats that has some Midwest farmers worried. “Region trumps party,” says Iowa State University agriculture https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/corn-belt-farmers-left-questions-leadership-washington-shifts 283 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 06 Mar 2017 05:00:00 +0000 Corn Belt Farmers Left With Questions As Leadership In Washington Shifts Bryan Thompson At a stressful time for U.S. farmers, the government’s efforts at calming the agricultural waters took center stage Thursday, when the heads of the U.S. Senate’s Agriculture Committee left Washington for the Midwest to solicit opinions on priorities for the next Farm Bill. U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts, R-KS, and Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, heard from Midwest farmers at their first field hearing on the 2018 Farm Bill at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Kansas Association of Wheat Growers President Kenneth Wood cited the destruction of his farm near Chapman, Kansas, last year as an example of why the federal crop insurance program needs to be protected. “For most of us, crop insurance will not guarantee a good year, but it offers the promise of another year,” Wood said. The importance of crop insurance, as part of a safety net for farmers, was mentioned by several of the producers who testified. But a Farm Bill includes much more than just programs to help farmers cope with hard times. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/field-hearing-kansas-farmers-talk-farm-bill 48 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 24 Feb 2017 15:27:00 +0000 At Field Hearing, Kansas Farmers Talk Farm Bill Grant Gerlock The Trump Administration is voicing its support for the ethanol industry, but without specifics it is hard to say what that means exactly for Midwest farmers. In a letter (PDF) to industry leaders gathered at the National Ethanol Conference, President Donald Trump said renewable fuels “are essential to America’s energy strategy.” The president wrote that he aims to reduce the regulatory burden on the renewable fuels industry, but did not detail specific plans. Ethanol plants are the top destination for corn raised in the Midwest and Great Plains, so those words of support are welcome ones to farmers. But ethanol policy is carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency and the new head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, challenged the ethanol mandate when he was Oklahoma’s attorney general. Ethanol policy is also often at odds with other industries expecting support from the administration. For instance, ethanol producers want to expand the sale of E15, a gasoline mixture that contains 15 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/trump-voices-support-ethanol-no-specifics 209 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 22 Feb 2017 21:09:00 +0000 Trump Voices Support For Ethanol, But No Specifics Luke Runyon This story is part of the special series United And Divided , which explores the links and rifts between rural and urban America. The bell signals the start of second period. A trio of young women take seats in English class, their attention quickly drifting outside the walls of the high school in Fort Morgan, Colorado, eager to talk about what they’re working toward. “I want to become an FBI [agent],” says freshman Mariam Mohammed. “It’s my dream.” On her left, her sister, Mutaas Mohammed, with a clay-colored hijab wrapped around her face and dark purple lipstick, says she wants to study fashion design. The girls’ friend, Isra Mohamud, a senior this year, chimes in: she’s looking at a nursing program at the local community college. All three arrived at the high school fewer than four years ago, part of a decades-long migration of people originally from East Africa, Central America and Mexico to this small, conservative farming community on Colorado’s eastern plains. The young women https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/immigrant-communities-diversify-face-rural-colorado-city 54 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 20 Feb 2017 15:15:00 +0000 Immigrant Communities Diversify The Face Of A Rural Colorado City Luke Runyon After hundreds of arrests of undocumented immigrants by immigration police, the Trump administration’s increased focus on immigration enforcement has some of the country’s largest farm groups worried. Undocumented immigrants make up a significant portion of the country’s agricultural workforce. A 2016 Pew Research Center study showed undocumented workers are in about 26 percent of the nation’s farm jobs, the highest percentage among all occupations Pew included in the study. A crackdown on immigrant workers could put farms at-risk, and agricultural trade groups are taking precautions. “I think it’s fair to say that everyone in agriculture is nervous and on edge,” says Jackie Klippenstein , an executive with Dairy Farmers of America, a co-op that counts 14,000 dairy farms in 48 states among its members. In the last decade, the nation’s dairies have frequently been the subject of immigration audits, where workers have been charged with using false documents and owners find themselves https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/increased-immigration-enforcement-sets-agriculture-industry-edge-0 56 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 15 Feb 2017 15:13:00 +0000 Increased Immigration Enforcement Sets Agriculture Industry On Edge Luke Runyon After hundreds of arrests of undocumented immigrants by immigration police, the Trump administration’s increased focus on immigration enforcement has some of the country’s largest farm groups worried. Undocumented immigrants make up a significant portion of the country’s agricultural workforce. A 2016 Pew Research Center study showed undocumented workers are in about 26 percent of the nation’s farm jobs, the highest percentage among all occupations Pew included in the study. A crackdown on immigrant workers could put farms at-risk, and agricultural trade groups are taking precautions. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/increased-immigration-enforcement-sets-agriculture-industry-edge 43 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:02:00 +0000 Increased Immigration Enforcement Sets Agriculture Industry On Edge Luke Runyon A war is brewing over what you pour on your breakfast cereal. Dairy farmers say the makers of plant-based milks – like almond milk, soy milk and a long list of other varieties – are stealing away their customers and deceiving consumers. And they’d like the federal government to back them up. At its heart, the fight boils down to the definition and use of one simple word: milk. Dairy farmers say milk comes only from a mammal, which is backed up by longstanding Food and Drug Administration rules . But the FDA has not banned plant-based milk makers from using the term. And the plant-based milk companies argue that foods amount to much more than their legal definitions, and should be judged on how they are used by consumers. Over the last five years, sales of non-dairy drinks have been on a dramatic rise in grocery stores across the country, while sales of old-fashioned cow’s milk are dropping. At a Natural Grocers store in Lakewood, Colorado, for example, the faux-dairy products section https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/meaning-milk-war-over-words-erupts-dairy-aisle 60 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:18:00 +0000 The Meaning Of Milk: A War Over Words Erupts In The Dairy Aisle