During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) questioned Dudley Hoskins, nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, about tackling animal disease issues.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ranking Member, and congratulations to both of you,
00:09and I welcome your families.
00:11Also, welcome to Mississippi legislators.
00:13We have four legislators here from our ag committees.
00:16We have Senator Neil Wally.
00:18We have Senator Andy Berry, Representative Vince Mangold, and Representative Bill Pygett.
00:22Welcome, and thank you for attending this hearing.
00:25As has been discussed many times, Mr. Hoskins, our livestock and poultry industries rely heavily on how USDA acts to protect our nations from foreign animal diseases,
00:38and we're currently experiencing a year-long outbreak of high-path avian influenza that has cost poultry and livestock producers tens of millions of dollars in lost flocks,
00:50biosecurity expenses, and disruption to domestic and international markets.
00:56You and I also recently discussed the outbreak of the New World screwworm in Mexico that has a potential to be very destructive in the U.S. livestock industry if we don't act now.
01:09So diseases like African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease are always too close for comfort,
01:15and we're quickly learning how important it is to be prepared for these outbreaks.
01:21I've long supported efforts to strengthen programs to help our producers prepare and respond to animal disease outbreaks.
01:28I applaud Secretary Rollins and the Trump administration for how they've handled these challenges already in the administration.
01:35And how do you plan to build on this work to ensure USDA is using its disease response resources to act quickly and effectively to protect American agriculture from these threats?
01:49And if confirmed, how can we support your work in tackling these challenges as a body?
01:55Well, thank you for that question, Senator, and for the time you allotted me in your office before today's hearing.
02:05I know you raised this issue and a multitude of others.
02:09I guess when I think about the infrastructure that exists at APHIS to address animal diseases,
02:16I think first and foremost to the 2018 Farm Bill, where this committee and members on this committee helped lead the effort to get the three-legged stool codified into law,
02:28which included the non-lab network, the NADPREP, Disease Prevention Response Program, and the Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.
02:39To me, that is a critical toolbox to APHIS in addressing and working with state partners in addressing animal disease issues.
02:48If I were confirmed, I would look to double down and help implement and expedite Secretary Rollins' five-point plan on high-path AI.
02:57I want to get clear-eyed in an assessment about what's working well and what's not,
03:02and if there's challenges with the biosecurity pieces, how can we best plug and play the agency's resources to help producers meet that mandate?
03:12And with screwworm, that is a devastating, just scary disease parasite,
03:19and what it does to the host is it's almost 100 percent fatal without detection and intervention.
03:25In Texas, I think the department eradicated screwworm in the 1960s,
03:31so Secretary and Rollins clearly took decisive action to prevent a potential incursion of screwworm.
03:38I would do everything I could to support that work, both with APHIS and the states and the stakeholder industry,
03:46to ensure we had the all-hands-on-deck approach we need.
03:50Thank you very much.
03:52And, Dr. Hutchins, Mississippi is a leader in agriculture research
03:57and very proud of the work that we have done across the state,
04:01especially in one of your alma maters, Mississippi State University.
04:04And as you know, these research initiatives support American farmers and ranchers in so many ways,
04:11including developing and improving crop genetics, advancing animal health capabilities,
04:18and creating new tools to fight diseases and pests that adversely affect production agriculture.
04:24In my lifetime, I have seen yields increase up to 400 percent at times because of these advancements,
04:32which must continue if we're going to provide a safe, abundant, affordable food supply.
04:38How will you work to strengthen partnerships with our land-grant universities
04:43and pave the way for new scientific advancements in American agriculture
04:48through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service?
04:54Senator, thank you for the question.
04:57Thank you for the time.
04:58Hail State.
04:59So pleased to be here and address that.
05:03As I've indicated previously, the land-grant institutions are on the front lines of many of these issues.
05:09They have the talent.
05:10They have the ability to educate and use extension.
05:14And at Mississippi State, for example, not so much a screw worm,
05:18but they had a very similar scenario with the boll weevil.
05:21And the ARS boll weevil lab combined with Mississippi State University actually developed a lot of the techniques
05:26and so forth to eradicate that and, if you will, push it back down into South America.
05:32So we'll definitely put the land-grant institutions at the tip of the spear to address these issues
05:37and do everything we can to support.
05:40Thank you very much.
05:44Senator Smith.
05:45Thank you very much, Chair.