National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) reports:
What happened: President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, had her confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. She is expected to get full Senate approval soon.
During the hearing, Rollins agreed with Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who raised the issue, that Congress must address the problems caused by California’s Proposition 12.
Rollins said Prop. 12 “…is not just affecting California. It’s affecting multitudes of other states, multitudes of other parts of the ag community, including our hog family farms.”
Rollins committed to working with Congress on implementing a Prop. 12 fix.
NPPC’s take: NPPC supports Rollins’ nomination as secretary of Agriculture and is urging the Senate to quickly confirm her.
Why it matters: The Agriculture secretary oversees USDA’s various agricultural programs, including ones related to conservation, forestry, and nutrition policy, foreign animal disease preparation and prevention, and export promotion. The secretary in the Trump administration will help shape the new five-year Farm Bill.
