American Soybean Association--Stimulus Proposal, Ag Provisions

Feb 15, 2021

The House Agriculture Committee held a lengthy business meeting yesterday to officially organize and consider agricultural-related provisions of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.

The stimulus consideration process was distinctly different than the path of past COVID relief packages. The congressional process of budget reconciliation is being used as a parliamentary tool to fast-track the stimulus legislation with a simple majority vote in the House and Senate.

Chairman David Scott (D-GA) described the stimulus provisions as a way to address needs that were not included in the December year-end COVID package. That December package included more than $11 billion in ag relief, including supplemental Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments, which has not yet been implemented by USDA

The stimulus provisions approved by the committee on a party line vote include:

· $1 billion in assistance to and support for community-based organizations and 1890 Land Grant and other minority-serving institutions that work with Black farmers and other farmers of color on land access, financial training, heirs property issues, training the next generation and access to education

· Farm Loan Assistance for Black farmers and other farmers of color

· Extending 15% SNAP benefit increase through September 30, 2021

· $37 million to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program to fill a gap that has grown as food for this program has become scarcer during the pandemic

· $500 million in Community Facility Program funds to help rural hospitals and local communities broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines & food assistance

· $3.6 billion for the Secretary of Agriculture to continue to help the food and ag sector supply chains

· $100 million in overtime fee relief to small meat and poultry processors currently grappling with COVID-19-related backlogs

· $800 million for the Food for Peace program, including for purchases of U.S.-grown crops used in international humanitarian aid

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.