Senate Agriculture Committee ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is asking the Agriculture Department to outline its avian influenza response. Stabenow specifically is asking Acting Deputy Agriculture Secretary Michael Young to explain how the Trump Administration is responding to bird flu outbreaks around the country, according to the Hagstrom Report. Young is the highest ranking official at USDA right now. As Stabenow noted, USDA has found highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial flock of 73,000 chickens in Tennessee, and last week detected the same HPAI strain in a nearby flock. Two cases of low-pathogenic avian influenza were also discovered in Wisconsin and Tennessee, followed by three additional suspected cases in Alabama this month. In a letter to Young, Stabenow asked who is in charge of the effort to fight avian influenza, whether the Trump administration’s hiring freeze will affect the effort to fight the disease, and who will handle international trade questions about the presence of HPAI in U.S. commercial flocks, including restrictions that other countries place on imports of U.S. poultry.

A bipartisan letter including the signatures of 23 senators urged the Donald Trump administration to maintain the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The letter asks the White House to deny proposed changes that would “derail the current, successful program.” Led by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, the letter says shifting the point of obligation would give refiners little incentive to produce necessary fuel blends, making it difficult for downstream entities to comply. The point of obligation designates who in the fuel supply chain is responsible for blending biofuels, and is a mechanism that ensures higher blends of renewable fuels reach the marketplace. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor thanked the senators for the letter last week, noting that Growth Energy has consistently opposed any change in the point of obligation. Skor says changing the point of obligation would trigger a long and complicated rulemaking process, and create long-term uncertainty in the fuel marketplace.

Leadership from 11 major agriculture groups met with the White House last week to discuss trade issues. The meeting followed a series of written communications to the Trump administration from the groups under the banner of the U.S. Food and Agriculture Dialogue for Trade, organized by the Corn Refiners Association. The meeting focused on the importance of continued growth of food and agriculture exports. In a joint statement following the meeting, the groups said: “It is clear from this meeting and other interactions that the Trump administration understands and intends to pursue expansion of U.S. food and agriculture exports.” During the meeting, the agricultural organizations noted that 95 percent of their potential customers live beyond the U.S. border, and that the diverse food and agriculture sector supports more than 15 million U.S. jobs, creates more than $423 billion in annual U.S. economic activity, and is the single largest U.S. manufacturing sector, representing 12 percent of all U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Leaders of the U.S. Grains Council were in Mexico last week to hear customer concerns about the state of trade relations between the two countries. In meetings with top grain importers and government officials, the group focused on the importance of the U.S.-Mexico trading relationship to the U.S. farmers and grain traders who make up USGC’s membership. The Trump administration’s trade policy statements in recent months, combined with an election cycle in which candidates from both U.S. political parties routinely spoke negatively about trade, have caused serious concerns for USGC and its membership. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement, a target of the Trump administration, entered into force more than 20 years ago, the U.S. and Mexican agriculture industries have become increasingly integrated. Mexico is now the largest market for U.S. corn, the second-largest customer for U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles and a leading buyer of U.S. sorghum and barley. Grains Council CEO Tom Sleight says the group traveled to Mexico to “make clear that we are dedicated to sustaining, improving and expanding” trade with Mexico.

The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Sonny Perdue as Agriculture Secretary. The hearing Thursday, March 23rd, marks the next step in confirming Perdue to the President’s Cabinet. The Former Georgia Governor, Perdue, was announced as the nominee on January 19th. The formal nomination of Perdue was sent to the Senate Agriculture Committee by the White House March 9th. Financial documents that show Perdue will step away from his business interests, along with an FBI background check, were forwarded to the Senate panel earlier this month. Politico reports that Senate Democrats have signaled they will not block the nomination of Perdue, as they have with other Cabinet nominees by Trump. The hearing adds to a busy agriculture schedule in Washington, D.C. for the week, which includes a farm bill summit at the National Press Club and National Ag Day events.

American Soybean Association Chairman Richard Wilkins testified Thursday on the significant role that public-sector research plays in continuing the stream of technological innovations in agriculture. Wilkins testified in his capacity as vice president of the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research. In his testimony, Wilkins spoke to the user-driven nature of the public-sector research industry, and how stakeholders from all points in the farm-to-consumer supply chain benefit from robust agricultural research. Wilkins says tools provided through publicly funded research will help agriculture meet the challenges of the future. He advocated continued funding and support for research functions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wilkins says the U.S. is “not investing enough in publicly funded research to permit discovery necessary to regain and then maintain our nation’s place as the leader in agricultural research.” China recently overtook the U.S. as the top government funder of agricultural research.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union and others, are seeking more funding for the 2018 farm bill. In a letter sent to Congressional Budget and Appropriations Committee leaders this week, the groups asked lawmakers to consider providing more funding for the next farm bill, citing the current state of the farm economy. The letter follows a budget and estimates letter that the House Agriculture Committee wrote to the House Budget Committee, citing the possible need for more money in the next farm bill. The groups are seeking a stronger farm safety net and more resources for key priorities within the farm bill. The letter states: “We were the only sector willing to contribute to deficit reduction when the farm economy was healthy. Now we look to Congress to provide the resources necessary to help America’s farmers and ranchers through this very difficult period.”

President Donald Trump’s budget plan includes a $4.7 billion, or 21 percent budget cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The cuts would leave USDA with a $17.9 billion budget after cutting statistical and rural business services, according to Reuters. But, the budget detail did not give any information on which specific services would be cut. The White House also said it would eliminate the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program, which donates U.S. agricultural commodities to food-deficit countries. The cuts to USDA are drawing bipartisan opposition. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican, says he is concerned the cuts could “hamper some vital work of the department.” He says farmers and ranchers are struggling, and that Congress should “do all we can” to help them. His message to agriculture was that “this is the start of a larger process. It is a proposal, not the budget.” House Agriculture ranking Democrat Collin Peterson of Minnesota says the President’s budget request “demonstrates a lack of understanding of farm programs and their importance to rural America.” Peterson says: “The good news is this budget will be ignored, as it should be.”