Biden nominee Jennifer Moffitt clears first senate hurdle

Jul 27, 2021

Senate Agriculture Committee recommended her confirmation on a voice vote

California native and current undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Jennifer Moffitt, is one step closer to becoming U.S. agriculture undersecretary for marketing, as she has just received a recommendation from the Senate Agriculture Committee by a voice vote on Monday.

The high-ranking role takes on the responsibilities of national agricultural marketing and regulatory programs, including regulating genetically engineered crops. Moffit would also be responsible for grain inspections and check-off programs, as well as the protection of U.S. crops from pests and diseases and fair competition in the marketplace.

In a statement from Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) the senator said that Moffitt has broad support for confirmation. “As a farmer herself, she gets what is at stake in our agriculture system and will fight to expand and protect market opportunities as undersecretary,”. Stabenow also noted that one republican has placed a hold on her nomination.

Moffitt referred to President Biden’s executive order to promote competition, including tougher fair-play rules in livestock marketing during her July 15 confirmation hearing. “Transparency is important, price discovery is important, regional processing capacity is important,” she said. “All of these things together are very important to create a fair and robust agricultural marketplace.”

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas), who is the lead republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Moffit understood the day-to-day impact of USDA programs as well as its role in expanding the market for U.S. farm goods.

Moffit, along with agricultural law expert, Janie Hipp, are the first of four nominees announced by the White House to be approved for a floor vote for one of the eight undersecretary posts. The only high-rank USDA nominee to be confirmed by the Senate is former Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, now Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. Jewel Bronaugh.

The committee will hold confirmation hearings this Thursday for Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico, who has been nominated for undersecretary for rural development, and Robert Bonnie, current USDA climate adviser, who has been nominated for undersecretary for farm production and conservation.

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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