00:00Member Shaheen, Secretary, so at the end of the year, we ended up with a one-year extension of the farm bill
00:06because we did not have agreement to update the counter-cyclical safety net like we need to,
00:12which, as you know, we're working on very hard.
00:14But with that one-year extension, we put in place $33.5 million in emergency assistance.
00:19For the $10 billion, excuse me, $33.5 billion, for the $10 billion that is market conditions-based,
00:27we put a number of conditions on it, one that you would start providing it within 90 days
00:32and that you would follow a format called WIP Plus, which we put in the statute back in 2017.
00:38You did both, and you started the process of dispersing March 19th.
00:45I think of that $10 billion, you're probably closing on $7 billion.
00:48You've already dispersed. In my state, it's about half a billion dollars.
00:52I think you already referenced the ranking member and other states as well.
00:58That is how we want to work with you.
01:00So I want to put right out front, that's how we want to work between this subcommittee
01:07and I think Senator Bozeman will tell you our ag committee, full ag committee, and USDA.
01:12So then I just want to step over and out of the weather-based, $20 billion.
01:17What's your plan on that for getting it going and kind of the format so we know we're getting questions on that now from our producers?
01:25That's right.
01:26So we are within days of announcing the application process.
01:32Of course, that's a little more complicated because we don't have the specifics and it isn't, you know, as you mentioned,
01:40in North Dakota, 15,794 of your farmers and ranchers have received money through that first tranche,
01:47through the first $10 billion, the emergency aid.
01:50On the weather-related programs, that application opens in the next week or two,
01:55and we will be moving very, very quickly.
01:59We realize that this is a long time coming, and it's related to disasters that happened a while ago.
02:06And so ensuring that we get that out as quickly as we possibly can with the team that we have in place,
02:12I'm really proud of, I believe, how efficiently and how quickly the team moved out that first tranche.
02:17And I believe that you'll see the same sort of efficiency and effectiveness with the second tranche.
02:22So it's within the coming weeks.
02:24And I know you have to wait until you get the data from the different locations that had the weather disasters.
02:31Like in our case, it was fires and ranchers.
02:34We lost lives, not only cattle, but lives of people.
02:38And so I know you have to wait to get that data, but you're thinking within weeks, time frame.
02:42Okay.
02:43By the end of the month, the applications will be open and we'll be moving out.
02:46Now, we've already moved out the $280 million to the Texas Department of Agriculture for the water issue in South Texas with the Mexicans.
02:56And so the ones that were specifically named in the legislation that you all worked on so hard, those have already moved.
03:03Those have been moving for a little while.
03:04But this next round, the big round, will be within the next few weeks.
03:07Yeah, and that's what I was referring to.
03:08Yeah.
03:09And that's, again, in line with what we passed.
03:12And so I appreciate that very much.
03:15Restructuring USDA.
03:15We all want to find waste, fraud, and abuse.
03:18We want to find savings, efficiencies, reductions.
03:21Clearly, here in D.C., you know, I think there's plenty of room for that in terms of reducing the size and scope of the bureaucracy.
03:27One of the keys for us, though, out on the ground, you and I have talked about it, and I know you know this, is FSA.
03:33Talk to me about how we make sure that we have those frontline FSA officers or employees out there working directly with our farmers and ranchers.
03:42That's, you know, key.
03:44So talk about it.
03:45So, again, yeah, we definitely – and we're seeing the reductions in the bureaucracy.
03:50Again, we want to find those, but we want the frontline folks out there, the hands-on folks.
03:55I don't know, at least at USDA, if there's any role more important than those frontline FSA offices, and those remain a priority.
04:05Of course, right next to that is our wildland firefighters as we're moving into wildfire season.
04:09That is extremely important in being operationally ready, which we are.
04:15Also, our APHIS, our veterinarians, et cetera, those are as important.
04:18But the FSA operators that are managing and working with our farmers and our ranchers every single day, it is not in our plan to close any of those offices.
04:29There are 4,500, I think, total across the country, which is a big number.
04:33But we're also working to be, again, more efficient with online, et cetera, technical assistance, et cetera, that in the future may not rely so much on an on-the-ground presence.
04:46But today, we can't rip that rug out from underneath our farmers and producers, and that remains a priority.
04:53I signed a memorandum, I don't know, maybe last week, all the days are running together, that put as a priority ensuring that those offices are fully staffed.
05:03As I know we all in this room know, often hiring in rural America is a little bit more difficult because you just don't have the numbers of people.
05:13But what I have told the team, and as we continue to focus on rural prosperity moving forward, is that finding the men and women out there, the patriotic Americans that are willing to work around the clock.
05:26We already have a lot of that in the FSA, but I think we can do better and more.
05:29So we'll be spending some good time on that moving forward.
05:32Thank you, Secretary.
05:34Excuse me.
05:38And I'm going to turn to our ranking member on the full committee, Senator Murray.
05:41Good morning.
05:42Good morning, and thank you very much, Chair Hovind.
05:45I look forward to working with you and with our new ranking member, Senator Schoen.
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