Federal policy updates provided during Joint YF&R Leadership Conference
Members of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation (WyFB) and Colorado Farm Bureau Federation (CFB) gathered in Cheyenne Feb. 6-7 for the Joint Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference.
A series of breakout sessions on Feb. 7 highlighted relevant topics for young agriculturists, including a conversation on current federal policy updates led by Kelly Carpenter and Ashley House.
Carpenter is the policy advocacy director for WyFB, and House serves as the vice president of strategy and advocacy for CFB.
Their presentation shed light on the current status of several important policy issues including updates on the farm bill, water rights, labor and trade.
Farm bill
To start, House and Carpenter shared information on current conversations surrounding the farm bill on Capitol Hill.
“The farm bill is the cornerstone piece of legislation for ag, and the last one was in 2018 so it’s out of date,” House said, emphasizing her and Carpenter’s work involves advocating for modernization of the farm bill.
While the farm bill has not been updated since 2018, other legislation has been passed to bridge the gap and provide relief, including roughly $70 billion allocated for farm programs under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Ultimately, Carpenter and
House emphasized relief packages have been beneficial but still fall short of providing protections an updated farm bill would bring about.
In the time of decreased crop prices and increased input costs, Carpenter and House stressed farm bill reform is crucial to ensuring the future of American ag.
A markup process on the farm bill is set to begin in coming weeks, and Carpenter and House encouraged young producers to stay up-to-date on news surrounding the negotiations as meetings unfold.
Federal lands
Moving into western-state specific issues, Carpenter and House highlighted some changes to federal grazing regulations and public lands policy.
They noted an ongoing effort to update U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management grazing regulations, which are expected to begin coming to fruition in March.
According to Carpenter, these revisions are meant to focus more on “on the ground observations” to help streamline operations and create commonsense management policies, as well as aid in wildfire prevention, mitigation and post-fire recovery.
In addition, Carpenter noted the Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health Act and the Grasslands Grazing Act are two bills introduced in the Senate aimed at making headway in providing commonsense solutions for ranchers operating on federal lands.
Water
Regarding water issues, Carpenter and House discussed the current atmosphere of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and the ongoing crisis affecting the Colorado River Basin.
House explained every new presidential administration brings changes to the WOTUS rule, and the most recently proposed draft rule is “the most legally defensible rule” for ranchers in decades.
She added only an estimated 19 percent of wetlands in the U.S. would be under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency with the proposed rule, bringing more flexibility for farmers and ranchers.
In terms of the ongoing Colorado River Basin crisis, the pair noted tensions continue to surge regarding both water conservation and compensation for reduced water usage.
House and Carpenter made note of a meeting between governors of the Colorado River Basin states which was scheduled for Feb. 15 to assess ongoing issues.
Ultimately, the pair noted whatever solutions come about in the long run, they expect the conversation to continue to be a long, expensive process.
Trade and labor
Turning their attention to trade and labor, Carpenter and House discussed the H-2A visa program and policy affecting imports and exports.
“On the H-2A side, we’re struggling with the question of how to make our state competitive and attractive to workers,” said House. “Wage rates have a lot to do with this question, and over time, they impact a lot.”
House explained, while heightened wages are necessary to attract workforce, the methodology for determining wage rates comes at the expense of farmers and ranchers – sometimes to an extent which is too great for the operation to bear.
This results in difficulty supporting H-2A workers in industries which rely upon their labor, particularly affecting sheep operations in Western states.
House explained there are a lot of issues which need to be worked out in the H-2A program and encouraged the audience to keep an eye on provisions outlined in upcoming legislation.
Regarding trade, House and Carpenter noted opportunities to expand trade and help ranchers capture a premium on U.S. beef continue to be explored.
They also explained increased numbers of Argentinian beef will likely not be cause for concern when it comes to the competitiveness of American beef products.
In addition, they encouraged the audience to pay close attention to the topic of pesticide use as legislative conversations unfold, noting many aspects of the Make America Healthy Again movement directly oppose the implementation of pesticides, yet at the same time, farmers are dependent upon crop protection tools to keep up with food production demands.
In closing, House reemphasized the importance of staying involved with policy conversations and advocating for ag on all levels.
“It takes all of us in ag working together,” said House. “While we may disagree on the nuance of something, the only way the work gets done is to be unified as an industry.”
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
