Here's a video of the interview [with Brooke Rollins, USDA secretary], I haven't watched yet, just posting because the article mentions it but doesn't link it and I had to track it down myself.
It's only 11 mins, but some notes:
First subject is bird flu: she says there are no short term fixes, mentions imports as a way to potentially mitigate prices shorter term. Mentions that infections of farm birds are driven by wild bird populations. Asked about "doing more than just killing off the chickens that have it", she talks about hope for "innovation" in vaccines and therapeutics, doesn't say anything too specific.
She says she is working together with other health departments, mentions RFK. Trump expects things to move "at light speed".
"It isn't just eggs"; talks about inflation and increased food prices across the board under last admin. Generally blames increased regulation; she mentions California prop 12, and cites their $9 average price (per dozen) vs. $5 for US. Doesn't get into any specifics on federal regulations or actions by last admin that she'd be rolling back.
She says late spring/summer is when she's hoping there's some downward movement in egg prices.
Asked about Haitian workers given protected status under Biden having to leave, they were brought up (I guess during the round table; I couldn't find a video of it unfortunately) by a broiler farmer who had been employing them and had concerns about labor. Says "labor is always an issue in agriculture", mentions H-2A program; says she'll be taking the concern back to Washington and "looking into it", making sure they have "all the information".
Mentions tariffs, claims they will ultimately benefit agriculture by increasing reliance on domestic production, but needs to make sure labor concerns are met.
Says firing people is hard, she's not jubilant, as portrayed by those opposing it. She's asked specifically about USDA employees who were working on avian flu being fired, says it was before her confirmation, but as far as she knows the acting head immediately "redeployed" them.
Overall I'm slightly disappointed by the lack of specifics, and she doesn't seem to have any big new ideas to Make Agriculture Great Again. That said, it's understandable; there's a tension between immigration and labor policy, tariffs and prices (unless there will be cutouts for eggs, the tariff point contradicts her earlier point about imports as a short term price fix), and she's not about to undercut her boss on any of his stated policies. My takeaway though is that she's knowledgable about the issues and on top of things, and USDA is in relatively sane, boring hands.
The thing about California gives me pause; what if such regulation could be part of a larger strategy that could prevent these health issues arising? That said, if you look it up, there are plenty of recent stories of huge culls in California so it hasn't solved the issue by itself; it would be a lot more work to try and figure out whether it's having any impact statistically.
Bounty to anyone who gets a video of the roundtable she held before the interview.
@isalaide @A Cardboard Box get in here egg friends
