SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE HEARING
Overview
For questions on the note below, please contact the Delta Strategy Group team.
On February 26, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a hearing with two panels entitled “Perspectives from the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy, Part 2.”
Panel I witnesses in the hearing were:
- Bret Erickson, Chairman of U.S. Government Relations Council, International Fresh Produce Association
- Jeremy Hinton, Chairman of Kentucky Horticulture Council, President of LaRue County Farm Bureau, Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation
- Dr. Tim Boring, Director, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Anna Rhinewalt, Council Member, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation/Mississippi Sweet Potato Council
- Ben Etcheverry, President, New Mexico Chile Association
Panel II witness in the hearing were:
- Ben Lehfeldt, President, American Sheep Industry Association
- Buck Wehrbein, President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
- Harold Howrigan, Board Member, National Milk Producers Federation
- Lori Stevermer, President, National Pork Producers Council
- John Zimmerman, Chairman, National Turkey Federation
- Tony Wesner, Board Member, United Egg Producers
Below is a summary of the hearing prepared by Delta Strategy Group. It includes several high-level takeaways, followed by summaries of opening statements as well as witness testimonies and a summary of the Q&A portion of the hearing.
Key Takeaways
The following is a summary of the main topics explored in the hearing, with further details in the Discussion section below.
- The hearing raised the importance of updating reference prices in the new Farm Bill, noting that high input costs, depressed prices, and regulatory burdens continue to place significant strain on farmers and make it increasingly difficult to remain competitive in international markets. Senators Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Hoeven (R-ND) emphasized the importance of affordable crop insurance, alongside enhancements to emergency assistance in the next Farm Bill.
- Senator Moran (R-KS) raised realistic opportunities for bilateral trade agreements, highlighting the need to ensure that the agreements in place are being enforced rather than looking for new markets. Wehrbein emphasized that making trade agreements is just as important as enforcing them, with Howrigan saying that the U.S. approach to USMCA discussions needs to be revised to account for current violations but noted that no harm should be done to Mexico as a trading partner.
- Senator Bennet (D-CO) discussed the need for permanent as opposed to seasonal H-2A immigration in order to address burdens and barriers imposed on producer operations. There was agreement that, without meaningful reform on H-2A programs farms will continue to struggle to find labor and sustain production. Senator Tuberville (R-AL) questioned the potential effects of H-2A program elimination, with Rhinehalt noting that a domestic workforce is never going to be the remedy, and that agriculture depends on a reliable workforce.
- The discussion raised how the current Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) inflates labor costs beyond market realities with untenable costs and makes competition difficult with foreign producers.
Opening Statements and Testimony
Chairman John Boozman (R-AR)
Specialty crop growers and stakeholders face ongoing challenges, including high labor costs, competition with cheap imports, pests and disease, and limited access to risk management tools. Livestock, poultry, and dairy producers are facing high interest rates, rising production costs, and regulatory burdens, with animal disease threats adding uncertainty. It is critical in the next Farm Bill to strengthen risk management tools for specialty crop and livestock producers, continue investing in research and marketing programs, and enhance animal health programs to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks. We must address regulatory overreach that burdens all producers, working pass a new Farm Bill that meets the needs of farmers and producers.
Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Ensuring that farmers and consumers have the certainty they need in a difficult economy means passing a bipartisan Farm Bill that is reflective of current needs. Farmers face workforce shortages, emerging diseases, and import pressures that threaten their economic viability. We need to make it easier, not harder, for our producers to reach new markets. We must follow science to build on the existing national testing strategies, support farmers engaging with experts to develop new prevention and response methods and create thoughtful strategies. This needs to be supported by field trials, a clear outreach and deployment plan, and proactive engagement with our trading partners to mitigate market disruptions. Nonpartisan experts in the federal government, including veterinarians, animal disease researchers, and frontline animal disease responders are critical to that. We must ensure that the USDA has the resources to respond to outbreaks, while investing in critical research and response programs.
The recent proposal of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, even if delayed thirty days, has already caused chaos in the marketplace, with agriculture bearing the brunt of retaliatory tariffs. Farmers need certainty with a bipartisan Farm Bill that delivers a fair playing field, transparent practices, and continued investment in programs.
Bret Erickson, Chairman of U.S. Government Relations Council, International Fresh Produce Association
Rising labor costs remain the biggest threat to the future of U.S. fresh produce growers. The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) inflates labor costs beyond market realities, making competition difficult with foreign producers. USDA needs to revise the Farm Labor Survey to reflect base wages only and appoint an Ag Liaison to the Department of Labor. Mexico is failing to meet its obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty, withholding six years’ worth of water and using it to grow competing crops. We need to make investments in research and development for increased yield, sustainability, mechanization, automation, and expanded crop insurance. Market development support is needed to stabilize pricing and competitiveness, and federal procurement reform should increase specialty crop purchases. Growers are rapidly losing access to essential pest management tools, creating instability for growers and opportunity for foreign producers. Congress needs to restrain regulatory overreach and bureaucratic red tape. Fair trade is critical for fresh produce growers, with USDA ERS data showing a decline in the U.S. fresh produce trade balance that accelerated through 2022.
Over the last three decades, U.S. production has declined, while imports have surged, and the reason is clear: misguided U.S. policies and excessive regulation have created a tilted market, pushing production out of the U.S. and into the arms of cheaper, less regulated foreign producers. Once production is lost, it is not likely to return, as the barriers to entry are too high and the cost of land, equipment, and labor make it nearly impossible for new farmers to enter the business.
Jeremy Hinton, Chairman of Kentucky Horticulture Council, President of LaRue County Farm Bureau, Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation
We must plan with the present and future in mind as we develop the next Farm Bill, with farm and crop insurance requiring a similar approach. While traditional row crops are widely covered, specialty crop growers face greater challenges due to limited policy availability and sporadic geographic distribution. Many must secure coverage through RMA-approved written agreements, but Whole Farm and Micro Farm policies remain complex and underutilized. Efforts by RMA and the Kentucky Horticulture Council aim to increase awareness, but many growers struggle to understand their options. Solutions include improving Whole Farm, developing rainfall and temperature index products, and expanding revenue products based on farm records rather than tax returns. Engagement with RMA, the crop insurance industry, and specialty crop growers is key to finding effective solutions. Labor remains a pressing issue, requiring growers to balance current demands while planning for the future. Growers rely on land-grant university extension services for disease, pest control, and fertility recommendations, making continued support for research and direct technical assistance essential. A true focus on the future must address farmland loss. The new Farm Bill offers an opportunity to increase purchases of locally grown foods, expand markets, and improve community health.
Dr. Tim Boring, Director, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
The next Farm Bill is at a crossroads in helping to foster agriculture’s strength now and in the future with constructive solutions and policy decisions that recognize food security as national security. Specialty crop farmers are the backbones of regional economies, but growers face increasing uncertainty due to trade pressures, rising input costs, climate variability, labor shortages, and pest and disease threat, which makes specialty crops harder to grow, market, and reach consumers. Public sector research is critical, particularly through Specialty Crop Block Grants and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which help farmers stay ahead of pests and diseases. Continued farm bill research support is essential to protecting family farms and specialty crop viability. On marketing assistance, the Specialty Crop Program helps expand domestic markets, which is crucial amid trade uncertainties. Strengthening domestic markets will be essential for growers’ success. Michigan launched two flagship programs under Governor Whitmer that deserve federal recognition and investment. The Regenerative Agriculture Unit, the first of its kind in a state department, supports land management practices that improve soil health, restore profitability, and protect resources. While commodity row crop operators have led regenerative efforts, these practices are equally vital for specialty crop growers. The Farm to Family Program strengthens agricultural food systems by expanding market demand and food access, investing in food hubs and farm stops to improve distribution and value-added opportunities for specialty crops. Supporting specialty crops keeps farmers farming, sustains rural communities, and ensures a resilient food system. The next Farm Bill must prioritize these investments to build a strong, sustainable future for specialty crop growers nationwide.
Anna Rhinewalt, Council Member, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation/Mississippi Sweet Potato Council
Farmers who once self-financed their operations are now paying eight to ten percent interest on multimillion-dollar operating loans just to stay afloat, stripping hundreds of thousands of dollars from their bottom lines each year. New equipment costs are thirty to forty percent higher, and parts and repairs have doubled or tripled, with supply costs rising by at least fifty percent and wage rates increasing thirty percent. Unprecedented weather events have diminished or destroyed crops, and market prices for soybeans have remained stagnant or declined. The AEWR was designed to protect domestic farmworkers from foreign wage depression, but the domestic workforce has almost entirely moved away from on-farm jobs. In 2023, only 10,000 domestic H-2A applications were received and 97 percent went unanswered. Since 2019, the AEWR has risen 31 percent, imposing an additional $12 million burden annually. Rates continue to rise to protect a workforce that no longer exists. Seasonal restrictions strain operations, with the increasing need for year-round solutions due to long-term domestic crews dwindling and no workers to fill the gap. We need a straightforward, common-sense program that protects workers, without excessive regulations, to address the crisis unfolding and assess the ramifications of losing domestic food production. Food grown and raised in the U.S. is safer, higher quality, and most importantly, a matter of national security.
Ben Etcheverry, President, New Mexico Chile Association
H-2A is broken and needs reform; it is expensive, burdened with excessive costs and paperwork, and often tortuous. We need a fair and functional immigration system because there is a middle ground in the need for agricultural labor reform. Domestic production has declined due to foreign products being repackaged and imported at ten to fifteen percent below domestic farm prices, undercutting U.S. growers. Federal funding for innovation and automation is essential, but we must also address three key areas in the Farm Bill: 1) Specialty Crop Block Grants are invaluable in helping growers access marketing materials and educate consumer, with a certified program protects domestic products from being misidentified as imports, often securing higher premiums for growers; 2) water availability is increasingly unreliable, especially in desert farming regions, with programs like EQIP bolstered to provide federal matching funds for more efficient irrigation systems; and 3) specialty crops face greater risks with weaker support systems on outdated crop insurance programs created in the 1980s. We need to update these policies to ensure farm survival by providing better risk management tools. We have built a food policy program that has helped the U.S. withstand wars, economic downturns, and food crises, setting the global standard for modern agriculture. Congress needs to set aside partisan differences and ensure that farmers have the support to continue feeding the nation and world.
Panel I Discussion
Chairman Boozman (R-AR): What should be considered in evaluating concerns on the growing trade deficit across all of agriculture? Erickson: Labor costs are a major challenge; the gap between U.S. and Mexico wages is insurmountable. We need common-sense solutions to help control labor costs. Lack of water access is a threat, causing production relocation. For those who use H-2A labor, adjusting worker locations mid-season is nearly impossible and financially unfeasible. We need a Farm Bill, with investment in mechanization and automation to help reduce labor dependency. We need to halt regulatory overreach, such as the EPA’s abrupt ban on a critical herbicide, in use for fifty years, without input, alternatives, or transition time. Foreign competitors do not face such restrictions, putting U.S. farmers at a further disadvantage.
Chairman Boozman (R-AR): What are some ways that we can strengthen crop insurance options? Hinton: Geographic distribution of crops and the lack of concentration are a challenge, with one option being to insure crops with written agreements, but there is a high standard of proof regarding how those crops are sold.
Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS): What are the key challenges operations face, such as high input costs, depressed prices, regulatory red tape, and other hardships? What challenges do you face with the H-2A program, and would can be done to address them? Rhinewalt: The potential for higher margins is diminished due to high equipment costs and historically low crop prices. Critically outdated reference prices prevent the farm safety net from being triggered quickly enough to provide the relief needed. The AEWR is higher than five years ago and does not account for the additional costs. We need a path to year-round labor to prevent production gaps, with farms struggling to fill roles. Operations shutting down due to lack of labor leaves producers vulnerable as customers move on to other suppliers. The inability to bridge this labor gap threatens the long-term viability of farms dependent on consistent production and customer relationships.
Senator Tuberville (R-AL): Could we do without a H-2A program, and how are domestic workers being affected? Rhinehalt: A domestic workforce is never going to be the remedy for agricultural production. We would pay American workers a reasonable wage and avoid the additional costs associated with the H-2A program, but they do not want these jobs. Agriculture depends on a reliable workforce, and without meaningful reform, farms will continue to struggle to find labor and sustain production.
Senator Smith (D-MN): Can you discuss the impact of firing USDA employees on local FSA offices? Boring: Crop insurance agents serve as key partners to farmers, just as conservation efforts depend on technical expertise for land management practices. Strong partnerships are essential to supporting farmers, advancing sustainable practices, and building more resilient farming systems.
Senator Welch (D-VT): What can we do to provide growers with the support they need to sustain and strengthen their generational operations? Boring: We need more certainty. We need better management tools and conservation practices in crop insurance revision due to increasingly extreme weather. The federal funding freeze creates uncertainty. The biggest question about future risk mitigation tools is their reliability and ability to ensure market access when crops may be harvested later this fall.
Senator Luján (D-NM): What challenges do growers face with the risk management tools currently available, and what can we do to expand access to risk management programs? Etcheverry: Bureaucracy. We want insurance, but there is minimal insurance. We asked USDA to be able to get more insurance, and we were told to go collect the data ourselves before they would review it. A grower should not have to stop and do the job that USDA should do.
Panel II
Opening Statements and Testimony
Ben Lehfeldt, President, American Sheep Industry Association
A Farm Bill in 2025 is key given the impact of federal regulations, taxes, federal programs, and trade on producers. We ask that you direct USDA Secretary Rollins to provide recommendations for a viable sheep-specific risk management tool. The lack of demand has left warehouses overflowing, a fact that buyers use to their advantage in purchasing decisions. Soaring labor costs combined with mandates to provide food, board, clothing, and cover application and visa fees have become untenable. We support the FMD and MAP programs, the enhancement of conservation and technical assistance tools, and vital funding for orphan programs in the Farm Bill.
Buck Wehrbein, President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
The rising cost of inputs poses the greatest threat to producer profitability. We need to swiftly adopt policies to curb these inflationary pressures and deliver critical relief to producers. A significant portion of producers’ input costs result from compliance with arduous federal regulations, with the outsize impact of federal rules cutting into producers’ pockets. Common sense needs to be inserted into the rulemaking process, with producer profitability at the forefront. Rightsizing the federal government is the smartest way to begin addressing that issue. One of our most effective tools is checkoff programs because it works for producers and uses pooled resources of cattle producers across the country at zero cost to the taxpayer. It is the model public-private partnership, and Congress needs to reject measures aimed at dismantling it. NCBA supports Chairmen Thompson and Boozman’s work on bipartisan legislation for a swift adoption of a new Farm Bill.
Harold Howrigan, Board Member, National Milk Producers Federation
We need to prioritize the timely passage of a new five-year Farm Bill to provide certainty to our industry. We continue to face an acute shortage of workers, and Congress needs to enact long-overdue legislation that provides permanent certainty for current workers and opens the H-2A program to dairy. Failure to act risks damaging the vitality of our entire sector. Trade is essential, and we must seek new market access to ensure we do not continue to fall behind competitors through methods such as doubling funding for trade promotion programs. We need to resolve trade issues with Canada during the USMCA review.
Lori Stevermer, President, National Pork Producers Council
We are emerging from multiple years of losses. Production costs have declined, and prices have improved, but many farmers have not yet recovered financially compiled losses. Agriculture needs a five-year Farm Bill. We must address the problems caused by California’s Proposition 12 (Prop 12), opposed by both President Trump and President Biden. It has increased farmers’ operating costs, created business uncertainty, and raised pork prices at the grocery store. This law extends far beyond California, affecting farmers in other states and even other countries. The outcome of Proposition 12 defies common sense and creates a patchwork of differing state regulations. The Supreme Court determined this is a matter for Congress to resolve. We must protect our animals from foreign animal diseases by funding USDA programs for detection, prevention, and rapid response to outbreaks. We must promote our exports by funding the Foreign Market Development Program and Market Access Program. Farmers desperately need employees, and the H-2A visa program must be expanded to include year-round foreign-born workers. Farmers need assurances that we will not be subject to regulations restricting our ability to operate. Without access to global markets, producers experience deep, substantial losses and struggle to continue operating. Producers face tariffs and non-tariff barriers in many countries, including China and the EU, with opening new and expanding existing markets as paramount through comprehensive trade agreements that eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers.
John Zimmerman, Chairman, National Turkey Federation
We are dealing with the negative impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) as well as another serious respiratory virus, avian metapneumovirus (AMPV), which has affected between sixty and eighty percent of flocks nationwide. Together, these two respiratory viruses have increased volatility, supply shortages, and market uncertainty. Unlike HPAI, there is no indemnity and no assistance for AMPV. Congress should make AMPV an eligible disease under USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program, which would help mitigate economic losses and provide much-needed support to poultry producers. We need to evaluate USDA’s review process to ensure a faster, more efficient response to future animal disease outbreaks. The global poultry industry is in crisis and pursuing a successful vaccination program that does not negatively impact trade as part of a stamp-out strategy is key to reducing disease rates. If the U.S. fails to lead globally in implementing animal health solutions, it will face a significant disadvantage in world trade. Empowering USDA to proactively engage with trading partners and establish a new framework to reduce disease outbreaks’ impact on the global food supply is essential. We need the renewal and robust funding of animal disease programs and the establishment of an HPAI strategic initiative to provide the turkey industry with the tools necessary to combat current and future animal health threats. Current USDA measures primarily focus on the egg-laying industry, leaving the broader poultry sector without adequate support.
Tony Wesner, Board Member, United Egg Producers
Since 2015, we have lost twenty-five percent of our current production to avian influenza. This is a biosecurity nightmare, and our only response methods are strict biosecurity measures and depopulation. Egg farmers are not price makers, they are price takers just like corn and soybean farmers. The egg shortage is larger than we realize. Indemnity payments have been a critical stopgap measure to keep producers in business. Since 2022, $1.4 billion in indemnity payments have been made, and we need to continue to approach this with fairness and common sense. We must control this disease proactively, using offense, not defense, which has largely been the approach taken so far. This crisis will get worse if we do not take decisive action. Regarding trade implications for vaccinated products, there is no reason we cannot work with these countries to develop a solution that protects both trade and animal health. This is not just a U.S. problem; it is a global problem. Vaccination may not be the entire answer, but if we take that step, researchers and industry leaders will work hard and invest in improving disease control strategies.
Panel II Discussion
Chairman Boozman (R-AR): Why it is critical to utilize the Farm Bill to prevent these harmful proposals from moving forward, and what is the impact of regulatory overreach on producers? Stevermer: The concern that all producers share is the patchwork of regulations. If California can implement its own set of regulations, then other states can do the same, creating chaos in our industry while making business decisions difficult and harder to adapt to changes when the next regulation is unknown. The Supreme Court determined that this is a matter for Congress to resolve, and it must be included in the Farm Bill to provide certainty and allow producers to make sound business decisions without the fear of constantly shifting regulations; Wesner: We have different ways to market cattle to increase payments for a superior product. We do not need the federal government shouldering their way in and telling us how to market cattle. We need to eliminate that ability. Good producers producing good products need to be able to be paid on the merit of their product. Sometimes you have to get bureaucracy out of the way to get decisions made.
Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN): Have you seen impacts on futures markets regarding the threat of tariffs and potential retaliation from trading partners like Mexico, China, and Canada? Stevermer: Any type of retaliatory tariff would be concerning and disruptive to our markets as well as to production-related imports, ultimately affecting cost of production. USMCA countries are our top exporting markets, with any type of retaliatory disruption as very concerning.
Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS): Could you shed light on the challenges our domestic producers are facing due to the high volume of low-priced imports? Lehfeldt: Right out of the gate, we have a currency deficit we need to overcome that producers have no control over. We struggle with labor costs, as the mandated federal level increased to a level that is completely untenable for producers. We need a little pressure to make sure we can be competitive.
Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS): What burden does the death tax impose on producer operations?Wehrbein: When land changes hands due to death, producers must sell or take on great debt to pay the tax. In the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which Trump wants to authorize and potentially improve, level for the tax is better than before, but needs to be higher. That would be very important for producers, especially those with high volume and low margins.
Senator Hoeven (R-ND): With the distribution of $33 billion in emergency assistance, do you have any recommendations on how it can be done more effectively? Wehrbein: Talk with the people that need it and hear what they need rather than make the decisions appear through a central planning idea. There is a great need, and aid needs to be expedited.
Senator Hoeven (R-ND): Would you agree that updated reference prices, affordable crop insurance, and enhancements to ELAP and LFP for ranchers are vital tools to bridge the gap to the next farm bill? Wehrbein: Yes.
Senator Moran (R-KS): Which countries would offer the most beneficial opportunities for bilateral trade agreements, and which are realistically achievable? Rather than looking for that next new market, should we ensure that the agreements we have in place today are being enforced and that the advantages of trade are being realized? Wehrbein: It is not just having an agreement; it is also enforcing the agreement; Howrigan: On the USMCA, we need to look into Canada’s history of circumventing the agreed upon process, such as favoring of domestic trade through tariff rate quotas (TRQ). We are being left out, and our plan needs to be revised to account for that. Mexico is great trading partner, and we should do them no harm.
Senator Moran (R-KS): Are there ongoing efforts within the Administration to engage producers regarding new USMCA agreements? Howrigan: The USMCA with Canada will be reviewed because they violated parts of the agreement, and we expect to have input in those agreements.