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'I Am Concerned': Klobuchar Decries Trump Admin's USDA Staffing Cuts
Forbes Breaking News
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5 months ago
During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in July, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke about cuts to the Department of Agriculture's staff.
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00:00
And now we will turn to our ranking member, Senator Klobuchar.
00:06
Well, thank you very much, Chairman, and thank you to Mr. Fordyce for being with us,
00:11
as well as his wife, Renee.
00:14
I also see that Congressman Graves, of course, is here,
00:19
as well as former USDA Trade Undersecretary Ted McKinney.
00:24
So we welcome all of your guests, Mr. Fordyce.
00:28
Mr. Fordyce, you've been nominated to lead a mission area
00:32
that serves a critical customer-facing role for America's farmers and ranchers.
00:37
Between your strong experience at the department
00:40
and your experience being a farmer customer of these agencies,
00:44
you clearly understand the mission and responsibility
00:47
to serve all of the farm production and conservation mission area.
00:53
The FPAC agencies, what a name.
00:55
The FPAC agencies are the federal government's front door
00:59
for producers across the country.
01:02
They administer programs that provide farmers with disaster recovery,
01:05
the farm safety net, access to credit,
01:08
and, of course, voluntary conservation programs.
01:11
I was just with corn and soybean farmers last week
01:14
from Senator Smith and my state,
01:17
who talked about the financial stress
01:19
from the commodity prices, trade policy, high input costs.
01:23
Unfortunately, this is showing up in the form of an uptick
01:28
in farm loan mediations.
01:30
In Minnesota alone, our Extension Service's
01:32
Farmer Lender Mediation Program
01:34
had nearly 1,300 mediation notices this fiscal year
01:38
by the end of June,
01:39
more than 50 percent higher than at this point in recent years.
01:43
As I have made clear many times,
01:45
I am concerned about some of the actions by this administration
01:49
during these difficult economic conditions
01:52
and that these conditions are exacerbated
01:54
by unstaffed or understaffed FSA offices,
01:59
what we are seeing with grants and contracts,
02:03
and then, of course, the tariffs.
02:05
Nearly two-thirds of regional conservation partnership program contracts
02:08
have been withdrawn without full explanation.
02:11
This includes two projects in Minnesota totaling $34 million in assistance
02:16
to the Board of Water and Soil Resources
02:18
and a county conservation district
02:20
for improving water quality and stabilizing soils.
02:24
Mr. Fortes, you are an experienced leader
02:27
with a track record of bipartisanship
02:29
and a passion for the mission of serving farmers.
02:32
As we discussed when we met a few months ago,
02:35
I hope you will work with me
02:36
and all members of this committee
02:39
to bring needed benefits for producers in this challenging time.
02:43
Congress provided $31 billion in economic and disaster assistance
02:47
to provide much-needed assistance for losses in 2023 and 2024,
02:52
while roughly half of this funding has made its way
02:54
into the hands of farmers,
02:56
those without crop insurance
02:57
or farmers with shallow losses are still waiting
03:00
and the structure of assistance is uncertain.
03:03
During your first stint at USDA,
03:05
as the FSA administrator has noted by the chairman,
03:09
you effectively reached out to a population of farmers
03:12
that had never participated in FSA programs
03:15
before in administering the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
03:19
We need you to use the same creativity here
03:22
so farmers who haven't traditionally utilized USDA programs
03:26
can access disaster assistance.
03:28
I look forward to hearing more about your vision for FPAC
03:30
and how I've confirmed you will work with this committee
03:33
in a bipartisan way to help farmers and ranchers across the country.
03:37
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
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