| Overall, the hearing was very joyous. Merrigan was applauded when she was introduced, and she was joking around during her introduction and as she began her statement. She was introduced with high praise by Sen. Pat Leahy, who she worked under for 6 years when he chaired the Ag Committee and she was a staffer.
Merrigan spoke about "returning home to the committee" and pledge that, if confirmed, she will always prioritize answering the concerns of the committee and their calls for input at the top. She said that every citizen needs agriculture to survive and she called the 2008 farm bill a "masterful piece of legislation" and expressed gratitude for the hard work of committee members and staff to bring about the "historic law."
With the 2008 farm bill behind us, the USDA has been working for a year to implement it. Obviously it was working under a lame duck Bush administration until now, and it was very clear from all of the nominees statements that they will approach their new jobs with renewed efforts to expedite the implementation of the 2008 farm bill. Merrigan noted that she worked with Leahy to pass the National Organics Program in 1990 and it took a full 12 years to see it implemented. She does not want to cause delays like that to the committee in the future and pledged to carry out the farm bill quickly.
Last, she commended the CSP program (Conservation Stewardship Program - one of the very best programs in the farm bill and of the USDA) and noted that one of her priorities will be recognizing farmers as environmental stewards. Last, she promised to assist the committee's efforts in the child nutrition reauthorization, a bill they are working on right now, and said it's her passion to help get nutritious foods (particularly fresh fruits and vegetables) to kids.
It was after this statement that Chambliss decided to go after her. He said:
I do have some concerns that in promoting your passion for organic and sustainable agriculture that you tear down other types of agriculture and those with another point of view.
I was practically on the floor laughing. If that's his problem with her, then we picked the right girl for the job when nearly 90,000 of us signed a petition asking Vilsack and Obama to choose Merrigan!!!
Chambliss continued, quoting something Merrigan said in one of her publications. Then he said:
I would simply remind you that farmers and ranchers are the biggest environmentalists we have in America because they make their living off the land... I think it's your lack in balance that concerns me the most... There is no logic to believing that any one method of production is any better than another.
He added that:
As many arguments as there are FOR organic agriculture, there are just as many arguments against it... At the USDA your job isn't to focus on one type of agriculture at the expense of the others.
Hehehehehe. Chambliss offered her an opportunity to make her statements more "moderate" later in the hearing. But it got even better when Harkin took the floor once again, speaking in defense of Merrigan and organics!!!!!
In her response, Merrigan said that she grew up in rural America, in a home next to a farm that was lost to housing development and commercial enterprises. She said, "Being in rural America, American agriculture is part of who I am. Coming to the Deputy job, I would see it as a great opportunity to represent all kinds of agriculture."
Merrigan continued, saying that "Organic is a small slice of the pie." She noted the "important, disappearing middle" in agriculture - mid-sized farms that are still forced to either get big or get out. She said she wants to find ways to encourage these mid-sized farms through conservation programs. She added that she understands that 20% of farmers produce 80% of our food and listed off her history in working on programs other than organics. She said, "I'd like my history before to the committee to be more than just those articles," noting that they're "provocative" and encouraging the committee to consider the range of her work as well.
The best part for me was when Harkin spoke again. He said that organics might be small but it's the fastest growing part of agriculture - even in Iowa. He said: "We used to have a saying in Iowa if a young person wanted to get into agriculture, he did hogs." Today, Harkin said, that's not a viable entry way into ag. Organics is. People with just a few acres can sell organics and get a good cash flow with premium prices.
Next Harkin spoke about the work his committee did in promoting organics in the 2008 farm bill. He also said that he has spoken with grocery chains and was frustrated that they report their need to import organics because there aren't enough produced here. In classic Harkin fashion he said, "That doesn't make sense to me." He concluded, saying that it seems we need to do all we can to help these organic producers and he hopes that Merrigan will provide strong leadership in that area.
After making that statement, he asked Merrigan about the Conservation Stewardship Program (formerly known as the Conservation Security Program). CSP is a conservation program that pays farmers who engage in conservation & stewardship techniques on working agricultural land. If fully funded, it could absolutely revolutionize the way the government funds agriculture (in my opinion) because it pays farmers based on stewardship instead of based on yield. He said that in the last farm bill, eligibility for the program was expanded from just watersheds to the entire country. He asked if Merrigan has any views on it.
Merrigan has already been outspoken in her support for CSP (you can see my summary of her testimony on it here). She reiterated that she thinks CSP is a wonderful program. She loves its effort to "reward the best and motivate the rest." She said she wants to work with Sec. Vilsack to put it "right there on the front line" as quickly as possible because she loves the basic concept of rewarding farmers for stewardship.
The last question to Merrigan came from Sen. Roberts (R-KS). He noted farmers facing increased costs, declining prices, and unpredictable weather (including 30 inches of snow in his home state recently). He said:
Our farmers & ranchers are asking what's gonna happen in regards to farm program policy? What additional regulations will they impose? How much of the safety net will they cut away and give to other priorities?
Clearly, he is worried about Vilsack's recent support of Obama's call to end subsidies to agribusinesses that don't need them. When Vilsack spoke out on the subject, he pitted farmers against hungry children, implying that the money should be taken from subsidies and placed into child nutrition programs. Roberts asked Merrigan "How will you make sure the concerns of all of agriculture are addressed?" (I assume that, like Chambliss, he was also referring to Merrigan's love of sustainable agriculture when he posed the question.)
Merrigan replied that her students will tell you that they come to class talking about "family farms" and "factory farms" and she tells them to drop the rhetoric because we are focused on helping ALL of agriculture.
The hearing ended early because the Senate had to vote and there is no doubt that each of the nominees will be confirmed in the near future. The other two nominees each received glowing introductions (Jim Miller's introduction by Sen. Kent Conrad and Joe Leonard's by Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick). Obviously the questioning of Leonard focused around the abysmal civil rights history at the USDA and all agreed he was well-suited to the job. The questions to Miller were more varied, from asking him about the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (by Sen. Thune) to inquiring about cap and trade to asking about upgrading the computer systems at the USDA.
I will find it interesting to see how Chambliss votes on Merrigan's confirmation. I will certainly follow up on this later this week. |
