At the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) annual Washington Watch event in Washington, D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to talk with the Senior Director of Public Policy at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), RJ Karney, about policy and legislative updates.
“One of the main priorities for NASDA right now has been the focus and attention on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the dairy industry,” Karney said. “This has been one where we have been making sure there is a lot of collaboration occurring between the states and the federal government, ensuring that we understand this is an animal issue. This is one that NASDA, our state departments of ag and our state veterinary officials, and also APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) are working a strong collaboration to make sure they can find workable solutions for the dairy industry and members at large.”
When it comes to presenting the facts, Karney said messaging to consumers that pasteurization is effective is critical.
“That is probably what a lot of our attention has been on, but also ensuring that with the new federal order that came out- how is that going to be impactive for the dairy industry and the dairy farmers so that they understand what these new testing requirements entail. With our state department of agriculture and with our state chief veterinarian officers, how is that testing going to unfold.”
Staying ahead of these issues is also important, Karney said, which is why one of NASDA’s priorities is ensuring funds are available to tackle any new issues that may come forward.
Regarding the 2024 Farm Bill, Karney said the industry is looking forward to seeing Chairman GT Thompson’s markup of the bill before Memorial Day. Funding is the biggest hurdle, Karney said, but that is the nature of a Farm Bill.
“What we expect is to see a text of that bill released, probably sometime around May 16th or May 17th, with a markup the following week- the week of the 23rd,” Thompson said. “At this point, that is the first positive step we have seen in quite a while. However, as NASDA, our focus has been that this is a bipartisan bill and a unified bill that moves forward.”
