Aug. 15, 2018

The Honorable The Honorable Chairman Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow The Honorable Ranking Member Ranking Member Senate Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry

Dear Chairman Roberts, Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Stabenow, Ranking Member Peterson and Members of the Conference Committee:

The National Pork Producers Council, an association of 42 state pork organizations that represents the interests in Washington, D.C., of America’s 60,000 pork producers, writes to express its strong support for the conference committee’s work on a 2018 Farm Bill and, in particular, two provisions in it that will be considered during the panel’s deliberations.

Those provisions, one setting up and funding a robust Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank and the other protecting interstate commerce and prohibiting one state from regulating agricultural practices in other states, are vital to the viability of America’s farmers and ranchers and to their ability to produce safe, affordable food.

As you know, FMD is an infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hooved animals, including cattle, pigs and sheep; it is not a food safety or human health threat. Although the disease hasn’t been in the United States since 1929, it is endemic in many parts of the world, and our country is ill-prepared to deal with an outbreak should FMD reach our shores.

Without the ability to control the disease through vaccination, U.S. meat and dairy export markets – which would close immediately on confirmation of an outbreak – would remain shuttered indefinitely. Iowa State University economists estimate that would cost the beef, pork, corn and soybean sectors nearly $200 billion, with economy-wide job losses of 1.5 million over 10 years.

The House included in its Farm Bill first-year mandatory funding of $150 million for the vaccine bank, $70 million in block grants to the states for disease prevention and $30 million for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), which provides diagnostic support to assist in managing diseases in the United States. For each of the remaining four years, the bill has funding of $30 million for state block grants and $20 million to be used at the Agriculture secretary’s discretion for the grants, the NAHLN and the vaccine bank.

The Senate Farm Bill has language establishing an FMD vaccine bank but no funding for it. The legislation does include funding for the NAHLN.

NPPC requests that conferees include in the final Farm Bill full funding – $250 million annually – for the vaccine bank, state block grants and the NAHLN. Based on analysis conducted by Dr. James Roth, director of Iowa State University’s Center for Food Security and Public Health, it would cost $150 million a year for five years to bring FMD vaccine availability to the level necessary to control an outbreak in the United States. It also is imperative that states be prepared to deal with an outbreak and that the NAHLN be able to conduct tests for the disease. Without adequate funding, not only would the livestock and grain sectors face significant losses and consumers face compromised food supplies, it would cost the federal government $11 billion to stamp out FMD, according to a recent study by Kansas State University.

NPPC also urges conferees to keep in the final Farm Bill the “Protecting Interstate Commerce Act.” That provision, which is included in the House Farm Bill, has become necessary because two states – so far – are attempting to dictate the agricultural production practices in the other states by restricting the sales of products from those states.

California in 2010 prohibited the sale of eggs produced from out-of-state hens housed in so- called battery cages, which the state’s voters banned through a 2008 ballot initiative. (An initiative on this year’s ballot would extend the sales ban to pork from hogs born to out-of-state sows housed in gestation pens and to veal from out-of-state calves housed in crates.) voters in 2016 approved a sales ban on out-of-state eggs, pork and veal from animals raised in housing prohibited in the state by the same ballot initiative.

Such restrictions on interstate sales are a clear violation of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which grants Congress plenary power to regulate trade among the states.

Finally, NPPC supports the provision included in both Farm Bills establishing the International Market Development Program. It consolidates the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program, which have helped support export markets for U.S. pork and other farm products.

America’s pork producers are confident that members of the conference committee will craft a final Farm Bill that provides a safety net for farmers, that protects their livelihoods and that adequately funds programs necessary to ensure their ability to produce safe, affordable food for consumers worldwide.

Sincerely,

James Heimerl President National Pork Producers Council

Cc:

Sen. John Boozman, Ark. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vt. Sen. , N.D. Sen. John Hoeven, N.D. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Ky. Rep. Jodey Arrington, Texas Rep. Jim Costa, Calif. Rep. Rick Crawford, Ark. Rep. Rodney Davis, Ill. Rep. Marcia Fudge, Ohio Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Va. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, N.M. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Mo. Rep. Ann Kuster, N.H. Rep. Frank Lucas, Okla. Rep. Roger Marshall, Kan. Rep. Jim McGovern, Mass. Rep. Tom O’Halleran, Ariz. Rep. Mike Rogers, Ala. Rep. David Rouzer, N.C. Rep. Austin Scott, Ga. Rep. David Scott, Ga. Rep. Glenn Thompson, Pa. Rep. Filemon Vela, Texas Rep. Tim Walz, Minn. Rep. Ted Yoho, Fla.