USDA hubs, glyphosate lawsuits and MIHA – those and more were discussed at the Indiana Ag Policy Summit last Wednesday in Boone County.
The highlight of the day was a fireside chat featuring Gov. Mike Braun and Courtney Kingery of the Indiana Corn Growers Assn. and the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
Braun, a Republican, was asked to comment on Indianapolis being selected as a location for one of five USDA regional hubs.
"Getting anything out of (Washington) D.C is going to certainly make it closer to the people who interface with those agencies, not to mention it would probably reduce the cost by about 60, 70 or 80%," Braun said. "So, I love it, and I love the fact that we're one of the five states. It's going to be a significant move."
As part of the plan, USDA will relocate approximately 2,600 Washington-
based positions to five regional hubs. In addition to Indiana, the four other hubs are in Utah, Colorado, Missouri and North Carolina.
Last Friday, USDA opened a public comment period on the department's reorganization plan. Comments will be accepted through Aug. 26.
Braun pointed to recent visits by agency heads as evidence that Indiana is on the right track with its policies. One of those agency heads is Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He visited Indiana last Tuesday to announce the repeal of EPA's climate change policy that was used by the previous administrations to justify regulations for motor vehicles and engines.
"That was a big deal yesterday," Braun said, adding that farmers should benefit from having a more friendly EPA.
Regarding conservation, Braun said he expects to see a continuation of programs that incentivize soil health and cover crops. However, he supports efforts to reduce the size of government, which is the main reason behind USDA's reorganization plan.
He added that farming is more difficult now than several decades ago, with higher costs and tighter margins. He said the role of government is "to make sure you don't overburden with stuff that doesn't need to be there, because the margin of benefit isn't there. I'm going to be attentive to that."
The governor was asked to comment on his Make Indiana Healthy Again (MIHA) initiative, patterned after the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) program, which is championed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Kingery said the idea of regulating food production can "scare people a little bit."
Braun said when "D.C. descends on the real world," it can be "scary." He added that the MAHA and MIHA initiatives are about promoting prevention and wellness, not expensive remediation.
"That's where the heart is in Making America Healthy Again," Braun said.
He said he has talked with Kennedy about the impact of eliminating an important herbicide, glyphosate. The manufacturer, Bayer, is facing numerous lawsuits that threaten the existence of the product.
Braun said he told Kennedy that if glyphosate were banned, it would cause crop yields to decline and cut into profit margins for farmers. On the other hand, the governor said he is sympathetic with Kennedy's desire to reduce the amount of processed foods that are available.
"It's all clear that the more we can go from the farm to market and have as little processed stuff in there, it creates opportunities in the ag area," he said.
If the MIHA produces new opportunities in agriculture, Braun said, it will happen as farmers look at a changing market, find new revenue streams and capitalize on those opportunities.
"Never rely on what was working in the past as a guarantee to take you into the future," he said. "So, look at new ways of doing things. I think this (MIHA) opens up a ton of opportunities, farm to market, and you're still going to keep a lot of what's already in place in play because that's not going to go away."
One example he listed was artificial dyes in food. He said dyes will have the same fate as trans fats. The food industry, including farmers, will pursue innovation.
"Here, my advice would be to look at the opportunities there," he said. "Don't dwell on what might force you to do things a little differently."
As an example of innovation, Kingery pointed out that Indiana is the world's No. 1 producer and processor of high oleic soybeans. The soybeans contain a heart-healthy seed oil used to fry and bake foods.
Earlier in the day, Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, provided an update on the latest developments in the state's agriculture industry. He said the industry is "very strong and it's getting stronger every day." He attributed the industry's strength to the resiliency of farmers and the overall ag industry.
"We're not in easy times right now," he said.
Regarding the governor's MIHA initiative, Lamb said, "The biggest thing is, agriculture is not the problem. Agriculture is the solution. It doesn't mean that we have to change the way we do things. So much of the healthy movement is about people's habits, people's buying habits and the way we eat. We need to improve our health. There's no doubt about that. We in agriculture would be silly if we didn't acknowledge that."
In April, Braun issued an executive order asking ISDA, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the Department of Health and the Board of Animal Health to look at barriers to local food.
Lamb said local food is already available at farmers' markets, but more needs to be done to make it available on a large scale. This will impact the processing and packaging sectors; corn and soybean growers would see minimal effects.
"It doesn't necessarily affect the corn and soy industry," he said of the governor's local food initiative. "It's an add-on. It doesn't have to be an either-or. It's an 'and.'"
Regarding the USDA hub announcement, Lamb said few details are known at this point.
The hub "can be five people in an administrative office, or it can be a couple hundred people in a whole division," he said.
Lamb added that he and others who traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins shared their vision for USDA's presence in Indiana.
"We would really love to see NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) here, we would love to see FSA (Farm Services Agency) here, we would love to see RMA (Risk Management Agency) here, I'd love to see that FPAC (Farm Production and Conservation) division here. As a corn and soybean farmer, I think that would be awesome. I have no idea if that's even possible."
Lamb said that Indiana ranks third nationally in cover crop acres, despite ranking only 38th in size.
Lamb said international trade is vital to Indiana's agriculture industry. With the ever-changing tariff policies coming from the White House, trade is difficult to track. China has been a major trade partner for the U.S., especially in agricultural goods. However, Lamb said "we're preparing for that not to be the case in the future." As a result, ISDA's efforts will focus on developing other markets.
Finally, Frank Wong, director of stakeholder relations for Bayer, discussed the situation with the company's glyphosate product, Roundup. He urged farmers to contact their state and federal representatives to defend the continued use of glyphosate. He also asked them to share their stories on social media, explaining how the product helps them increase yields and promotes sustainability.
Wong said the lawsuits are based on unscientific claims and added that glyphosate is a proxy for all technology used in agriculture.