Agriculture

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Agriculture Committee Members Rep. Jim Costa (Chair of Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture) and Rep. Dusty Johnson (Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture), with Rep. Salud Carbajal (Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation)  and Rep.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR 5) introduced bicameral, bipartisan legislation to improve public health preparedness by ensuring federal agencies advance a “One Health” approach—the idea that human and animal health are linked, and that they should be studied together—to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks.

Washington, D.C. – Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) today along with 100 of his colleagues, led a bipartisan group of Members in a letter to Michael A. Khouri, Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission, voicing concern over reports that certain vessel-operating common carriers (VOCCs) are declining to ship U.S. agricultural commodity exports from U.S. ports.

VOCCs serve as an integral link between American producers and overseas customers, without which contracts cannot be met and the ability to compete in or even access foreign markets is threatened.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Angie Craig (D-MN) and Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) reintroduced the bipartisan Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters with Cover Crops Act (FEEDD Act). The FEEDD Act will provide farmers and ranchers emergency flexibility to help alleviate livestock feed shortages during planting seasons with high levels of prevent plant due to extreme moisture or drought. U.S.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) announced his appointment as the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock & Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee. Johnson is the first Northern Plains congressman to be selected as top Republican of this subcommittee in nearly 40 years.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act. This legislation will allow state inspected meat to be sold across state lines through e-commerce, allowing small producers and processors more options to directly market to consumers.

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced the PRICE Act, a bill that provides greater price reporting and transparency, comprehensive risk management solutions, bolsters small processor and producer-owned cooperative processing opportunities, and updates the Packer and Stockyards Act to create a cattle contract library.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced the PRICE Act, a bill that will increase transparency in the cattle market, improve risk management, and support new and expanding meat processors. Earlier this year, the U.S.

PRICE Act Section by Section .PDF

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) made a statement following President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $14 billion for agriculture producers still struggling from COVID-19 supply chain disruption. The second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) will begin September 21 and run through December 11, 2020.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act – this bill authorized a critical pandemic program for American families – the Farmers to Families Food Box. Since March, more than 62 million families across the country have received food boxes.

Billions of dollars have been wiped off the balance sheets of the nation’s ethanol producers as demand for gasoline during the pandemic “cratered,” the head of the American Coalition for Ethanol said Wednesday.

Brian Jennings, the group’s CEO, predicted that pre-pandemic demand for gasoline won’t return until 2022. Until then, the industry is looking to expand into other markets and hoping to offset domestic production barriers with international trade.

Today, the House Agriculture Committee’s Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations Subcommittee held a hearing to review the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box program. After the hearing, Subcommittee Ranking Member Dusty Johnson (SD-AL) and Committee Ranking Member K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) released the following remarks:

Remarks as prepared for delivery: 

Thank you, Madam Chair.

When Secretary Perdue announced the creation of the Farmers to Families Food Box program, I was excited. 

This was a way to expeditiously assist producers—many of whom were plowing over crops or dumping milk because of supply chain disruptions—as well as consumers who found themselves in circumstances beyond their control, and in great need. 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act. This legislation will allow state inspected meat to be sold across state lines through e-commerce, allowing small producers and processors more options to directly market to consumers.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM), both members of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to address the urgent issues facing America’s agriculture economy and food supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the Farming Support to States Act would provide states access to immediate, flexible funding to ensure farmers and rural businesses have the tools needed to respond and rebuild more resilient supply chains right here in South Dakota. U.S.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) today requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allow meat and poultry products that have been inspected by state-approved meat and poultry inspection programs to be donated or sold across state lines.

Washington, D.C. – Along with 24 of his U.S. House colleagues, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide the findings of the agency’s beef pricing investigation to Congress as soon as possible. Following the announcement of the USDA’s Packers and Stockyard Division investigation in August of 2019, Secretary Perdue extended USDA’s investigation last month to determine the causes of divergence between live beef and box prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Austin Scott (GA-08), along with several House colleagues, introduced legislation to increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) response to COVID-19. The legislation would provide an additional $50 billion for USDA to expand relief efforts for farmers and ranchers. Click here to read the full bill. 

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) today applauded a deal that will refill funds for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In South Dakota, more than 11,324 small businesses received funding through the PPP, amounting to over $1.37 billion in loans. The deal is headed to the president’s desk. 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today led a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to take immediate action to assist pork producers and maintain the pork food supply chain. The letter follows the closure of the Smithfield processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Smithfield also recently announced the closure of its plant in Martin City, Missouri, which receives raw materials from the Sioux Falls plant.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) today urged President Trump to oversee a comprehensive, multi-agency investigation following continuous cattle market volatility. In 2019, Johnson urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide a thorough investigation to producers following cattle market volatility after the August 2019 Holcomb, Kansas, Tyson beef processing plant fire.