Updated: Vilsack Sizes Up BBB Items for Ag Sector in Interview

Next steps for infrastructure measures in House after second attempt fails

In Today’s Digital Newspaper

Market Focus:
• USDA daily export sales:
— 279,415 metric tons (MT) of corn to Mexico during 2021-2022 marketing year
— 132,000 MT soybeans to unknown destinations during 2021-2022 marketing year
— 222,350 MT soybeans received during reporting period to unknown, 2021-2022
• Consumer spending rose 0.6% in September
• Mixed bag on key inflation readings
• Surging energy prices drove up euro zone’s inflation to 4.1% year-on-year
• Yellen still says inflation in transitory and energy prices will moderate
• Global semiconductor shortage is worsening
• $5-billion pledge for California ports
• Malaysia agrees on boost to windfall profit threshold tax
• Corn and soy complex firmer, varied wheat action overnight
• Malaysia announces changes for palm oil
• China’s coal futures post biggest weekly decline in five years
• Russia raises wheat export tax for Nov. 10-16
• Cattle futures ignore cash fundamentals
• Cash hog index continues to fall, pork cutout firms

Policy Focus:
• Second Democratic attempt to pass BIP bill went down in embarrassing no-vote situation
• Next steps for infrastructure measures in Congress
• Vilsack comments on BBB and ag sector, other issues
• House Ag ranking member G.T. Thompson has a different opinion on BBB

Biden Administration Personnel:
• Senate will continue next week on Biden’s executive and judicial nominations
• Schumer announces more nominations on tap

China Update:
• China’s coal futures post biggest weekly decline in five years
• China Evergrande avoids default for second time

Trade Policy:
• USTR officials meeting with textile industry

Livestock, Food & Beverage Industry Update:
• NGFA outlines 2022 feed industry issues

Coronavirus Update:
• New cases of Covid-19 are down 60% in U.S. since peak of Delta variant-driven
• South Korea will ease several restrictions
• Russia imposes 11-day partial lockdown on Moscow
• NIH and grant recipient at odds over potentially risky coronavirus study in China

Politics & Elections:
• New poll shows Youngkin taking wide lead in Virginia gubernatorial race
• Bloomberg reports “plans to hold a tele-rally” for Youngkin on Monday night
• N.Y. governor’s race update

Congress:
• House on Thursday passed extension on transportation funding

Other Items of Note:
• Biden admin. may offer payments to immigrant families separated at border in 2018
• Shooting settlement

MARKET FOCUS

Equities today: Global stock markets were mixed but mostly down in overnight trading. The U.S. stock indexes are pointed to weaker openings. Asian equities finished mixed after a weaker start. Japan’s Nikkei rose 72.60 points, 0.25%, at 28,892.69. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 178.49 points, 0.70%, at 25,377.24. European equities are seeing losses. The Stoxx 600 is off 0.4% with most regional markets seeing losses of 0.3% to 0.7%.

U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow gained 239.79 points, 0.68%, at 35,730.48. The Nasdaq was up 212.28 points, 1.39%, at 15,448.12. The S&P 500 was up 44.74 points, 0.98%, at 4,596.42. Those marked record closes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq as strong earnings results more than offset a weaker-than-expected GDP tally.

On tap today:

• U.S. personal income is estimated to have fallen 0.4% in September, while consumer spending is estimated to have climbed 0.6%. (8:30 a.m. ET) UPDATE: Consumer spending rose 0.6% in September, as the Delta variant and supply-chain disruptions weighed on households.
• U.S. price index for personal consumption expenditures is out at 8:30 a.m. ET. UPDATE: Mixed bag on key inflation readings. While incomes fell 1% in September after edging up 0.2% in August, the Personal Income and Outlays report had a mixed reading on inflation. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) — consumer spending — moved up 0.6% in September, slightly more than the 0.5% increase expected. The PCE price index, a key measure of inflation, came in up 0.3% in September versus August, with it rising 4.4% on an annualized basis, just below expectations. But it marked an increase from the 4.2% rise registered in August. But the Core PCE Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, was up 0.2% in September from August, in line with expectations and under the 0.3% increase seen in August. On an annualized basis, the Core PCE Price Index rose 3.6%, matching the month-ago rate and just below expectations for an increase of 3.7%. This could give some comfort to the Fed relative to inflation being “transitory,” but the headline increase indicates that consumers are still feeling upward price pressures.
• U.S. employment cost index is estimated to have risen 0.9% in the third quarter. (8:30 a.m. ET)
• University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index is expected to fall to 71.2 from a preliminary reading of 71.4. (10 a.m. ET)
• CFTC Commitments of Traders report, 3:30 p.m. ET.

Surging energy prices drove up the euro zone’s inflation to 4.1% year-on-year, according to the consumer-price index for October, released today. Economists had expected inflation of 3.7%. The jump was mainly caused by soaring energy prices on the back of the gas crisis and a steady rise in oil prices. Both Germany’s and Spain’s data, published earlier this week, showed higher price rises than forecast. Monetary policymakers at the European Central Bank discussed “inflation, inflation, inflation” at their meeting on Thursday, according to Christine Lagarde, the bank’s president. Like other central banks, the ECB expects price rises to subside swiftly.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this morning said that she would still say inflation in transitory and that energy prices will moderate in the coming months. But markets and some industry analysts are no longer be on the same page as Yellen. There is an update on the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge, the PCE Deflator, this morning — see item above for results.

The global semiconductor shortage is worsening, with wait times lengthening, buyers hoarding products and the potential end looking less likely to materialize by next year, the WSJ reports (link). Demand didn’t moderate as expected. Supply routes got clogged. Unpredictable production hiccups slammed factories already running at full capacity.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index is firmer ahead of U.S. trading with several foreign rival currencies weaker versus the greenback. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is firmer, trading just above 1.60%, with a higher tone in global government bond yields. Gold and silver futures are under pressure in electronic trading, with gold under $1,794 per troy ounce and silver under $23.95 per troy ounce.

• Crude oil futures are little changed ahead of the U.S. trading start, with U.S. crude
around $82.80 per barrel and Brent around $83.80 per barrel. Futures showed similar patterns in Asian trading, with U.S. crude up one cent at $82.82 per barrel while Brent was up trading around $83.82.

• $5-billion pledge for California ports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg moved on Thursday to inject $5 billion in loan money to help modernize California’s seaports. The money won’t help aid the severe congestion that’s creating seaport chaos at present, but the two say that modernizing the ports and the truck and rail systems that serve them can prevent logistics nightmares in the future. “Our supply chains are being put to the test, with unprecedented consumer demand and pandemic-driven disruptions combining with the results of decades-long underinvestment in our infrastructure,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “Today’s announcement marks an innovative partnership with California that will help modernize our infrastructure, confront climate change, speed the movement of goods and grow our economy.” What the money would be spent on remains vague. The California State Transportation Agency, or CalSTA, listed port upgrades, more freight rail capacity, increased warehouse storage, truck and rail electrification, highway upgrades and other general categories as possibilities. (Source: Los Angeles Times.)

• Malaysia agrees on boost to windfall profit threshold tax. Malaysia’s Finance Ministry announced it has agreed on raising the threshold for its palm oil windfall profit tax effective next and will set the rate at 3%, according to Reuters. The threshold will rise to 3000 ringgit ($725) from a current 2,500 ringgit, the country’s finance minister told lawmakers, with the threshold applying to companies in Peninsular Malaysia. The threshold for companies in Sabah and Sarawak, the largest palm oil producing states, will be increased to 3,500 ringgit from 3,000 ringgit, he said. An economic outlook report for 2022 noted that the “continuation of the national B20 biodiesel program for the transportation segment, along with higher demand of crude palm oil from India and China, are expected to further support the production of crude palm oil.” The country has seen palm oil production fall after Covid restrictions halted workers coming into Malaysia from countries like India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. It is not clear how much impact the higher threshold tax may have on the industry as it recovers from the Covid pandemic.

• USDA daily export sales:

— 279,415 metric tons (MT) of corn to Mexico during 2021-2022 marketing year
— 132,000 MT soybeans to unknown destinations during 2021-2022 marketing year
— 222,350 MT soybeans received during reporting period to unknown destinations, 2021-2022

• NWS weather: Strong storm system will continue to bring widespread showers and thunderstorms, including the risk for flooding, to the East... ...Showers and storms, as well as some higher elevation mountain snow, will move through the Northwest and Northern Rockies... ...Seasonably warm temperatures for much of the High Plains will turn cooler behind a cold front by Sunday.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Corn and soy complex firmer, varied wheat action overnight
• Malaysia announces changes for palm oil
• China’s coal futures post biggest weekly decline in five years
• Russia raises wheat export tax for Nov. 10-16
• Cattle futures ignore cash fundamentals
• Cash hog index continues to fall, pork cutout firms

POLICY FOCUS

— A second Democratic leadership attempt to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill went down in an embarrassing no-vote situation. Progressive Democrats were the reason as they kept insisting both bills be voted on and that more information is needed for the social/climate change measure now totaling between $1.75 trillion and $1.85 trillion. Progressive leader Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) insisted that Thursday’s debacle was not progressives’ fault. “I told anybody that would listen that we did not have the votes for a BIF vote tonight,” Jayapal said. “The president did not ask for a vote today. I just want to be very clear about that. The speaker (Pelosi) did but the president did not. The president said he wants us to pass both bills, and that this coming week was going to be critical for that.”

Bottom line: Congressional sources say the Democrats will eventually approve both infrastructure-related measures.

— Next steps for House votes on infrastructure measures. Democrats will work on the matter into the weekend and prospects of returning early next week to pass both planks of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter to House Democrats last night the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill was delayed, but she noted that most who were not prepared to vote for the legislation as hoped yesterday have expressed their commitment to support it. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus made clear they supported the framework for the $1.75 trillion tax and spending package the White House presented, despite it lacking some of their key priorities such as lowering drug costs. Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement that the group “overwhelmingly voted to endorse in principle the entire Build Back Better Act framework,” which was announced yesterday. She also praised the bill, saying it would make “significant differences” for Americans through measures on child care, pre-K, health care and climate change, even as the same framework was “breaking our hearts” for leaving out items like paid leave.

Some note it could still take Democrats several weeks to set a final vote on their economic agenda. While progressives publicly backed the framework, moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have yet to give an explicit endorsement of the proposal.

— USDA’s Vilsack touts ag components of Biden BBB plan; says long-awaited ethanol aid close. We interviewed USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on AgriTalk late Thursday. Some initial highlights of what he told us:

• Biden’s Build Back Better makes $27 billion in new conservation funding.
• Funds, tax credits for biofuel industry are key in the BBB effort.
• ‘Nothing but good news’ in BBB for agriculture, Vilsack insists.

The framework agreement for the social infrastructure/Build Back Better (BBB) package includes several key provisions for agriculture, with Vilsack declaring there is “nothing but good news” in the package for U.S. agriculture and families.

Ethanol industry has several potential benefits in package. Several provisions in BBB will provide benefits to the U.S. biofuel industry, Vilsack told us Thursday. “There is a specific appropriation of $1 billion for the industry,” he said. “Secondly, there are a series of tax credits the industry could potentially take advantage of as it formulates low carbon fuel, and the combination of those two is a very positive aspect.” There are also possibilities for biofuels and/or ethanol production facilities to “be able to store carbon, to sequester carbon and there is a potential tax credit that they can benefit in the bill for that kind of storage capacity.” Plus, there will be an opportunity for the industry to participate in developing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), something which Vilsack noted is a potential market of some 35 billion gallons.

Conservation programs, other areas would see major boost. The BBB plan includes just over $28 billion in additional conservation program funding, actually a bit higher than the initial BBB package. When told some other programs now faced reductions basis the initial package, the USDA chief almost bristled. “Guys, it depends on how you look at this,” he stated. “At this point and time today, conservation spending is at zero. I mean… people have a tendency to do subtraction. I don’t see it that way. I see this as addition. The new conservation funding would go to programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the conservation easements effort. Later in the program, Vilsack asked the AgriTalk hosts when was the last time we invested so much money over a couple years in conservation programs? “Never… there are billions of dollars in additional assistance for forests to help avoid these catastrophic forest fires,” he commented. When you talk about $65 billion for broadband [contained in the BIF package]… today that is zero.”

Conservation spending actually went up in the revised BBB, as noted below:

Comments: The robust conservation funding, sources say, is all because of Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). “When the package was getting cut in half overall, she convinced her colleagues and the White House that investments in voluntary climate-smart ag and forestry programs was pivotal… and she delivered on that,” said veteran Washington ag contact.

“There’s a significant amount for rural housing, for rural economic development, for REAP… billions of dollars for the Rural Energy for America program,” Vilsack noted, with another $3 billion in renewable energy grants for USDA to provide assistance. “And that doesn’t even get into the way we’re going to strengthen American families,” he added, pointing to universal pre-school for three- and four-year-olds, additional help for college expense and lower health care costs along with housing help.

There would also be an additional $10 billion for nutrition programs, Vilsack said, including expanding the summer feeding program, which allows low-income Americans to buy more food during the summer months. “When they buy more food, it benefits everybody in the food supply chain, including farmers,” he observed.

As for debt relief for farmers, Vilsack said there is an “opportunity” to expand prior debt-relief efforts for farmers “who are in a distressed circumstance that have loans from USDA.”

While touting things that are in the BBB package, Vilsack also emphasized portions that were left out of the package, including the end of stepped-up basis. “Well, that’s not in there,” Vilsack pointed out, noting many had been concerned about that being included as a way to fund the plan. Plus, there is “nothing” in BBB that deals with or alters the current estate tax, he added. “The people that are paying for this are corporations that made more than $1 billion and didn’t pay any tax, and individuals that make more than $10 million per year or $25 million… they might pay a little extra tax,” he commented. “I think they can afford to do that. At the end of the day, tens of millions of American families are going to see their taxes reduced because the child credit continues and because the Earned Income Tax Credit is extended and increased.”

Plus, the bipartisan infrastructure (BIF) package is “paired” with the BBB to provide infrastructure investments, Vilsack said. The BIF package will bring improved broadband access to rural communities, he noted, “We get roads, better bridges, ports. Better inland waterways.” On the last point, Vilsack noted he was recently on the Mississippi River and said it took a barge more than an hour to go through a lock and dam that was around 90 years old. “You’re going to cut that time in half,” he added, which will be a “tremendous advantage” for exports.

As for increased IRS investment relative to enforcement, Vilsack pointed out that there is “pretty good evidence that hundreds of millions” in taxes are “not getting paid. To a certain extent it’s unfair to the rest of us that are paying our taxes — that we have to shoulder an additional burden or that are kids have to shoulder an additional deficit because folks aren’t paying their taxes. That’s not right.”

Vilsack also touted the investment on climate change and said there is nothing in the package that uses Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) authority for carbon. “We are confident that the program we announced last month, which will utilize the Commodity Credit Corporation, is a legitimate use of those resources as it is helping to create a commodity… a climate-smart commodity and the standards for climate-smart commodities so that there will be some clarity and some direction in the future as to folks who want to go to consumers and say, ‘buy our stuff because it is produced sustainably.’” By developing the climate-smart commodity effort, Vilsack observed that will allow the U.S. to be able to document how things were produced. “For that, farmers should be compensated, and they should also be able to legitimately participate in carbon markets that are privately operated,” he emphasized.

Other aid efforts are also coming. Regarding Wildfires, Hurricane Indemnity Program (WHIP), Vilsack lamented that the lack of staffing at USDA — the agency is shy some 4,000 to 5,000 workers compared with when Vilsack headed USDA in the Obama administration. Vilsack says this is a factor in implementing USDA programs now and ahead. But the WHIP+ for 2020 and 2021 losses is in the regulatory process, he said, noting that once USDA develops the regulation, it has to be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is a small agency that reviews regulations for all government agencies. He said it was possible to get the program rolling by year’s end.

As for aid to biofuel producers that was allowed for in the Covid aid package approved in December and that USDA announced in June would total $700 million and be available within 60 days, Vilsack indicated that aid was getting closer. Vilsack confirmed it has not yet been sent to OMB for their review. “It is ready to go. We just need to get the clearance from OMB and the White House, and I am sure we will get that very soon,” he stated. Vilsack informed that USDA has been working with OMB prior to sending the regulation forward. “It may physically still be here [at USDA], but because we have been working with OMB, once it goes over there it’s not going to take very long for them to sign off on that,” he said, “as they have already signed off on that.” USDA will announce in the “very, very near future” how those funds will be distributed to aid the industry that has gone through a very difficult period, Vilsack said, emphasizing that combined with the tax credits and support in the BBB effort it “should be an indication of support for this industry and the new opportunities for aviation biofuel.”

Background: Under the $3.5 trillion bill, the $1-a-gallon tax credit for biodiesel would have been extended for 10 years. The revised legislation would continue that credit only through 2026. It would then be replaced by a new clean fuel credit that could extend to other products, including sustainable aviation fuel and lower carbon versions of ethanol.

Comments: Vilsack clearly has formulated how he wants to present the BBB actions to U.S. agriculture — that this is additional funding for several efforts and he does not like to view it from the perspective that some portions are reduced from levels that were initially proposed. And he is quick to point out that provisions many expressed concern about relative to tax policy are not in the package as it currently stands. Vilsack continues to lament the regulatory process that an agency has to go through relative to the regulations needed to implement various programs such as the aid to biofuel producers and more. But that is not a new situation and is somewhat surprising that Vilsack has continued to lament this as little has changed in that review process from his prior tenure at USDA. Regarding biofuel aid and provisions in the BBB aimed at the industry, Vilsack is emphasizing the investments and funding that will be deployed, noting it is a “good indication of support” for the industry. That could suggest the U.S. biofuel industry could end up being disappointed in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) levels that are yet to be released by EPA, another regulation that is still in the review process.

— House Ag ranking member G.T. Thompson has a different opinion on BBB. Link to Rep. Thompson’s (R-Pa.) comments.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL

— Senate will continue its work next week on Biden’s executive and judicial nominations. The chamber is set to vote Monday on confirming the nominations of Beth Robinson to be a judge for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Toby J. Heytens to be a judge for the Fourth Circuit.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also filed for cloture, seeking to limit debate, on the nominations of:

• Rajesh D. Nayak to be an assistant secretary of the Labor Department;
• Jeffrey M. Prieto to be an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
• Isobel Coleman to be a deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development;
• Benjamin Harris to be an assistant secretary of the Treasury Department; and
• Jonathan Davidson to be deputy undersecretary of the Treasury Department.

CHINA UPDATE

— China’s coal futures post biggest weekly decline in five years. The most actively traded thermal coal futures contract on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange fell its daily limit on Friday and was down 27.6% this week. That’s the biggest weekly decline since September 2016. The contract has fallen more than half from its record high of 1,982 yuan on Oct. 19 but is still up more than 80% this year. China’s state planner said there is still a lot of speculation in the market and room to adjust prices lower, noting its investigation showed coal production costs are “significantly lower than current spot coal prices.”

— China Evergrande avoided default for a second time by making an overdue interest payment on dollar bonds shortly before a 30-day grace period ended.

TRADE POLICY

— USTR officials meeting with textile industry. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said that Ambassador Sarah Bianchi and Ambassador Jayme White will co-chair a roundtable discussion with the National Council of Textile Organizations today. The session is closed to the press so attention will be on any comments from participants after the meeting. Given those involved, expectations are that the situation in Xinjiang with forced labor will be a topic as that has altered global cotton trade patterns as countries turn to textile suppliers outside of China for product and China is in the process of retooling portions of their industry to import cotton from countries like the U.S. and Brazil, process that into textiles, and then export the products in a way to avoid sanctions that have been levied by the U.S. and other countries over forced labor issues in Xinjiang.

LIVESTOCK, FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

— NGFA outlines 2022 feed industry issues. David Fairfield, Senior Vice President, Feed for the National Grain & Feed Association (NGFA), writes that after another challenging year with Covid-19, the following are six issues that will be factors for the U.S. feed industry during the upcoming year as it strives to satisfy the growing demand for animal protein in a sustainable manner. The following are the six factors from Fairfield:

1. Supply Chain: “The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent surge in consumer demand has resulted in major disruptions within the food and agricultural supply chains, including those related to the U.S. feed industry. One example of disruption is the backlog of container ships currently waiting to unload at the West Coast’s shipping ports. Ongoing congestion and related transportation logistical obstacles threaten the ability of the industry to both import and export feed products.

“NGFA leads the Agricultural Transportation Working Group — a broad coalition of agricultural producer, commodity, agribusiness and food-related national organizations — that recently submitted an extensive statement to the U.S. Department of Transportation on actions that could be taken to improve the freight transportation system and mitigate supply chain issues.”

2. Labor: “The U.S. feed industry — like many other industries at this time — is struggling to fill open positions that are necessary to meet production, warehousing and transportation demands. Although a variety of factors are impacting the labor market, the Biden administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that will require Covid-19 vaccinations or routine testing for many employers presents yet another obstacle for the feed industry in hiring much needed and scarce qualified workers.

“NGFA has encouraged the administration to continue to recognize the critical infrastructure status of the food and agriculture sector and provide flexibility for agricultural employers to avoid the negative effects a vaccine mandate would have on the efficiency and reliability of the food and feed supply chain.”

3. Animal Food Safety: “Jan. 4, 2021, marked the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Even after years of rulemaking and issuance of guidance documents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still implementing provisions of this expansive law that fundamentally changed how human and animal food are regulated in the U.S.

“NGFA will be addressing anticipated actions to be taken by FDA in 2022 related to revising certain provisions with the FSMA animal food rule, proposed revisions to FDA’s definition for a “farm,” and continued use of voluntary remote regulatory assessments. In addition, NGFA will continue conducting industry training and educational programs to assist feed companies in understanding and complying with animal food safety regulatory requirements.”

“Covid-19 significantly curtailed the level of FDA inspection activity within the feed industry during 2021, but the number of inspections in 2022 could rebound. These inspection activities serve to formalize FDA’s compliance expectations under the FSMA requirements. As such, NGFA monitors inspection outcomes and communicates as necessary with FDA about situations when compliance expectations are not aligned with industry’s understanding of requirements.”

4. Climate: :The ability of the U.S. food and agricultural sector to continue as the world’s largest hinges on the availability of cropland to produce raw agricultural commodities. The abundant and affordable production of raw agricultural commodities is the beginning and most important part of a vibrant U.S. animal agriculture sector and feed industry.

As federal climate change policies are under consideration, NGFA has urged that climate change actions be directed at working land programs to achieve large environmental and economic benefits by incentivizing broader adoption of best management farming and ranching practices across potentially hundreds of millions of our nation’s best acres for agricultural production. In contrast, NGFA continues to oppose the use of policies that idle non-targeted cropland, which reduces U.S. agriculture output, hurts rural economies, and causes a net increase in atmospheric carbon, due to the addition of global cropland to meet growing demand.

“NGFA also has urged FDA to modernize its policies related to feed ingredients that reduce enteric emissions, so products having environmental benefits for animal agriculture can reach the market in a more efficient manner.”

5. African Swine Fever (ASF) Virus: “With ASF virus in 2021 reaching the Western Hemisphere for the first time in 40 years, the U.S. feed industry in the coming year will keep playing an important role in safeguarding U.S. animal agriculture from foreign animal diseases.

“Feed industry efforts in this area will include gaining a better understanding of the role feed and feed ingredients serve as potential vectors for disease, enhancing practical biosecurity protocols, implementing disease response and preparedness plans, interacting with FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on potential regulatory responses, and examining further research on feed-mitigation measures. Continued focus also will be placed on imported grains and feed ingredients that originate from countries where foreign animal diseases are of concern, and how the potential risk associated with these products can be minimized.

“NGFA in 2022 will continue to be engaged in forums with other industry stakeholders and regulatory agencies to address the potential introduction of foreign animal diseases, including the ASF virus, into the United States via grain and feed products and advocate that a science- and risk-based approach be utilized to address this issue.”

6. OSHA: “On the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) front, the anticipated implementation of the Covid-19 ETS during 2022 takes center stage. The ETS was issued in response to President Biden’s Sept. 9 order for a regulation requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate workers get fully vaccinated or be tested weekly for Covid-19.

“NGFA actively participates in the ‘Employers Colvid-19 Prevention Coalition’ and has urged that implementation of the ETS: 1) be consistent across states; 2) allow employers flexibility to continue with existing vaccination policies; and 3) provide a qualified exemption for industries including agriculture, truck drivers, warehouse operators, food manufacturers, and others critical to the nations critical infrastructure supply chain.

“In addition, NGFA has expressed its willingness to partner with the administration to develop solutions and educational programs that will expand the number of vaccinated workers in rural America without introducing additional Covid-related risks to the agricultural supply chain.”

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

— Summary: Global cases of Covid-19 are at 245,595,195 with 4,983,764 deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. case count is at 45,826,252 with 743,362 deaths. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center said that there have been 417,795,437 doses administered, 191,242,432 have been fully vaccinated, or 58.3% of the U.S. population.

— New cases of Covid-19 are down 60% in the U.S. since the peak of the Delta variant-driven wave in September. They’re even farther down from the country’s worst pandemic phase in mid-January. Experts are cautious about saying the worst is over and say the biggest challenge right now, besides lagging vaccination rates, is upcoming colder weather and annual holiday travel and gatherings.

— South Korea’s prime minister said the country will ease several restrictions as it tries to “live with Covid-19”, with hopes to lift all measures by February 2022. More than 72% of South Koreans are vaccinated, though cases have been rising recently.

— Russia imposed an 11-day partial lockdown on Moscow as Covid-19 infections and deaths broke new records; nearly 1,200 Russians died within 24 hours. Vladimir Putin expressed frustration that his countrymen have dragged their feet when it comes to taking the Sputnik V vaccine, which has been available for nearly a year; only a third are fully vaccinated.

— The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a grant recipient are at odds over the reporting and handling of a potentially risky coronavirus study in China. EcoHealth Alliance pushed back this week against an assertion by the NIH that it failed to promptly report the result of the 2018 experiment, and to meet another requirement of a $3.4 million grant to study the risk to humans of coronaviruses circulating in bats in China. EcoHealth awarded part of its NIH grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese research institute at the center of a debate over Covid-19’s origin. NIH, under pressure from Congress to be more transparent about its oversight of risky research, said that viruses studied under the EcoHealth grant are genetically very distant from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and couldn’t have caused the pandemic.

POLITICS & ELECTIONS

— New poll shows Youngkin taking wide lead in Virginia gubernatorial race. Fox News reports (link) a new Fox survey shows Glenn Youngkin (R) leading Terry McAuliffe (D) 53%-45% among likely voters, a “big shift” from a 51%-46% McAuliffe lead in a similar survey two weeks ago. Among the larger poll of registered voters, Youngkin leads 48%-47%, a shift from a 52%-41% McAuliffe lead in the previous survey. The poll was conducted jointly by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company (R) and surveyed 1,212 registered voters, including 1,015 likely voters, from October 24-27.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports (link) Trump “plans to hold a tele-rally” for Youngkin on Monday night, “a day before the Virginia gubernatorial election and as Democrats, including President Joe Biden, seek to goad the former president into campaigning for the Republican candidate.” Youngkin, Bloomberg says, “has tight-roped between embracing the former president, while also keeping him at a distance.”

— N.Y. governor’s race: New York Attorney General Letitia James has told union leaders in recent days that she will challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, potentially setting up a competitive primary after the resignation of former Gov. Cuomo.

CONGRESS

— House on Thursday passed an extension on transportation funding that was due to run out Sunday. They now have until December 3 to vote before the funding lapses again, but Democratic leaders hope to have the larger Build Back Better/reconciliation bill done by then.

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE

— Biden administration is in talks to offer payments to immigrant families that were separated at the border in 2018 as part of then-President Trump’s so-called zero-tolerance enforcement policy. The U.S. gov’t is considering payments of about $450,000 a person in compensation, as several agencies work to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma. About 940 claims have so far been filed by the families. Most of the families that crossed the border illegally from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. included one parent and one child. The total potential payout could top $1 billion.

The considered payments to families at the border did not bring a positive response from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who tweeted, “Pres Biden reportedly wants to pay a billion dollars to illegal immigrants in the middle of a record-setting border crisis What in the world is he thinking???”

— Shooting settlement: The U.S. gov’t will pay $88 million to families of those killed in the 2015 shooting at a Black church in South Carolina and to survivors, settling lawsuits over a botched FBI background check that allowed the gunman to buy his weapon.