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public service. along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. officials from the agricultural department testified on the farm bill which covers agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy for the next five years. the witnesses also talked about trade, export markets, and food security. the hearing before the senate agriculture committee is a little more than two hours. good morning. the hearing of the forestry commission to order. senator brown just indicated sitting in senator pat leahy seat. he was carrying more about organics and daring this morning. so, we welcome you to the. speaking of welcoming new members, we are so pleased to have senator welch, senator fetterman as new members of the committee. we appreciate you. we are so glad you are joining us. particularly at this bowman we have so much important work to do on the farm bill. thank you. also, we welcome our witnesses. undersecretary taylor, undersecretary moffitt, and miss childs. thank you for being here today on this really really important topic. i know that ranking member both men and i share the fact that we know we have a big job ahead and we are working closely together to be able to pass the next farm bill with strong bipartisan support. i'm really confident that this committee is up to the task to be able to do that. last year our committee examined usda research, world element, and energy programs. now we begin the new congress with a review of the farm bills horticulture and trade titles. these titles represent the breath of american agriculture, supporting our specialty crop in organic farmers strengthening our local food systems, building new markets abroad for all of our commodities and products. deliver critical food aid across the globe. i'm proud that michigan is one of the most diverse agricultural states in the nation. apples, blueberries, cherries, we produce over 300 different crops. the message i hear from these farmers is clear. foreign policy cannot be a one size fits all model. in the context of today's hearing when we speak specifically about specialty crops are fruit and vegetable farmers face rising labor costs. increasing in court pressure and emerging pests and diseases. i'm committed to passing inform bill that will improve their ability to manage risk and market their products. attention to their issues is vital to keep our american grown fruits and vegetables on our tables. since the passage of the 2018 farm bill, we have seen continued growth in the organic sector which exceeded 63 billion dollars in sales last year. we need to continue to support our organic farmers, including those transitioning into the program. it is important that we make the local agricultural market program permanent from the 2018 farmville. we have seen a surge in demand for locally sourced food during the pandemic, underscoring the need for more investments in our local and regional food systems. globally, we are facing unprecedented levels of food insecurity, compounded by high food prices, supply chain challenges, and, of course, putin's war against ukraine. our farmers play a vital role in providing u.s. grown commodities to feed those in need. farmville development programs help to build resiliency on the ground. the farm bill also creates opportunities for american farmers to connect with consumers around the world by providing marketing assistance and credit access. agriculture experts have grown from 66 billion dollars in 1996 to a record 191 billion dollars. in 2022. that is more than 1 million american jobs on and off the farm. our witnesses today will highlight how those model program support the diversity of american agriculture. the success of our agricultural economy requires continues investments in markets and opportunities for farmers. whether they are selling to neighbors or exporting products globally. whether they are growing traditional commodities, specialty crops, or organics, the farm bill will help farmers put food on tables here, and around the world. we all have a stake in continuing to make sure that that happens. that is what this farm bill is all about. i would like to now turn to my friend and ranking member, senator boozman. >> thank you madam chair. let me start by welcoming the 21 returning member to our committee. i'm grateful that you have chosen to continue serving on the committee. it is a important moment for u.s. agriculture. i believe that together we will need to craft the world's safest, most abundant, and most affordable food supply while predicting the air, water, land, and wildlife in rural communities and we will care about. additionally, i would like to welcome our two new members, senators welch and fetterman. i had the pleasure of working with senator welch while we were in the house. i look forward to continuing our work here. again, he is a good friends. i think he's gonna be a great member. senator fetterman, is the 11th member from pennsylvania to serve on this committee since its founding in 1825. i look forward to his contributions and to work together in the future. chairman stabenow recently surprised us all with her announcement that the 119th congress would be her last in the senate. leaving this committee and serving as the third highest leader of the democratic leadership, senator stabenow have climbed her way up the ladder to serve not only the people of michigan, but the many americans who have benefited from the policies and programs she has championed. i have no doubt that over the next two years the chairwoman will continue to pursue her goals asked determined as ever. i know that determination will be key to passing the next form bill, which brings today's hearing. madam chairwoman, thank you for convening today's hearing, which builds on our work from last year. kicks off our most important task of the 119 congress. drafting in passing a farm bill. as we create the next farm bill, it is important to understand the environment that we find ourselves in december the year over year consumer price index the annual inflation in 2022 is 80%, the highest in more than four decades it is not yielding anytime soon. in the farm sector this was seen in record high farm expenses fertilizer, fuel, record high taxes and fees cost of minors. others the relatively high commodity prices, backing those higher prices whether surgeon agricultural exports. during this last fiscal year, u.s. agriculture exports increased by 14% to a record of nearly 200 billion dollars. headwinds on trains are beginning to develop to have a proactive trade agenda to support iran and rule economies. the farm bill includes several programs intended to assist in trade promotion activities including the market active program in the foreign market and the development program. i look forward to reviewing the development program and ensuring that the investment match of these programs needs it only works if they live up to the agreement that they signed if they don't they must be held accountable one of the first official act was to travel to mexico and to appropriately confront the government and proposing to ban the u.s. biotech corn. a significant departure of science-based trade policy. many countries around the world advance anti farmer and anti production policies, the u.s. must actually promote and defend science based technology to help protect american farmers, and ranchers, continue to feed, fuel, and clothes the world tific global food security willy improve if we embrace scientific advancements that allow for more productive and sustainable agricultural production. today more than one in ten people around the world around 828 million people, will be going to bed hungry. beyond that, nearly 350 million food insecurity, more than double the number in 2019. this man-made conflict, the economic shocks, i supply chain costs and resulting food price increases we have seen the food being taken from the hungry to give to the starving during my travels in africa yesterday -- many to seek refuge in kenya and other countries. however, the unrelenting drought in these region leaves all countries leading to significant food shortage and u.s. commodities to provide vital support to fighting the hunger problem. the u.s. has consistently been a leader in delivering food assistance around the world, beginning with efforts following world war ii. our emergency and nonemergency programs continue today. many are authorized within the farm bill. americans should take great pride in the food for peace, food for progress, and government programs. these programs not only save and transform lives in some of the world's most desperate situations, they have also created tremendous goodwill towards the u.s. in recipient countries. today's hearing will help flush out today's most consequential aspects of u.s. agriculture and food security. i think our guesses were joining us today. i look forward to hearing from them. again, thank you very much for being here. madam chair. thank >> you very much. i will now introduce our three witnesses and ask each of you to give us five minutes of opening testimony before questions. alexis taylor is the undersecretary for a trade and foreign agricultural affairs, prior to this role she was the director of the department of agriculture. she also has experience with united states department of agriculture and in congress having worked as an adviser to representative leonard boswell of iowa and senator max bacchus of montana. it is good to have you back. our next witness is -- serves as the -- regulatory programs. before joining u.s. da, she held multiple leadership positions with than the california department of food and agriculture. she spent ten years as the managing director of her family's organic walnut farm in california. thank you again for being here. and finally, sara charles is the assistant to the administrator of u.s. and the bureau for humanitarian assistance. the u.s. government lead for international disaster response. prior to her current position, she held roles at the international rescue committee and the national security council at the white house. thank you so much for being here as well. we will turn to undersecretary taylor. >> good morning, senator stabenow, ranking members of the committee. i'm pleased to be heard colleagues from usda and usaid, chairwoman stabenow, i'd like to particularly thank you for your leadership and dedication, not just of this committee, but to the entire agricultural sector over the years. while you are not leaving us quite yet, you will be missed. i appreciate the opportunity to discuss the trade, market development, international food assistance, and capacity building programs, authorized by the farm bill under the trade in foreign agricultural mission area. this mission area promotes u.s. agricultural exports, works to reduce barriers that impede trade, opens new markets for u.s. farm products and contributes to global food security. the tea faa missionary overseas foreign agricultural service and the u.s. kotex office. a fierce is usda's lead international agency, linking u.s. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security. faa supports food and agricultural sector with a network of economists, marketing experts, negotiators, and trade specialists, in d.c., and nearly 100 offices around the world, puckering over 180 countries. we are proud that our work, that our role and open and maintaining markets has resulted in a new record as has been highlighted here in agricultural exports of nearly 196 billion dollars last year, topping the previous year's record by 14%. and while those numbers are impressive, what is more impressive is the real world impact those experts have to our among rural communities. u.s. agriculture exports support more than 1 million jobs here at home, and contribute more than 154 billion in additional economic activity. over numerous farm bills, congress has authorized and refined and effective combination of agricultural market development programs and export credit guarantee programs. these programs are designed to develop markets to facilitate financing of overseas sales unresolved market access barriers. we partner with a diverse group of cooperators representing u.s. food and agricultural industries and manage a toolkit of trade promotion programs to help u.s. exporters develop and maintain markets. i recently prepared study for the u.s. grains counsel found that usda export market to development programs generated a high benefit cost ratio for u.s. agriculture, but also the overall economy. this study determined that u.s. agricultural export value increased by over $24 for every dollar invested in export market development. likewise, we are equally as proud of our international food assistance and capacity building programs, which provide assistance that has helped millions of people around the world. i've seen firsthand the impact of this work, to help developing countries improve their agricultural systems and build their trade capacity to receive our exports, or supply us with products the u.s. needs to meet consumer demand. before developing countries can become customers for u.s. agricultural products, they must first become politically, economically, and socially stable, our program support this work. usda sponsored fellowship in exchange programs invest in the future of developing countries by enabling international researchers, policy makers, and agricultural specialists to work alongside their u.s. counterparts, acquiring the novelist and skills to help build their country's agriculture sectors. by helping strengthen agricultural institutions and foster regulatory systems that support science-based trade policies, these programs also help to improve international market access for u.s. agricultural products. i am proud to lead usda's efforts to improve foreign market access for u.s. products, diversify into new markets and improve the competitive position of u.s. agriculture in the global marketplace, all working to uphold science based standards, equally is important, support food security of millions of people around the world. we look forward for the opportunity to refine our programs as congress works to reauthorize the farm bill. so, we can make u.s. foreign policy more efficient, effective, equitable, and sustainable, providing greater export opportunities to a vast range of markets for the benefit of our farmers, and food businesses. thank you again for having me, i look forward to any questions that you may have. >> thank you very much. under secretary moffitt? >> thank you chairwoman stabenow, ranking member boozman, and members of this committee for the opportunity to be with you today, and for the wide array of resources are provided usda as we partner with farmers, ranchers, and producers to strengthen american agriculture. in my travels as undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, i have seen the impact of the farm bill, and the importance of the programs in the title. i've heard directly from farmers and ranchers on how they benefit from these programs and our work at usda. growing up in a small community with a family of farmers, i have seen the benefits of the farm bill firsthand. i know the ingenuity and the passion farmers and ranchers bring to the challenges and rewards of producing the food that feeds vessel. over the past three years, we've seen the challenges that farmers and ranchers face, particularly in accessing markets to capture their fair share of a food dollar. even with record farm income, many farmers, too many farmers, 89%, must work off farm to meet the needs of their families. we know that small and mid sized farmers are impacted the most and there are still far too many barriers for new and giving farmers. under the leadership of the biden harris administration and secretary -- and with the support of leaders on this committee, usda has been hard at work to address these challenges and strengthen our food, agricultural, and roll economies. strengthening and transforming local and regional food systems as one priority of our efforts. the local agricultural marketing programs and the 2018 farmville, our newly created local food procurement programs are putting world prosperity front and center, adding value to where food is produced, ensuring that capital stays in the communities, and ensuring and leading to long term economic growth and vibrant rural communities. these programs create a win for local farmers, local economies, and for people's health. from -- mark into troy, michigan, to the alabama farmers supplying their local food districts, i've seen up close the excitement that farmers, schools, food banks and communities have for these programs. i've also heard about the fact that our access for programs is also important. it's one of the reasons why we want the usda regional food business centers and why we have received over 1.8 billion dollars worth of applications for a 400 million dollar program. these centers will provide exactly needed assistance, coordination, and capacity building to help farmers, food businesses, and royal connellys thrive. enhancing the competitiveness of specialty crop producers is another vital part of our work. and thanks to the support and leadership of this committee, we're excited that this year, this specialty crop -- will have awarded one billion dollars in funding for projects across the country to support vital critical research for marketing, education, programs for producers, and to support our local economies. in addition, we are committed to growing organic markets where producers use climates mark production methods that can be ever-changing consumer demand for a variety of projects. we just kept a series of rulemaking to promote fair and more competitive markets for organic producers, including the recent strength in the organic -- rule, as required in the 2018 from bell. these roles, coupled with our organic transition initiative are directly addressing challenges facing organic farmers with new programs will provide technical assistance, former to former mentoring, paying for voluntary conservation practices, and building targeted organic markets. we're also supporting farmers as we save our crops from diseases and assuring our trade partners of our high quality agricultural products. . and while outside of the culture title, i'm also part of the work we doing to protect the animals from pests and diseases thanks to the resources provided in the 2018 from bill. some, it is fitting to be here today with undersecretary taylor, given the close working relationship between our technical experts that if us and the team at faes as we work together to ensure international standards and strong trade are built on -- there is more work ahead for sure, but one thing is clear, leveraging resources and support of better and more competitive markets for u.s. farmers, ranchers, and consumers is in the best interest of our nations economy, our nation's food system, and the environment. with the support of congress, i believe we can and must continue this effort. i look forward to working collaboratively with members of this committee and congress, as you work to drop the 2023 farm bill, and continue to champion american agriculture, i'd be happy to answer any questions you have. thank you. >> thank you so much. finally, miss charles, you're recognized for five minutes, ms. charles. >> chairwoman stabenow, ranking member boozman, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss food assistance programs authorized by the fifth peace act. as a result of this committee's leadership and support, the united states is the world's largest donor humanitarian food assistance. at a time when these programs have never been more critical. as senator boozman outlined, today we commit to an unprecedented global hunger crisis. analysts estimate that acute hunger levels are 70% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. amid these record high levels of made, you s leadership, to fight hunger, could not be more important or more evident. in fiscal year 2022, usaid and u.s. da drew down the full balance of the bill humanitarian trust. in total, usa program 2.2 billion dollars entitled to emergency assistance. with these funds, we provided a significant fusion of american ground commodities to countries at highest risk of famine around the world. our leadership is most evident in africa. currently experiencing the most severe food security crisis in the world. in somalia, northern kenya, and southern ethiopia, five -- have failed, the sun has dried up and les miles of orange cracked earth, and millions of livestock have died. in the horn, where i traveled the summer, i met mothers like a dina, a mother of seven. when the ground right up in food vanished, her livestock it plastic sheeting out of desperation. all 18 of her livestock, her entire livelihood perished in the drought. with no livelihood, a dean that in one of her daughters developed signs of acute malnutrition and a dino worried that her young daughter might die. thanks to food for peace, her family received nutrition support from our partners and her daughter has not fully recovered. this aid was part of a broader u.s.-led mobilization fund that has been key to preventing the onset of famine in the horn. in particular, and somalia. however, as we speak today, a six failed rainy season is forecasted. and food security in the horn continues to deteriorate. without sustained assistance, feminist projected to merge the spring. while usaid is taking every step possible to meet needs worldwide, we face a sharp decline and humanitarian resources now that the agency has exhausted the generous appropriations provided by congress in 2022. we continue to call for other international donors to step up, and we're also looking for ways to drive greater efficiency in our programs. over the past decade we have been grateful for bipartisan support from congress and for reforms made during the previous farmville reauthorization's to ensure that food for peace programs can meet the humanitarian challenges of the day. today, the sale of global needham skyrocketing costs have stretched the limits of these programs, revealing constraints to usa's efficiency, as this committee -- amid a historic global food security crisis, there is an opportunity to maximize american generosity and save even more lives. technical changes to the legislation can improve the impact of u.s. food assistance, while maintaining the legacy of food for peace programs. for example, reducing complex accounting requirements associate with the food for peace act, it would enable partners to spend more effort on delivering food assistance while maintaining strict oversight of funds. simplifying accounting systems will also reduce barriers to local organizations becoming partners. as you look for to reauthorizing with for peace, act i would also ask what you consider updating the nonemergency authorities to make u.s. commodities and resilience programs have programming option rather than a requirement. these nonemergency programs, known as resilience food security activities are relatively small, but an important part of our tool kit and fighting global hunger. these programs target the poorest households in areas of recurrent crisis and help families graduate from dependence on humanitarian aid. we would welcome working a seal and adjustments to this program to give partners greater flexibility to design programs that are tailored to the unique context and most likely the reduced need for humanitarian assistance in the future. maximizing these programs will have significant benefits. impact evaluation on food for peace, resilience programs, found that for every $1 invested, helps hose could see over -- in additional benefits. helping families move out of dependence on aid. as we confront a hunger future, u.s. assistance programs have nerve and more vital. thanks to this community partnership, all around the world, nutrition projects and commodities stamped with the words from the american people, they save lives, we are not formation of american values worldwide, and a source of hope to those affected by some of the world's worst crises. thank you. i look forward to your questions. d questions >>to thank you so muc. will now start with a round of questions from the committee, five-minute rounds. under secretary moffitt, let me first talk to you about specialty crops. i was pleased to offer this title back in 2000 a. i did not know that you didn't routinely add titles. it was a very big fight. we got it done. from us and michigan, as a group, we grow more fruits and vegetables than anything else, certainly from our michigan agricultural economy. it's almost half the cash receipts of the country. i'm glad we have a title that represents the interests of these products. could you talk about ways we could strengthen domestic markets for our specialty crop farmers? including local and regional markets. just speak a little bit more about the. >> thank you, senator stabenow. thank you for your leadership on the specialty crop grant and advancing specialty crops both domestically as well as abroad, particularly on domestic, the specialty crop is a strong partnership with state departments of agriculture as well as the specialty crop industry to identify over 12,000 projects that are happening and have happened around the country, enhancing the specialty crop industry. the projects that are being funded, one example is for the red tart cherries to creating a beverage project that has increased the consumption of red tart cherries grown your home state of, michigan. that's added more than 1.4 $8 million of the sales of that program. that is just one piece of. it also addressing production challenges is another part. i was really excited to see when i visited the state of alabama, the local agriculture market programs, the local programs that were doing coupled with specialty crop programs together, they're building a new economy in alabama for specialty crop producers where they've access to local markets at the same time that the grant programs are addressing critical resource as well as education needs. these programs combined a really enhancing and growing domestic, particularly local, specialty crop, so that our communities have access to the great healthy produce and food that is grown in our communities. >> thank you very much. undersecretary taylor, how can we approve the ability of especially crop farmers to compete internationally in international markets? especially considering the unfair competition they face from heavily subsidized imports? >> chairwoman stabenow, thank you for the question. i think it's really important and thinking about how trade policy works for all of our diverse agricultural producers here in the united states so, as i think about this question, first and foremost, we need to make sure our specialty crop producers have open access to markets. that is access to markets here, obviously undersecretary moffitt works closely on those. markets abroad as well. i actually just met with a special to crop sector two weeks ago and they were talking about how they have leveraged some of the technical assistance for specialty crops, a program the farm bill has created and funded, how important those technical projects are to knock down trade barriers that they're experiencing. programs like that i think are critical to helping our specialty crop sector access new markets around the world. additionally, i think ensuring our trading partners are operating fairly. that trade commitments that are being made to our special to coproducers and trade commitments broadly are being lived up to. enforcing them when they are not. so, i think it's a multi pronged approach that takes, that we have to focus here domestically. but then also internationally. >> thank you very much. miss charles, we know, you spoke about the fact that food aid programs are incredibly important. a number of years ago i led a -- through the agriculture community to africa, we saw close how significant this is. and because of the weather disasters and growing climate crisis insulin, things are even worse. i know. when we were in there. we have to provide emergency food assistance. we also know growing local markets and building resiliency is important. from your perspective, how can we improve these programs while maintaining a variety of tools in the tool box and ensuring that inclined commodities remain in the mix? >> thank you for that question, i certainly welcome -- in the future, i think we have a lot to share, a lot that the american people in this committee can be proud of that we're doing in the horn and elsewhere in the world to address food insecurity. the vast majority of our title to assistance is for those emergency food aid programs. i think there's some efficiencies that can be gained but allow us to layer in supported assistance with those simplified accounting of those programs. i also think, speaking to your point about building resilience, a small portion of these programs, about 10% of the program, is really geared towards graduating people off of dependence and food assistance. i'd love to work with you all with your teams on some greater flexibilities and those programs that allow us to really tailor them to the specific context, including context and in kind commodities, if that's an appropriate way to program. >> thank you very much, all right, i will turn to senator boozman. >> thank you, madam chair. what i would like to do is yield to senator grassley, he's made a great effort to be here. we appreciate him showing up. he has some important questions he'd like to ask. with your permission, we will try. >> thank you for the accommodation. i appreciate it very much to the distinguished leaders of this committee. my questions are first secretary taylor. i am glad you're on the job now because in your position, you're gonna be a lead advocate for u.s. farmers across the world. everybody on this committee knows that when we produce a third more than what we consume domestically, that international trade, get that out of our country and around the world, it is very important for our prosperity and agriculture. so, when it comes to agriculture trade, the concern i have most from iowans's access to mexico's corn market. i'm sure other senators have the same concern, with over 90% of the corn in the united states being planted to biotech seeds and mexico being the number one purchaser of u.s. corn. i am concerned that this decree is not being met with urgency that it deserves. this is the case for both iowa producers and most importantly for food insecurity in mexico and around the world. as the former chair of the finance committee, i was glad to lead the effort for the u.s. -- ended up getting 89 votes. i was pleased to see yesterday the u.s. trade representative has formerly established a second usmca dispute settlement panel to hold unfair canadian dairy tariff rate holders, policies accountable. so, the question is for you, alexis, why has the biden administration not established such a dispute settlement process under u.s. -- panel with mexico on this issue of gmos? >> thank you senator grassley for that question. i would say that i do think we are engaging with urgency on this issue. we certainly appreciate the potential impact that the decree could have on our corn growers here in the united states. much broader than that, fundamentally our trading system, globally, but also within the u.s. is built upon science based policies. and the challenge to that is greatly concerning. i've heard from specialty crop producers, livestock producers, all with the concern of mexico with this decree moving away from that fundamental principle. on my third week on the job, ambassador -- we traveled jointly to mexico to engage with our counterparts there, highlighter concerns, highlight that this is a fundamental principle from the united states on what the global trading system is built upon and not something that we can walk away from or negotiate away from. we continue to have those conversations with our mexican counterparts. we are reserving the right of all the rights awarded to us under usmca. we will continue to ensure that our trade that has been granted, trade acts as that has been granted to us within u.s. and ca by all of our trading partners. and we look forward to working with you in this committee on this very important issue. it is a fundamental and critical question that we are answering here. >> are you aware in the timeline to start the negotiations? to get the process in place? >> senator grassley, i would say we're still productively engaging with mexico. we have been very clear that the u.s. and ca gives us a process to go down if we cannot find resolution on this issue. that we reserve all of those rights. at least today we're still productively engaging and hope to find resolutions that don't disrupt trade, impact our producers, and ultimately impact negatively mexican livestock producers who are dependent on this product as well. >> for you, secretary taylor, a key component of the farm bill includes advancements and export market development, programs, authorized under title three. these investments help promote u.s. products emerging, in emerging and developed countries, and can pave the way for bilateral agreements. free trade agreements are essential for u.s. agricultural products and making sure that our producers can compete on a level playing field. as undersecretary, do you think that your programs can pave the way for bilateral agreements? >> senator grassley, i think our market development programs are critical in a host of ways in areas. first, to help spill the bridge to relationships, trading is still very much about relationships. buyers, connecting buyers and sellers with products that we have and products that they want. at the same time, they also helped to address many technical barriers to trade that our producers are experiencing, and our exporters are experiencing a market. so, i do think as we utilize these programs with a partnership with industry, they help strengthen the ties and strengthen our economic ties as we continue to look for new diversified markets. i think they're critically important to those record 106, excuse, me 196 billion dollars of agricultural exports that we saw last year. >> thank you secretary taylor. thank you leaders of the committee for accommodating me. >> absolutely! senator brown? >> thank, you madam chair. i join others in extolling or leadership. i have known the chair of this committee from time in the house together, we sit on two committees in the senate, she always puts workers first, people first, family farmers first, i am so appreciative of that, and the kindness you show around here to the other members, it's not always the case for all of our colleagues. so, thank you for that. senator futterman and senator walsh, welcome to the committee, i notice that no republican got off the committee, so, i understand that to. undersecretary moffitt, let me start with you, thank you for being here. the pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of long global supply chains and agriculture and industry throughout our economy in the need for more locally and regionally produced food. chair -- have been advocates for a long time with local food and prado played a role in creating the program -- the cultural market program, last farm bill is a great step towards strengthening local and regional food systems. more must be done. that's why senator thune and i are strengthening local processing act, expanding local meat and poultry processing infrastructure, it's critical for going to lower prices and to address corporate consolidation, the ever approaching corporate consolidation in the meat industry as we see in far too many places and agriculture are economy over. while working to strengthen, support increase, to a state procurement from local producers, i've heard concerns from organizations and ohio undersecretary moffitt, about the application process, the program can be too difficult to access for, let's, a lower resourced in underserved communities. i know we can fix that. i need your help, i know we can count on you to do that, give us some thoughts on how we will work together on this, please. >> senator brown, thank you for that question. thank you for your leadership on the local agricultural marketing program. as you have said, at the height of the pandemic, at the early stages the pandemic with a home port and local and regional supply chains are. the program particularly is valuable in building those bridges and building the capacity for community, as fires in those communities, as well as farmers and producers in the communities to really foster those relationships so that we can get more product grown locally, produce locally, into the local food system as well, enhancing our supply chains and really giving more choice for farmers to access more markets, as well as more choice for consumers to be able to buy from local farmers as well. regarding your question on accessibility at the programs in the application process. i really want to thank you for that question and for the leadership in the 2018 farm belt, directing the agricultural marketing services to work on this. agricultural marketing services has done a few things, we have worked directly with producers, as well as resources at universities to create things like guidebooks to access the program. we also answer technical questions, we open office hours and answer questions for people who are potential applicants. i'm really proud to say that as we get toward the next round, the 2023 round, the grants, we will be adding a new component, a much more streamlined component for organizations, for producers, for those who are interested in applying for the lamp grants to be able to have much easier access in the streamline application process. >> thank you for that. switching to undersecretary taylor, thank you. talk about corn, soy, we, other agricultural commodities. we know that trade promotion and export markets are important to farmers, throughout, certainly my state, but all over the country, our adversaries know that to, we've seen the chinese communist party weaponize agricultural trade again and again, hurting farmers in my state in the process. speak to the issue, if you, would've using tools like the market access program. what were your barriers to it? what barriers exist to using the market access program to further diversify our markets? >> thank you, senator brown. the market access, the market development programs that we have, market access and that program is the largest. we've received $200 million in funding for that program. i would say it's highly oversubscribed. with our industry partners, they submit proposals to do export market development activities within the frame of that program. and on average, with them self regulating what they're submitting, we are getting $300 million at least of project proposals. so, i think there is a large need there. these dollars are so effective and important to developing, to maintaining those markets and to diversifying away from the people's republic of china and some of the challenges that we've seen with them being our largest trading partner. these are also an important note when talking about these market development programs. they're highly leveraged, for every $1 that a federal funding that is being utilized, somewhere between $2.30, $2.40 of industry funds are going to match those resources. so, while the federal government is invested, our industry is invest in these markets and successes there as well. >> thank you, thank you, madam chair. >> thank you very much, senator boozman. >> i think what i would like to do, madam chair, we have a bunch of members here. i think i will go at the end, we'll just go ahead and go through the line. >> all, right all right. senator ernst. >> thank you, madam chair, thank you ranking member boozman as well. and to our witnesses, thank, you ladies, for being with us today. the continued success and growth of iowa in the industry is absolutely dependent on strong trade. unfortunately, we've seen some hesitation with the biden administration in this area. that is evident by the fact that our u.s. trade wrap doesn't believe in free trade negotiations and that it took nearly 20 months to nominate undersecretary alexis taylor. thankfully, thankfully we were able to get alexis confirmed in the 11th hour of the 117th congress. she absolutely is well deserving of this position. welcome aboard, undersecretary taylor. iowa is the second largest agricultural export state. in 2020 alone, our state generated around 26.2 filling in dollars in agricultural cash receipts. that is a lot of money, folks, for the state of iowa. and with the highest of that and those valued commodities being corn, pork and soybeans, this is why i'm glad to reintroduce the bipartisan expending agricultural exports act to increase the funding for market access programs and foreign market development programs. trade is way too critical for many states, including iowa to, and having a strong commodity market, and exports at that value to farmers bottom line and i was economy. so, undersecretary taylor, i will start with you, again. it is great to have you on board. in your testimony, you had highlighted the success of the program for increasing u.s. ethanol sales to korea, which is a great achievement. many countries are looking to utilize low carbon biofuels to help achieve the climate goals. do you agree that biofuels are a cleaner fuel source? can you talk about the potential that we might have for ethanol exports to india where they really do need a lot of help? >> thank you, senator ernst, for the question, and thank you for your support, continuing support late last year. it is greatly appreciated. so, i do believe biofuels are an important way as not just the united states but globally we are trying to address a changing climate, lower carbon emissions, obviously coming from iowa, i am well versed at how important the bio industry is to the economy. and having a cleaner renewable resource. i think it's an important component. when we are engaging with trading partners on often. and frequently. so, i think when, within india, there are many countries where there are a lot of potential. also large challenges. i think we are open to working with industry partners, the u.s. grains council, to make sure that we're targeting those priority markets, having those conversations at appropriately high senior levels to make sure they know this is truly an important issue as we're navigating not just opening trade, but also addressing carbon reduction globally. >> right, thank you, i appreciate that. as well, the last time that you are in front of the committee, we did discuss the mexico biotech decree that bans much of our iowa corn and senator grassley has already spoken to that. just so folks know, if president memos been does go into effect, it would cause our overall u.s. economy to lose nearly 74 billion dollars in economic output over a ten-year period. so, that is for our awareness and an outsized portion of that would impact iowa, which is our top corner going state. i appreciate the attention to that and your work in that area, working with mexico. undersecretary moffitt, i want to commend the usda and its efforts for coned -- influenza and for keeping african swine fever out of the u.s.. it's been devastating to i was poultry industry. and of, it would be the absolute worst-case scenario for not only iowa, but all american pork producers. so, it really does underscore the importance of the national animal disease preparedness and response program that was created in our last farm bill in 2018. so, i just want to commend you on that. we have a lot more work to do, we will be submitting questions for the record. i yield back. thank you much, everyone. thank you to our witnesses. >> thank you. senator brown? excuse me, senator -- >> that's all, right thank you, madam chair, thank you for your continued service to the country, to the committee. secretary moffitt, i want to say thank you, coming to colorado to visit our potato producers there and to come to understand i think how important it is to have the success we've had now, opening up the mexican market for them. that's work we have to continue to build on. i was saying to my colleagues on the committee that trade is great, we need more trade, colorado producers believe we need more trade. if we don't have the labour to actually get these crops in, we are gonna have a huge problem in this country. we are facing a massive crisis when it comes to farming in the united states, including in the valley where you visited. i hope for this congress that we might actually be able to finally address this. there is nobody but congress that can address this. our growers, our producers, our specialty crop folks, in my state, and i know all across the country, they're depending on us to do it and they hope it's not a futile hope that people have. i want to ask you about hemp, secretary moffitt. in 2018, the committee legalize the production of hemp, as you know, for the first time, farmers and colorado were able to plant and grow it. unfortunately, burdens and testing requirements in the processing facilities have stunted the potential for this versatile crop. something, you know, accra people over the country are interested in growing. what resources are available to help farmers and states navigate the complex hemp regulatory framework? and what should we look to do in an upcoming form built-in shear the success of this crop? >> senator bannon, thank you, it was a pleasure to visit -- so, we continue to work on maintaining that potato market access we worked so hard to achieve. regarding your question on him, as of january 1st 2021, we have 42 states that have state approved plans with usda to register and to continue the hunt production in those 42 states. the rest of the states, usda directly works with hemp producers. we also have 53 tribes around the country that also are partnering with us with hemp plans as well. , so, as far as the question about what resources we have a usda to support him producers, we have done a handful of things, as we work since 20 team farm bill on developing the program at the agricultural services. one is to make sure we have an easy registration process and the streamline i.t. process that hump producers and testing, all the procedures that go along with him production are in one system that is easy to communicate with producers, as well as with the local officials. that is one key part of. and also, last, week we released the first weekly national report. this national hemp report is part of a messes market news that will provide weekly, timely information for him producers to be able to access information on market so they can make informed business decisions. >> okay, we'll, if there's more we can do in the farm bill, i hope you will let us know. miss charles, i had a question for you. as you know, russia's unprovoked war in ukraine has significantly damaged global food supply chains, including the export of ukrainian wheat and other grains to africa, to asia, and to the middle east. this is exacerbated the food shortages you talked about in your opening testimony in the horn of africa, that are already dealing, as you said, with historic drought. how can congress use the upcoming form bill to provide essential humanitarian food and mitigate the growing global hunger crisis that we are now facing? >> i think we saw this year, really, the importance of flexibility in our tool kit. so, to address russia's war in ukraine, we both immediately drew down the full balance that have exhausted the full balance of the bill in our humanitarian trust to use u.s. sourced in -- commodities to get those places like yemen and ethiopia, northern kenya, south sudan, they'll be most impacted by shortages, and critically priced as a result of russia's war in ukraine. but we also used ida assistance, our non title to assistance to procure ukrainian wheat, working with the world food programme, as proof of concept for that flaxseed grain initiative. it's been san portman helping to stabilize wheat prices still at quite a high-level but with less volatility towards the end of the year with that green initiative in place. we saw on the days after russia's invasion of ukraine. so, isn't kind of all of the different tools in the tool kit to help ensure that food is not out of reach for the world hungriest. >> thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, very much. before going to the next question, i just want to thank you, senator bennett, nobody worked harder at the end of the last congress or through the last congress i, on farmworker issues. i could not agree more about what needs to happen around companies, immigration reform, our farmers need a legal system that works for them. so, thank you. thank you very much. senator hyde-smith thank you madam chairman. ranking member boozman. i certainly appreciate this all female delegation at the end of the table discussing agricultural issues. undersecretary taylor walter is the number one commodity in mississippi in terms of production value my state has produced over three point 26 billion dollars worth of poultry in 2022 really important to us we all know the avian influenza, the highly pathogenic alien influenza has been spreading across the country. as ant commissioners, when we service are commissioner together that is one thing that kept me awake at night. the fear of that. although the disease itself has primarily affected the egg industry, it has put the poultry industry on high alert. and created true barrier for the poultry industry. i'm thankful for the efforts of aces and their staff. and employees. they are doing their best under undersecretary moffitt's leadership. while mississippi is fortunate to have only detected avian influenza in one commercial farm north of my house so far that could change at anytime. china has imposed barriers to trade on poultry products from several states because of the outbreak. directly contradicting an agreement it previously entered into with the united states. if we do not stay on top of this issue, mississippi will be next. in 2020, china's general administration of customs china, j.a. cc, and usda's animal and plant health inspection services agreed to a regionalization pathology for the avian influenza outbreaks. china agreed that in the event of an outbreak detected in poultry a statewide ban will be enforced for all products coming from -- and that resumption from the important exports know sooner than 90 days post virus elimination -- this was a huge win for a chicken sector under this protocol china has become the u.s. poultry indicators top poultry market. as you and i found out in china, they only want the cause, the seat. unfortunately since last august years on -- china's failed to honor the 2020 agreement. during this time the j.a. cc had not responded to the request to live bands of a number of states that are now eligible to resume exports under the agreement. i am not aware of any substantive concerns raised by j.a. cc. it is crucial that we stand up to china, not only for the sake of our chicken growers, but to show them we are serious about them holding to their commitments. this issue has serious implications for the poultry industry. for both mississippi in the entire country. china will be watching our response to this. have you, and other senior leaders at u.s. da, have you engage china, directly on this issue? thank you for that question senator hyde-smith. i have had many internal discussions within usda i have not engage with china yet on this. this agreement around reopening after a high pat avian influenza outbreak has been led with discussions by the usda are under the phase one agreement by ensuring the china lives up to those agreements. we have been engaged with those conversations with u.s. drc. while china is a very important market, they are also very challenging. constant in engagement on senior levels is critically important and something i am committed to doing with my chinese counterparts. i know how important for chicken pause they are for your growers. >> you into maseko eston with that answer. >> thank you very much. we will now turn to senator fetterman. this is actually my very first meeting so. i am really honored to be an advocate for pennsylvania's very, very, very critical kinds of agricultural industry. and it's going to start out with a broad question, given this just starting off. agriculture is the single biggest industry in pennsylvania. we have over 60,000 farms and 97% are farmer all. and what changes are needed to the department's trade program to make trades stronger? senator, i think i appreciate the numbers. that is really important to underscore. the majority of our farms, in our state and across the country are family owned and operated. in that case i grew up my family farm in iowa. that has been enough family for 160 years. and as i think about the trade programs that we have we are focused on ensuring that small in mid sight producers can also access those programs. so they can identify diverse market opportunities outside of the country and certainly offer any additional engagement from you to make sure that our family farmers are able to tap into a marketability programs. to connect to the markets and the buyers in those markets and ultimately the consumers who have a desire for a products. >> thank you. this mafia, pennsylvania has an incredibly strong organic farming industry. in fact, i believe it is the second largest in the nation actually. it faces a lot of challenges, as we all know. what changes to the usda made recently to strengthen the organic label? what additional tools are needed, do you think? >> senator fetterman, thank you for that question, and for your interest in organic production. two weeks ago usda, ams announced that the largest change to the national organic standards, since the inception of the national organic program, with the strengthening organic enforcement. strengthening organic enforcement with what would be implemented, we are already working with producers, as well as sort of fires, of infiltration of that role. it will close some of the loopholes and add new players which her know part of the organic industry that weren't part of the organic industry during its inception. to ensure we have a level playing field of oil producers. at the same time, we are also growing the organic producer base through a transition to get a partnership program. field base, technical assistance. driven by producers and organizations in pennsylvania to mentor new and aspiring organic farmers to be able to attain certifications, as well. rulemaking is very important. also the support that we need, to mentor initiative that we need to grow and hansen increase organic production is another part of what we are working on. >> thank you. actually, madam chair, again looking forward to getting in and learning so much more from all of you but i will contribute early on here. thank you again for the opportunity. >> thank you so much. we know pennsylvania agriculture is very important. we are glad to have you on the committee to be that voice. thank you so much. senator marshall. >> thank you madam chair and ranking member. i'm sure everybody in this room knows that since 1933 this farm bill, which was also asked about every five years, helps provide affordable, safe, reliable food and fiber for this country. it is not lost upon me that as i look around the room and see the portraits in the room that senator pat roberts legacy stares over all of this. this is the first forum bill in 40 years whose will not have his boot prints all over it. i certainly want americans and cans eons to know this is as important to me as it was to him. i will make sure that the father of crop insurance we will be protecting that. and so many ways this farm bill is important to kansas. it was in 1933, excuse me, 1953 a farmer in cheyenne county, kansas, peter broadside about a kansas farm bureau meeting who said we can help people overseas. we can get food for peace. we are so proud of that program can continue. president eisenhower signed that into law shortly thereafter. i believe this is the 21st anniversary of the dole mcgovern bill, which helps provide food for education. we appreciate you all helping us carry those legacies forward. now, on to some tough questions. forgive me. the first couple or for undersecretary taylor. this is a two part question. the first part, i think, is a yes or no answer. before you answer i will give the second part. does the biden administration believe that mexico has a right to our sewage medically modified u.s. corn from its market under the terms of the usmca? the follow-up question is this, the biden administration has triggered usmca's dispute system resolution six separate time to complain about mexico labor conditions. in the meantime, the administration has recused the trigger the usmca to contest mexico's planned execution of american corn. madam secretary, our farmers feel like this administration is putting mexican assembly workers out of farmers. what are we waiting for? what are we waiting for to trigger this mechanism? untied of talking about it. for me committees and praying about it. we think it is time for action. >> senator marshall, thank you for those questions. i think, first and foremost, under usmca from the biden investigation has been very clear that their ban, their proposed ban, on genetically modified corn did not live up to the science based standards that were housed within usmca. two weeks ago, my third week on the job, i traveled to mexico with ambassador makayla to have these conversations directly with our mexican counterparts. this is a fundamentally important question as to how the usmca was built, and also the global trading system -- >> do you feel, yes we, know mexico believes mexico has a right to exclude genetically modified u.s. conference market under the terms of the usmca. >> we do, not sir. >> next question, again, for secretary taylor, before the eighth circuit, attorneys for the justice department suggested that the usda are not experts on the use of pesticides. the use this argument to try to convince the eighth circuit judges to ignore secretary bill sex standing by the science in a letter to members of congress. have you, will you, stand up to the justice department and emphasize that we do feel like we have experts in this area in usda? >> senator, we do have experts on this with a new fta. i know many are under undersecretary moffitt's purview. on these issues we worked closd we are working by that early with trading partners around the world on these issues that are impacting u.s. agricultural changes. >> how do you feel about the justice department basically slapping y'all in the faith and saying usda to than understand the science? >> a lot of what we're doing at a fuss is really engaging, as under secretary said, with the bilateral conversations making sure that what we are doing and implementing is science based and we are following the science. we, of course, secretary vilsack talks a lot about how this is important to science whether that is with our trading partner whether that is with the domestic industry we continue to stand by the science and have more robust conversations -- with science at the forefront. >> last question i'm not sure which one of you can answer this but when it comes to food aid, food for peace, 2010 we were given commodities as opposed to cash in about 10 to 1. now about two thirds of the aid is in cash rather than u.s. commodities. can someone explain, justify that? where we are going. line we giving cash unsteady commodities? >> sir, about 30% of our title two is u.s. sourced in common commodities. the other costs, it's not about giving cash instead of those commodities. it's really the cost of managing those programs including significantly increased shipping costs to move those commodities. >> i would like to submit for the record a document from crs that shows that two thirds of the money is now being given as cash, rather than u.s. commodities. thank you. >> without objection. thank you. >> senator well, again welcome to the committee. it is good to make sure that vermont's voice is still here on the committee. >> i am being observed here -- >> you are! >> every step you make. will be observed, yes. >> i feel a little bit of pressure. i am absolutely delighted to be here with you in the ranking members as you mentioned we work together in the house. with all of my colleagues and agriculture, i believe, is absolutely essential to all of us most of us are not farmers but by what they do in being the custodians of the landscape vermont is very small agriculturally, as you know. you've got to find a way, in my view, to make local agriculture in every district sustainable. i want to turn to the honorable jenny lester moffitt who came up we had a visit from undersecretary moffat who came to an organic dairy farm that has been in the course family since 1868. just think about the things that that generation of families went through. now they are milking i think over 90 head on this 300 plus acre dairy farm. they don't use plows! 40 years they have a plow the land. it is really productive and doing a great job. i just want to thank you for coming up and demonstrating your commitment to that. one of the questions that came up with about the organic rules. it is really important that we have organic rules to protect the brand. it's also important that the rules not be oppressive. so those folks who are honestly trying to comply with him don't have to get buried in paperwork. that was a question that was asked to you by a question of the fifth in sixth generation who were present. maybe you can elaborate on how you're going to try to thread that needle. who i think all the farmers that we represent that will be a concern. >> thank you senator wells. it was a pleasure to be up in vermont last week with you. it is a conversation like those around the kitchen table and dairy farms, other forms, it is such a valuable part of the job that i have. really informing the decisions that we are making a usda to make sure they are really rooted in the best interest of farmers and producers in folks around the community. thank you for having me. regarding your question about organic rules. yes, organic votes are such an important part of the national organic program is really based on a ever-changing organic industry. it is a continuously of organic rules is an important part. i know someone who sold organic products around the world, how important that level playing field is. at the same time, making sure that organic producers, while implementing very rigorous standards, or also not doing paperwork that is unnecessary. it is an important part of that. we are making sure that a lot of the strengthening of organic rules will actually be about bringing in new brokers importers. folks who have not traditionally been part of certified organic standards. aside from their importing product into the country and other train. so that the paperwork they are currently feeling it will not see many changes. >> thank you. one thing could be hopeful. organic farmers, if they have issues with how the rules are being implemented or interpreted, we can contact you. >> absolutely. >> i think that might be a common concern. thank. you have that one just a heartbreaking story you told about that woman who lost that 18 catalan nearly lost the life of her daughter. it is reassuring, and wonderful, all that food aid saved her life. aboutthere is a constant issuet food aid, leaving out the climate issues for a minute, about what we can do to help local agriculture there. obviously the best food aid is local production. i know that that is a concern for you. it is not as though we are gonna really be able to solve that problem. it's much better for folks in those horrible situations to be independent. is there any policies that are under consideration about trying to help food insecurity by helping food production, locally? >> certainly a big piece of our development assistant u.s. ideally isabelle poverty reduction and increasing the yields of small hold farmers, in particular, about increasing food security in the long term. under the peace program the block that emergency fetus systems. we do have a small percentage, about 10% of that program, which is dedicated to longer term resilience activities. these are activities often targeting small scale farmers or helping pastoralists transition to aggro pastoralists. to help them build transitions and be more able to withstand climate shocks, the economic shocks improving yield. using climate smart agricultural inputs. we would like to work with you and your team as you look at reauthorizing the farm bill in ways of recognizing the effectiveness. >> thank you yield back. thank you very much, madam chair. >> thank you. senator thune. >> thank you madam chair, for holding today's hearing for considering trade and horticulture herrings of the formed of. we look forward to hearing from both of you, and our colleagues on the committee to advance a farm bill that supports the needs of producers in rural america. i also want to thank our witnesses, panels for being here today to provide your input on this important topic. before i know is already touched on but my colleagues of racist question. i also want to reiterate my concerns with mexico's efforts to restrict genetically engineered corn and threatened to here and act -- both the united states and mexico. secretary taylor, i would appreciate the usda strong stance on this issue. and herbs the usda to continue holding mexico accountable on its great commitments. undersecretary taylor, as i previously mentioned to you, i'm concerned about this administration's lack of attention to expanding market access for u.s. agricultural products. i hope that you and your u.s. tr act chief and chief negotiator's recent confirmations are turning point for this immigration when it comes to egg trade. in your new rule, what are some specific new ideas, and additions to maintaining edition access to corn exports to mexico? what are your ideas on new market opportunities for u.s. farmers and ranchers? is the administration considering market access opportunities in africa? finally, are you advocating for reauthorization of the trade promotion authority? >> senator, thank you for those questions. first and foremost one of the areas that is a priority for me coming into this role is looking at newmarket-aurora cajun. obviously, the peoples republic of china's our largest single agricultural market. we all saw what an over reliance on anything a market can mean. looking to help more agricultural exporters, our farmers and ranchers identifying new markets is really critical. i looked to a couple different regions of the world's first. i think south asia is a really exciting opportunity. i think about countries like vietnam. when they have some of the highest macroeconomic of protected in asia. they also have an expected 5 million middle class households coming online in the next five years. we have an opportunity today, and early on, to create consumers. lifelong consumers. their population is also relatively young. lifelong consumers of american agricultural products. i think there's a lot of potential and exciting opportunities there. while the indo-pacific economic framework is still getting underdeveloped, but exactly what the outcomes will be for u.s. agriculture, i'm hopeful that we will see successful access there. addressing sps and not tariff barriers to knock down some trade hurdles that we currently experience. likewise, you mentioned africa, i think africa is, generally, has a lot of potential. specifically, i think kenya is a very exciting potential market. which, obviously, we are engaging there, as well. we are also engaging in a couple of areas within the african continent. we are working with the african continental free trade area that is under negotiation there. one of the areas we are providing support is technical support. in particular, as they are addressing sps regulations. how science based principles can really help form the continental free trade agreement. the u.s. is colliding that technical support which will also benefit our agricultural producers. i think there is a significant opportunity on the african continent to expand. >> let me say, i couldn't agree more the way to a slow china's to do it economically. that region of the world has a lot of national security implications, as well. it just seems like i tafton address the issue market access, which is what our agriculture producers in south dakota are looking for. free trade agreement with countries in that region. world in other regions of the world. some which we think are low hanging fruit. it just seems like the administration, no request for trade portion authority, hasn't been an fda done. the times where they have been a discussion around this issue it's been related to issues that don't have any market access. you guys have got to step up your game here and i hope that you will. in my last few seconds remaining -- during your confirmation hearing you mentioned your willingness to work with me on a path forward for mandatory country labeling of beef. last week, i introduced a bill that would direct u.s. tr new fda to develop a wto means of reinstating cool for beef. would you provide technical assistance on the legislation? what actions would you used to coordinate with u.s. tr on a path forward for mandatory coal for beef. >> we would welcome the opportunity to provide technical assistant on that bill. to work with you, and, congress on implementation with our colleagues that u.s. tr should pass. >> thank you. thank you, madam chair. >> absolutely. thank you -- senator smith? >> thank you madam chair and ranking member. it is great to back in the committee. really appreciate the focus today on, in part, on trade. of course trade is incredibly important to our producers in minnesota. very, very, important to the health and vitality of the agricultural community in minnesota. we need to make sure that trade is working for everybody. all of our producers including small producers. i appreciate the question that senator fetterman started. with undersecretary taylor, let me start with you, i have been focused with how we can support tribal agricultural production in the united states. with this in mind, senator hoeven and i work to include in the 2018 farm bill provisions to include tribal representation on trade missions. historically, usda has not done everything i think it could have to produce -- i think there is a big opportunity here to support travel producers. traditional wild rice, in minnesota, played a really important role in native communities. there is a growing export market for traditionally harvested wild rice. tribal harvesters should have fair, equal footing. could you tell us what strategies are in place to promote greater inclusion of tribal, agricultural food products and trade related activities? how is it going usda? actually use the farm bill to continue promoting indigenous food products? >> senator smith thank you for those questions. having previously worked for a member of montana and in the state of oregon i fully appreciate how important our travel nations aren't. how important making sure the programs we are administering a usda, that they are working for them. as you mentioned, the 2018 farm bill actually directed usda to develop some goals around tribal participation within our trade related activities. we have a key partner in the inter tribal agricultural council. they are matt an empty participant. they often participate in trade shows. coming from the state department of agriculture in oregon, we also had a western regional group that was a state regional trade group tapping into market access programs. i know my colleagues, in particular in alaska, some of the alaska tribes participated in these programs, as well. promoting seafood exports. we appreciated that direction from the farm bill. we are looking to ramp up that engagement with our travel nations. in particular the inter tribal agriculture council. we certainly welcome additional feedback on how we can continue to engage to make sure our programs are working for a tribal nations, as well. >> thank, you i appreciate that. we will look to work closely with you it is really important. this is related to geographic indicators. the european union continues to impose geographical indications that can block the use of commonly use household names for cheese and other products. this is a significant barrier, roadblock for cheese producers. a minnesota dairy, including groups like -- . cheeses like parmesan, fawn tina, which would face unfair barriers if they tried to export these products to the eu, or other countries, that are influenced by the eu stance on geographical indications. the usmca, we have hard-fought provisions around this issue which for mexico, for example, not to restrict access to u.s. products. can you tell us how you and your colleagues at usc are building upon those efforts and update us on what the strategies are? what more do you think we need to do in this area? thank you senator smith. i have yet to see feta on a map. i think, at times, these g.i.s are, also, clearly to restrict our trade. which is a large concern to, in particular, dairy can do sirs and broader. many people feel the impacts. we have a multi pronged approach to address this. working with countries who are either engaging in negotiations with the eu and or have concluded negotiations with the eu to articulate our concerns. to make sure they understand the market access rights that we currently have and how that could be impactful there. i think we are also engaging broadly with our trading partners to ensure again that this doesn't become a new trade barrier for our exports. we are also engaging in multi lateral forms about this issue the wtvo the asia pacific economic co-operative forum then there is a world intellectual property organization, as well. we are engaging to make sure that intellectual property rights are being respected. that the and not becoming these generic names that we used. that are being used all over the world. that they did not become various for our trade. >> thank you mary much, anna chair. i appreciate it. i have one more question which i will put in for the record, following up a little bit about senator thune's question about how we can expand export markets. specifically looking at cuba as an export market and what we can do there. thank. you >> absolutely. senator fischer? thank you madam chair thank you to our panelists who are here today. trade is vital to nebraska's agricultural economy. exports from nebraska were valued at 6.5 billion dollars in 2021. the new and growing export market dry value back to rural america. the market access program in foreign market development programs are critical and helping our producers develop those new markets. i agree with many of my colleagues today that as we look towards the new farm bill it will be critical to ensure that these programs do continue in order to fully realize our investment from those market development programs, the united states government has an important role to play. at a bare minimum, we must of hold our existing trade agreements. undersecretary taylor there is no negotiating on mexico band a biotech corn. the science is clear on that. the livestock sector needs are corn. that is a large market for nebraska farmers. nebraska is also unique. we grow half of the nation's food grade white corn with mexico being our top expert market. we understand mexico change that there are cultural reasons to want to ban imports white corn. can you assure us that when there is no compromise with mexico on their attempts to ban biotech corn, that also includes our food grain white corn? thank you senator fischer from the conversations i've had with my mexican counterparts, we talk about it broadly to include our yellow corn and white corn exports. there are concerns, i think, in both. fundamentally the science is the same. for many genetically engineered products that have been studied for decades, the safety of the products is not in question. >> thank you. i agree with you, also, on your point that this has a broader impact. the trade agreement that they are not going to accept our products that are safe. gmos. they are safe. that is a message that we need to get out. not just in our international trade but also here within the country. making it clear that gm of our safe, secure, they are healthy. they helped feed the world we can go on with this as we continue to move forward. i thank you for that. in december i lead 25 of my colleagues a bipartisan letter which we sent to the administration to hold mexico to their commitments under the usmca. we have received a response yet from them. could you check on that and let us know how the administration plans to proceed? >> absolutely, senator. >> okay thank you very much. also you know in your testimony that the indo-pacific economic framework, there is meaningful opportunities there to address non tariff barriers. -- i agree that addressing those items would be helpful. i have heard from many nebraska producers about the lack of any meaningful market access productions around the trade agenda. in your capacity as trade adviser would you advocate that market access provisions, specifically for agriculture, are included as part of the negotiations for the ip iain? senator, thank you for that question. i believe, broadly, the market access addressing tariffs, also at the fps side of trade is critically important. doing one without the other does not often equate to market access. we have seen that around the world. i think while tariff liberalization, broadly, has been critical to u.s. agriculture. there has been parts that have not felt that as equal. the state of oregon has discussed some of the challenges they've experienced. what has been said is, trade policy that balances the diversity of agriculture producers in pursuing new and diversified markets. >> think you. i look forward to continuing discussions on this. a special thank you for really holding firm on the yellow corn in the white corn. with mexico and my thanks to the secretary, as well. >> thank you very much. senator klobuchar? >> thank you madam chair. i would add my thanks to senator fischer is on the corn issue. minnesota is actually fourth in the country for exports. and exports. this hearing is really important to us i also thank senator smith for a question on dairy. something else that we care a lot about. i was going to store broader, miss taylor. the fact that we see room to grow with exports, according to the 2021 study of the export development programs. you cite for every $1 invested in these programs u.s. act export value increased by $24, which is pretty incredible. it found that these programs are under funded. i know senator brown asked you a little bit about this can you talk about how we compared to other international trading partners? according to your testimony, the eu's export program for wind alone was greater than the entire budget of all of usda's market development programs. i think that that should concern our colleagues when we look at the balance. and much of eat enjoy pairing up with the eu and drinking their wine. thank you senator klobuchar i, think these issues are vitally important. these and others around the world have other programs in place to promote their own products. we are going head to head and many of these products around the world competing. these tools that congress in this committee has provided is critical. allowing our producers to get into these markets. to navigate, oftentimes, complex regulatory systems. language barriers, to compete. our programs map alone while it is funded a $200 million. we, on average we're seeing quest. on industry partners self regulating. they know we have limited funds. we have something similar in the foreign market program. that program is funded $34 million. we get roughly $50 million of requests. they are highly prescribed funds. they are also highly leveraged, as you pointed out. the impact and return that we receive is pretty impressive. >> next up, cuba's bill and opening up the market to cuba. 95% of our customers living outside of our borders absent lifting the embargo, i am interested, i am interested in what options usda has to do for american ag exports to cuba, have you considered cuba to be part of the emerging program which would facilitate easier exports to cuba? i note that this has always been a bipartisan bill. >> yes, thank you senator. i think cuba's an interesting market with a lot of untapped potential. there are obviously huge challenges, as well. in the 2018 farmville, opened up to be allowed, explicitly, in cuba. in my industry drive there. i believe the emerging market program did not have that same authority get granted to it. i think that would be something we would be interested in exploring. >> as you explore work on reauthorizing the farm bill. >> thank you again this would be american products. as we know we were making some headway there. we still have some work to do in the humans rights front. i hope we can go back to looking at that. my last question, turkeys. minnesota, the number one turkey producer in the country. minnesota turkey farmers have, once again, been significantly impacted by avian influenza. it went better this time, in terms of a quick response. senator turban and i worked hard on a vaccine bank and also funding emergency in this farm bill, supported by all the members. as this outbreak continues, as it is still going on, how has the usda adjusted specifically i know impacted countries in the eu are considering implementing a vaccine strategy. what can be done in the farm bill to incorporate a vaccine strategy without impacting trade? . >> senator, i think, as you mentioned, it has come better. i think we learned a lot of lessons from the high path avian outbreak in 2014 and 2015. we spent the time, since working with trading partners. working with the war and organization on animal health. around a regionalization approach and some science based standards. i think we have seen a different reaction this time than we did in 2014 and 15. we still have many challenges to lift restrictions and not line up with the what was standards. recently we were able to work with taiwan. they lifted restrictions in 12 states. this is a continued process of engagement. it's really important. we have made some important progress. things for our technical progress and aphids. i continue to work on this. >> i will ask another question i know you are asked about senator bennett from him. i'm remembering senator bennett coming to him. a markup of the bill for the very reason including hand provisions. there continues to be confusion and frustration among hemp growers. i know you are aware of the usda the fda i'm hoping we can fix those. thank you very much. senator tuberville? state othank you madam chair. ranking member both men i look forward to working with you on this very important bill. agriculture in my state of alabama is the number one industry we are proud of it. the problem we're having is we had to covid as we lost a lot of family farms in a state. doing this farm bill that would really keep in mind what we're doing for all farmers. especially try to keep as many family farms as we possibly can. most of my questions have been asked. i will ask this question about miss taylor. our cotton producers in alabama and throughout the southeast export most to their common overseas in one form or another. they know what map is. what fm dean. do you have any plans for this program? >> senator, i think they are well established programs they have shown a lot of success. they look forward to working with congress on any changes that you may be seeking. from our perspective they are highly effective. >> you are satisfied with them and how they are working? >> yes sir. >> thank you. miss moffitt i understand our nurseries share the emerging threat of the box tree mauve. a serious past which has begun to spread from the u.s. into canada. the number one evergreen scrub crop grown in the u.s.. they are very important to her state in alabama. i'm told the usda planned health inspections services. with the industry, horticulture industry before. this is the avenue comments on this? >> thank you, senator, for that question. yes, the animal plant health inspection service, a, fist has been working with the industry in making sure that we have movement control. we are containing the pests where they are, currently. and also working to eradicate it. we also working with canada to ensure that we have movement control and restriction controls in their. our engagement with industry, as you recognize, it is a vital part of our response. >> you will know, congress is covering over 200,000 acres in alabama. 75% of infested land and forest. we damage crowd reduction in productivity. what research is afis doing to combat this? >> senator, that is a great question. i can talk with afis and get more information make sure we get back to you with that information. >> thank. you think, you medicare. >> absolutely. thank you, so much. senator lujan. you are no longer at the end of the dais. you are moving out. >> it is incredible what two years will do. thanks to you in the ranking member. first of all thank you for you new leadership in old leadership. welcome to our new colleagues, as well. in new mexico as i hope you will known, we have a few things that we all love. one of them being are chilly. i remain -- >> they brag about the trailer they got from us, just as long as i don't forget where it came from. the reason it bring that up is there are many challenges taking place in new mexico. and different parts of the country when it comes to specialty crops. in our state, not just a chilly, but, pistachios, onions, they mounted to us. our dinner table opportunity exists in that nature. we have seen challenges throughout the country. we've seen that in new mexico, as well. specialty crop grounds matter to us. they are critical in enhancing the competitiveness of these crops and domestic and foreign markets. my question for deputy secretary moffitt is, can you describe it for how the specialty crop program is able to assist modernizing in specialty crop harvesting. and especially lean towards a state, like new mexico, launching roughly 2.1 million population. we don't do as well as our other states do. across the country are leveraging these programs. i'm looking to see how we can learn more about strengthening them. to ensure producers, like the one we have in new mexico, that they have access to these programs. >> senator lujan, thank you so much for that question in your interest in the specialty crop brand. agriculture so that block grant component is that partnership with the state components of agriculture so the state components of agriculture, with usda, oregon identifying what is the critical means of specializing that stay. really tailor i think the grants that are administered in the grant towards needs enough grants. as you talked about, the block grant funds research particularly, researcher at large. certainly a big component of what the industry needs to enhance the specialty crop. there's also the promotion, of course of the block brand. the education and given your mechanization of the protection calendar that are unique to new mexico, it is a key part of how the specialty block grant, what the states working with industry on what projects are really needed to advance and grow specialty crops and your state. i do lean you towards the research component -- >> and appreciate that. in areas where new mexico has not been successful through the state department of agriculture in conjunction with producers that has not been successful. and that an area of your commitment we can work with you on to better understand the application promised to recovery -- >> senator, absolutely. we can work within staff directly. i happen to work to encourage investigation. there's a specialty crop multi state program where we can address issues that cover multiple states across the region or across the country. addressing different issues, as well. >> i would appreciate that. with the program another any updates of any areas to strengthen? given talent is that we now see over the last few years. any changes that would be needed? >> the program continues as it has for sometime we are always working on updating that. one big piece that we updated in the specialty crop brand is reporting is important and is not an increased burden on recipients that is a key update we did last year with a grant program. i also want to thank the committee, as well as congress, for leadership during the pandemic and adding additional funds to the specialty crop block brand to further enhancing the specialty crops. >> madam chair, i have two other questions. i will submit him to the record just to be cognizant of time. in an area we were -- new mexico was cooperative agreement under the local food purchase assistant program. i would like to pursue more and have a conversation about. in the area of trade promotion which i hope to visit more about miss taylor specific to new mexico pecans there i don't want to get in a fight with other states but they are delicious if not more delicious anywhere you go if you want to have a competition with me we will lay down into right. there are some challenges that our producers in new mexico have and other parts of the world where some states have done better. we won't get into why our pecans deserve to be at the top of that list i thank you madam chair and ranking member car right. >> so glad to be part of this important farm bill work that we are doing on this committee thank you i'm from indiana which is the number one manufacturing state per capita in the country wisconsin is right behind us agriculture is right there in behind it i have been a tree farmer of been involved in agriculture for a long time i owned a turkey farm for 32 years. half owner of it. in general, what has been upsetting agriculture more than anything -- i'm gonna focus especially on the road croft's line of it. you could put out an acre with direct and put a soybeans for 70 bucks an acre. 144 corn. the high altitude of financial risk involved in forming across the spectrum is significant. we talked about usmca, other things we depend upon expanding markets across the world. if that doesn't mark it with the help of a federal government, we are making the hardest job gone created even more difficult. keep that in mind, in general. specifically, we are not the number one turkey producer but we are one of the top poultry producers in the country. avian flu is a big deal. i am part of legislation that wants to acknowledge that it is a known threat. we've been running into it far too often. still uncertain how it happens. we ought to be certain about protocol when it does occur. i am introducing some legislation that would try to regionally banned how you are dealing with it so you are not holding a whole state at bay in the process of navigating through it that is an issue from ducks turkeys chickens in our state and it is going to be around i want to make sure through this legislation that there is real definition on what happens to still be able to market your product once you know you have a case of it tell me what you think of that, under secretary taylor. and then i have another question, after that. maybe give me 30 seconds or so. >> thank you, senator. i think we have done a lot of work with trading partners since 2014 15. when we still have some challenges in some markets the reaction, globally, has been drastically different. they did not put whole country bands on it, which was what we were seeing initially. we work with the experts that afis to keep the smallest regionalized geographic area possible, depending on where those high path outbreaks are. i would offer our assistance in working with you on this bill on how our trading partners might react. also the experts on this disease will be critically important to say, what does the science say about how small region and what would make sense? we also have been working very quickly with the world organization on animal health. we have made great progress there on what the science says that it only helped us with our trading partners. >> i will hold you up to that. if you do that i think we will be moving in across the line. tampa's been something many farmers have been talking about trying to get into it. there is so much uncertainty about. it we do not have a real established infrastructure for it. i think that is going to happen overtime. when you look at how big the industrial markets are on hemp across the world, i think we need to start getting with. the senator tester and i have got legislation to create a new designation within the usda for a licensing framework for producers who only produce industrial hemp. producers who opt into this program would be barred from harvesting flowers and resin. an exchange would receive more regulatory certainty. again, i would love to see help from the usda to get some certainty to what is a very, kind, of flatulent fledgling market. would that be something you'd be comfortable with? >> senator braun, thank you for that question we will be happy to engage with her staff as you set up this bill and provide technical assistance. it's something that we can work on implementing, should that bill pass. >> senator tester is one of the few senators involved in agriculture. i think he still drives the tractor now and then. one final question, senator tuberville hit on it. the forestry side of life, it often gets not the attention it should. it is a long term product, invasive's are impacting forestry much more than it is rural crop. you've got chemicals in a defined field that generally get rid of that. there is stuff like still grass. not to mention the emerald ashmore that has eliminated what was about 8% of our trees, ash trees. will the usda, and is the usda, taking it seriously? because hardwoods in a state like indiana when you get through the full chance of agricultural sign. it seems to get second fiddle in terms of attention. >> senator brown, thank you for that question. forest pests are of an utmost concern for us and afis. i had the opportunity last year to visit the poorest material lab at massachusetts out on the cape to learn about the work and research that is being done on forest pass. as you described, there are many -- our national forest, state for us, all of our forests are a critical part of our network. and our agricultural economies in a row economies across america. we take forest pests very seriously. we continue to do advanced research and work with our partners across the world in advancing that research and make sure we are not introducing new pests as well in the effort. >> thank you. you,thank you, very much senatr hoeven? >> thank you, madam chair. thanks to both of you. the ranking member, senator both mantra holding this hearing today. i appreciate it very much. undersecretary taylor, i have a number of questions for you. thanks to all of you i appreciate you being here today. one of the problems that's very important to us in north dakota is the sugar program. the red river valley, which we share in the north and we share with minnesota. about a three billion dollar industry. obviously, it is important that we pass, that we get it right. i also want to remind you that this is very important to the chairman of the committee. they do raise sugar beets in michigan. i know it is a matter of great importance to our chairman, as well. don't make sure you are aware of that. it's about a three billion dollar -- >> we all like sugar. >> i know the ranking member is trying to downplay his intense concern for the program. >> i assure you. >> i'm not sure if they do any sugar beets in arkansas. they do other things. they like having the support on their crops. he's a strong advocate, as well. anyway, the policy is designed to provide a cost-effective safety net for our sugar producers and avoid research dumping the market which provides a low-cost consisting we american consumers. it is very important that the program administered in a way that is consistent with those in the farm bill. my question is, do you agree that usda, under your own metric, the department of acts metric, a stop to use ratio between 13 and a half and 15 and a half percent, is appropriate, one determining whether the sugar market is adequately supplied? i know that it kind of technical, but it's very important. it's a big impact for produces. thank you, senator hoeven. the sugar program is being experience between myself, under the trade and foreign agriculture mission, and undersecretary robert bonnie. this is a newer structure as usda was reorganized several years ago with the creation of my position. i believe, you know, we have long administer at the sugar program within that ratio. it is well known. it has been developed. to me the intent that congress laid out about adequate supplies and reasonable prices in the farm bill. we are committed to using that metric to manage the shooter program. >> we actually had -- me met with producers, we appreciate that very much. think it was productive to hear from that as well. based on your answer, when the market is adequately supplied, according to that measure, then you believe that you should not be allowing additional imports even though we have been getting pressure from markets to do that, sometimes. >> as long as we are meeting those metrics. >> correct, senator, that is how we have historically when the program and how we are running that program today. again we are trying to be transparent and how we are running the program in making those decisions. in addition, we have the suspension agreement with mexico, which lays out are tied to use ratio. i think that is an important component. i'm glad you touched on the. they're always pushing to increase their imports into our markets. i find that interesting that at a time when they want to restrict our corn exports to mexico. on the one hand we need to resist that, their efforts to jump into our markets. on the other hand they need to abide by the wto when it comes to genetically modified corn sales and mexico. do you agree with that? >> i do believe the provisions laid out within the usmca, what mexico committed to, our foundation they built upon science. we have grave concerns that their proposed ban on ge cohen walks away from that science that they have committed to. i was in mexico two weeks ago, meeting with my counterparts, to highlight our concern from what mexico has proposed. >> i've seen the acts secretary, secretary vilsack, pushing back. a trust y'all are gonna continue to do that. >> yes. they're >> very good, thank you. trade -- in the indo-pacific. obviously that is complicated. we saw a number of different approaches. tell me how you're going to expand the ability to use ellen trade in this market? >> i think that this is a very exciting part of the world. they have growing middle class is. they have growing economies. they have generally young population. when i think about vietnam, for instance, they are projected to add 5 million middle class households over the next five years. we have the ability, today, to build trading relationships to help our producers get into those markets, to build those long term relationships and create life and consumers of american food and agricultural products. i think that is huge market potential. we, at usda, are invested in these regions. we have our foreign agricultural service has teams on the ground in this region. we are working with u.s. exporters to get their products in. we have focused many trade activities. of course, we also have the indo-pacific economic framework. we are focused on, while it is still young -- >> that's why i bring it up. >> working on providing meaningful access to knocking down those non tariff barriers, and on the many factors today. we are interested to see where that framework could go to help advance u.s. agricultural interest in the region. >> i have joined in with senator thune on the letter like that. i appreciate that very much. i have a very pithy question on specialty crops. i know our chairman being an expert on specially croft will sufficiently grill you on that. i will pass on the. i will pass my time over to the -- >> thank you. thank you, senator. we look forward to working closely with you as we do the farm bill. last but certainly not least, senator both men. >> thank you madam chair. this has really been an excellent hearing. hopefully it is just the example of the hearings we are going to have in the future. like i said this has been excellent. the reason is so much of this is trade related. 40% of the products in arkansas are exported. we have to protect the markets that we have. the undersecretary taylor, like you say is such an important position. undersecretary taylor rice and wheat farmers in arkansas. rice and wheat farmer's about the country are seriously impacted by india's blatant wtov elections. can you tell us a little bit about what y'all are doing to -- in your partnership with ambassador makayla. how you are able to take steps to hold in the accountable? is there anything that we, as a committee or congress, can do to be helpful in that we're going? how can we make sure this egregious over subsidization -- those words aren't too strong. i think everyone agrees with the. how can we hold them accountable? >> thank you senator boozman. we continue to engage india and multilateral forms on this issue. raising questions within the wto. working, in years past, to counter notifications to bring out the truth behind the engagement edification policy here. with my team since i've been a usda i've been working on it, as i commit to you that i would. while we do have grave concern. it is one we are looking to address through multiple approaches. within, again, the multilateral forum. to try to bring some resolution, and certainty, to our rice and wheat producers who are seeing impacts from the subsidies. >> thank you. undersecretary moffitt, i want to acknowledge the incredible work that afis does. they do an excellent job in ensuring, the health and viability in u.s. animal agriculture. the agency's commitment to science based animal health protocols -- tell us again how we can help you, what you can do and also undersecretary taylor the whole deal, what can we do to push this forward? it really is kind of a common sense thing. what steps do we need to take to actually get this done so we can get poultry from these areas back in china and other countries? quick center boozman thank you for that question and your recognition has done. we have had over eight haired employees deployed over the portion of the past year at 800 aphis employees this is in partnership with the states are also lockstep as well as the industry. an implementing bio security measures and relate tackling and making sure every time limit uptick stamp it out as quickly as possible to do exactly that. to make sure the disease is not spreading beyond the borders about that one operation. appreciate your recognition as the success this has had and thanks in large part to funding that was received in the farm belt taking lessons learned from the 2015 outbreak. we have been working across the world with national vets across the world. providing strong epidemiological data. making sure that regionalization approach we've all agreed onto the world organization for animal health is being acknowledged and worked on. we are working on updating the work that we are doing so we are focused on the most at risk areas. the most at risk commercial operations so that we continue to advance and keep open as many markets as possible will continue to stamp out the disease. that strong relationship our veterinarian has with other national veterinarians has been able to keep open its undersecretary taylor mentioned keep open many markets we did not have open in the 2015 outbreak. >> very good. mrs. charles, again the focus is so much on trade. you have such an important mission. we are in a situation now or we have drawn down the emerson humanitarian trust for the first time in nearly 20 years. first on urgent need for emergency commodities for this all kinds of issues going on. very quickly, can you talk to us a little bit how we can met during this period may be in the subcommittee we can have you back and really discuss this issue. and go forward. >> i would be happy to come back and talk in more detail at the subcommittee and work with you if you want to reauthorize the farm bill. i think we have a lot to be proud of over the last many years and in particular the last year with the authorities you all have provided with the supplemental funding that congress more brightly broadly has respond including using tools like humanitarian trust truly extraordinary year. i think we can anticipate high levels of hunger in that year's account we would love to work with in greater flexibility to respond to that part. >> think all of you very much for the great work you've done. >> thank you so much. and thanks to each of you pretty very much appreciate your leadership and the roles that you are playing and having the opportunity to be here with us today. the trade and horticultural programs we discussed cover a lot of ground but one thing is very clear. these farm bill investments supports much needed economic opportunities both here at home and abroad for our farmers to very important part of the farm bill. look forward to work with center boozman as we craft these titles the record will remain open for five business days and the hearing is adjourned. 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