Ag Headlines, Monday October 5, 2015

TPP Agreement Reached

The U.S. and 11 other countries have reached an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Trade officials were expected to officially announce the deal today (Monday) in Atlanta, Georgia. The Wall Street Journal reports For the U.S., the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement opens agricultural markets in Japan and Canada, among other things. Canada and Japan have agreed to increase access to their dairy markets, allowing some American dairy products in, but New Zealand also persuaded the U.S. to accept more of its milk products. The deal, however, must be approved by each nation’s government. The President’s administration must make the text of the deal public at least 60 days before sending it on to Congress. The Hagstrom Report says House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan stated today “only a good agreement — and one that meets congressional guidelines in the newly enacted trade promotion authority — will be able to pass the House.”

Likely House Speaker Says Highway Bill Will Get Done

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, who is likely the successor to outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, said Friday “we're going to get the highway bill done." McCarthy is currently the GOP majority leader and says the House will consider a transportation bill this month. The current surface transportation authorization expires at the end of October, meaning the House has limited time to tackle a bill. The Senate in June passed a six-year bill known as the DRIVE Act. However, the Senate bill only included enough funding to pay for three years of programs, according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. McCarthy pledged a six-year transportation funding bill that would not increase the federal gas tax. His comments come as Representative Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, urged Transportation Committee members to pass a highway funding bill on to the full chamber.

USDA Awards $34.3 Million to Support Local Foods Infrastructure

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Friday announced nearly $35 million in new funding through four grant programs to support local and regional food systems, including farmers markets. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is awarding $13.3 million in Farmers Market Promotion Program grants to 164 marketing and promotion projects involved with farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture and other direct-to-consumer outlets for local food. Since 2009, this program has funded 902 projects totaling over $59.2 million to support direct marketing efforts for local food. Purchases of locally-produced food have surged to nearly $12 billion while the number of farmers markets has exploded to more than 8,500 from 5,274 in 2009.

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