Jimmy Parnell: Agriculture research funding needed
American agriculture has long been the envy of the world. Thanks to investment in plant and animal breeding, pest management, conservation and automation, U.S. farmers have more than doubled productivity since 1980, while reducing erosion and protecting the environment. If America is to remain a farming superpower, we must strengthen research efforts at our colleges and universities. That’s why Alabama Farmers Federation is calling on Congress to increase support for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Since 1921, the Farmers Federation has worked to build public support for agriculture and forestry. Securing funding for research at Alabama’s land grant universities was an early focus of the organization, and it remains a priority today. Each year, farmers set aside a portion of their harvest revenue to fund education, promotion and research through checkoff programs. Over the years, these voluntary efforts have provided millions of dollars to Auburn University and other research institutions. Likewise, private companies leverage the intelligence and innovation at our universities to develop new products and technologies. Still, public investment is needed to ensure American agriculture and forestry remain globally competitive. Alabama’s Congressional delegation has been supportive of agriculture and forestry research. But in recent years, Brazil and China have outpaced America’s commitment to food and agricultural research. In fact, China is now investing twice as much as the U.S. on potentially groundbreaking research to help farmers feed, clothe and shelter a growing world. NIFA provides a vehicle for coordinating research that can have immediate impact on the agriculture and forestry industries. In one example, over $18 million in competitive grants through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program have been awarded to research projects at Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, Tuskegee University and other state institutions. These AFRI grants, under NIFA, have allowed researchers to discover new ways for farmers to prevent infectious diseases that threaten farm animals; developed strategies to ward off pests that could affect soybean production; and helped farmers embrace data to increase profitability. h The Farmers Federation was founded in the decades following the passage of federal laws establishing land grant universities and Cooperative Extension Systems. Our country’s investment in the threefold land grant mission of instruction, research and outreach had a direct impact on the growth of productive and sustainable agricultural and forestry practices. By pairing the scientific curiosity and initiative of researchers with the innovation and hard work of farmers, America became the world leader in agriculture. Our farmers learned to produce more food and fiber with fewer inputs. We developed conservation practices to reduce erosion and create habitat for wildlife. Families were given access to a greater variety of high-quality, nutritious food. And, we were able to export much of this technology to help poor and impoverished people around the world. If the U.S. is to remain the leader in agriculture, we must invest in the future. Alabama’s 40,000 farms generate $70 billion in economic impact and create one in every five jobs. These men and women possess the work ethic, ingenuity and dedication to take agriculture and forestry to the next level. They are investing their own hard-earned money in research. We ask Congress to join us in keeping American agriculture the envy of the world. Jimmy Parnell is the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Alabama Farmers Federation.
First steel column rises at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA in Alabama
Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA has marked a milestone in its $1.6 billion project to build an auto assembly plant in Alabama, as the first steel column is now in place at the construction site in Limestone County. The development signals that construction is well underway on the plant, which will produce 300,000 vehicles annually. “Today marks an exciting milestone for the MTMUS team and the state of Alabama,” said Masashi Aihara, president of MTMUS. “We are fully committed to this project and we can now see the beginning of our new campus taking shape. “Soon, we will be proud to say, ‘Built in Alabama’ with pride.” Team members celebrated the milestone with a small gathering at the plant site. Highlights of the massive construction project include: 3 million cubic yards of dirt will be graded for site preparation — enough dirt to fill the Empire State Building twice. 150,000 cubic yards of gravel poured to create the plant foundation, equal to filling 46 Olympic-sized swimming pools. 2,500 construction workers projected to be on site by late summer. Despite a heavy rain season, construction of the advanced manufacturing facility remains on schedule, the automakers said. The construction project officially began last November with a groundbreaking ceremony. Mazda Toyota Manufacturing is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs at the Huntsville plant and is hiring professional staff and skilled maintenance positions. Additional job postings will be added throughout the summer, with production hiring starting later in 2019. Interested candidates can learn more here. Mazda and Toyota announced their plans for the Alabama facility in January 2018. This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
J. Pepper Bryars: Alabama should wait and watch before considering Medicaid
If only Alabama’s leaders had a magical Medicaid “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, so they could flip ahead and see the different outcomes we could expect by expanding the government insurance program that was originally designed for the poor and disabled. Would it end in a stronger economy, more jobs and a vibrant system of rural hospitals? “Medicaid expansion remains an economic development opportunity without equal,” said David Becker, an economics professor at UAB, in an Al.com article. Or would it bankrupt our already cash-strapped state budget and further sink our country into unsustainable levels of national debt? “When you expand Medicaid, the administrative costs and the cost of expansion will eventually swamp the state,” warned U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, Republican-Hoover, during an interview on the Matt & Aunie Show on Talk 99.5 FM in Birmingham. “It has in other states. Illinois is about to go bankrupt.” Each side makes a strong case, but the truth seems hidden behind a fog of experts, statistics and forecasts that confuse more than clarify. The Economic Impact A UAB study conducted by Becker and paid for by the Alabama Hospital Association found that even when Alabama starts paying 10 percent of the expansion’s costs, the move would create thousands of new jobs and generate $2.7 billion a year in economic activity. Becker wrote that the expense would be “almost entirely offset” by new tax revenue and state spending reductions on current Medicaid enrollees and other health programs. And another study funded by the same association concluded that “state savings and other economic gains from expansion could be reinvested in the health care system in Alabama, including to support expansion and other state priorities.” But critics say those predictions are extremely unrealistic and point to how widely off the mark such estimates have been elsewhere. States that expanded Medicaid have signed up more than twice as many “able-bodied adults” than expected and per-person costs have exceeded original estimates by a whopping 76 percent, according to a 2018 report by the Foundation for Government Accountability. This led to cost overruns of 157 percent, the report showed, with Medicaid now accounting for one of every three state budget dollars. Many expect the same overruns in Alabama, which would exacerbate our already challenging budget. “We will have to find $250 million more in the state general fund every year, even when revenues decline in recessions,” said Daniel Sutter, an economics professor and director of the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University, in an email. “Alabama’s perennial budget crisis is due largely to having to pay for Medicaid every year. Medicaid expansion makes this pressure worse.” Hospital Closures Supporters of Medicaid expansion most often mention that 12 Alabama hospitals have closed this decade, with many being in rural areas possibly leaving residents without critical care nearby. Expanding the program, they contend, may have saved those hospitals, and could still save many that are at risk. “Those are critical dollars for us as our hospitals currently spend more than $500 million each year in care for which they receive no reimbursement,” said Owen Bailey, chairman of the board of the Alabama Hospital Association and CEO of USA Health, in a press release. “Providing insurance through Medicaid expansion is vital to maintain access to care for everyone.” While an influx of Medicaid cash would help these hospitals in the short term, it’s unclear if it solves the underlying problems that created their instability in the first place. Hospitals are losing money and closing for a variety of reasons, according to The New York Times — shrinking rural populations, hospital mergers, consolidated services, regulatory burdens, low reimbursement rates, and a decrease in hospital care due to outpatient services and speedier care that requires less hospital time. Officials at one Kansas hospital that closed in 2015 told The Times that additional Medicaid funds would have been significant but probably would not have helped them survive in the long run. Meanwhile, help could come from elsewhere. The federal agency that oversees Medicare recently announced that its “tweaking” the formula used to reimburse hospitals in Alabama, a move that AL.com noted could increase payments to rural hospitals. A way forward When economists are arguing vastly different forecasts and outcomes, it’s often helpful to fall back to a few simple yet immutable conservative principles. Chief among them is the principle of prudence, which basically says we shouldn’t rush big decisions – decisions that have long-term consequences and that cannot easily be reversed, if at all. Medicaid expansion is clearly one of those decisions. And even without that magical Medicaid “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, there have already been unexpected plot twists, and clear deathtraps, for other states who decided to expand the program. Alabama should wait and watch to see if the promises, or the fears, are realized. We should also patiently observe states taking alternate storylines through Medicaid waivers, partial Medicaid expansion requests, and block grant plans. Otherwise, if Alabama takes the bait and expands Medicaid, we might turn the final page only to see that ominous yet sadly predictable word. Bankrupt. J. Pepper Bryars is a senior fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute. Follow him on Twitter at @jpepperbryars.
