(C) Pennsylvania Capital-Star
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Q&A: Congressman Glenn Thompson talks tariffs, SNAP, and immigration’s impact on agriculture • Pennsylvania Capital-Star [1]
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Date: 2025-03-13 17:08:14+00:00
When U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-15th District) was elected as the chair of the U.S. House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee last session, he became the first Pennsylvanian in nearly 170 years at the helm of the panel.
“(Agriculture) really is Pennsylvania’s number one industry,” Thompson told the Capital-Star in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s America’s number one industry, and it comes with incredible responsibility.”
In addition to providing food for the nation, Thompson said farmers and other workers in the industry are tasked with delivering fiber, building materials, and energy resources.
“My responsibility as chairman really encompasses making sure that we have food security as a nation, we have an agriculture industry that is stable…is robust,” Thompson, the dean of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, said to the Capital-Star. “And that’s a challenge right now, because we’ve had four very difficult years we’ve come out of and the state of the farm economy is not strong right now.”
Thompson detailed the current trade deficit in agriculture, but said his committee is working hard to deliver economic support to farmers, ranchers and foresters across the nation, while also passing a Farm Bill “as soon as possible.” The ally of President Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone of working with the administration to improve agriculture.
He spoke with the Capital-Star about the plethora of challenges facing the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania and beyond, including expanding SNAP benefits in the next Farm Bill, the impact of tariffs from Trump’s administration, and reforming the H-2A visa program.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Capital-Star: When I spoke with you early in January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, you told me that you thought Brooke Rollins, who has since been confirmed to serve as the US Secretary of Agriculture would be, “the Cabinet member that’s closest to President Trump.”
So what are your priorities that you, along with Secretary Rollins and President Trump, have for this upcoming Farm Bill?
Thompson: It really is to restore a robust rural economy and, quite frankly, to create an environment where we begin to rebuild the population of rural America, because rural America is essential America.
As you know, all the things that are largely essential in people’s lives that they need, come from those parts of Pennsylvania and those parts of our country.
I’m really excited about the partnership that I have with Secretary Rollins. I just hosted her here in the capital yesterday, last evening.
There’s some immediate things, John, as well, that are really important to Pennsylvania, and that is dealing with this high pathogenic avian influenza. That really has driven the cost of food and frankly, the cost of eggs, up to exorbitant prices because of this virus that is carried by migratory birds. So it’s ducks and geese and, you know, Pennsylvania is on the flight path.
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But it has resulted in tens of millions of ducks and chickens and turkeys that are being raised just in Pennsylvania, although other states throughout the country to have to…basically had to be called or put down, resulting in fewer, lower supply when the demand remains high, and which drove up the cost.
That is probably one of the most immediate issues that we’re working with President Trump and Secretary Rollins on.
Capital-Star: What would you say is the most pressing issue facing agriculture in rural communities in Pennsylvania and across the country right now?
Thompson: It will be the balance sheet because of the high input costs and low commodity prices, those are the prices they get for what they produce and everything else has been so challenging.
Four years under President Biden, where really agriculture trade was ignored, it has created some real financial hardship. We’ve had some bankruptcies, we would have had a lot more here, this first three months of 2025, if it wouldn’t have been for the $10 billion in economic assistance that I was able to work with my colleagues and, quite frankly, with the agriculture industry, to obtain back in December. Secretary Rollins is currently in the process of getting that money distributed among farmers and ranchers throughout the United States. So, that’s been the biggest challenge.
But there are a lot of opportunities for improvements that we’ve worked into the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2024. Back in that Congress, we did pass that bill out of committee with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the Senate didn’t really have a bill (in the) last 30 days to the year, so it was unrealistic to get anything across the finish line, but we’re working right now to and preparing to introduce the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2025 and with all the right people in place.
I’ve got a great ranking member, Democrat from Minnesota, Angie Craig. On the Senate side, John Boozman, Republican senator and a friend of mine. He was a mentor of mine when I first moved to the House, we did Bible study together, he chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota senator, a ranking member in the Senate, an individual who, she’s passionate about agriculture. She’s a great partner to work with. And, of course, as you’ve mentioned, we have Brooke Rollins as the secretary of agriculture.
We have all the right people in place to get this Farm Bill across the finish line, which would address so many, a long list of issues that are out there in our country.
Capital-Star: When do you expect the Farm Bill to be passed, and will reductions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, be on the table in the negotiations of the upcoming Farm Bill?
Thompson: Absolutely no reductions in the nutritional benefits.
I think that’s a rumor that was started by folks who are anti-farming, and anti-Farm Bill, and in fact, within my version of the Farm Bill, we actually expand access to nutrition, whereas two vulnerable populations who have never been eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. That includes folks who were previously incarcerated for felony drug charges. I happen to believe that it’s the right thing to do and a righteous thing to do. If we can help those individuals change their life around by giving them just a little bit of nutritional support when they get out of prison, maybe we can help them change their life around. They can become productive citizens, versus the recidivism that we currently see that’s so expensive to all levels of government, when people are incarcerated.
The other one is adult children of families that are living in financially challenging circumstances. They’re still in high school. Those kids 18 to 21, not all of them, but many of them tend to be children with disabilities. A lot of parents are, where they’re able to, they engage the children in work situations, work settings, whether it’s weekends or summers, because they’re trying to help them develop soft skills and hard skills, to help them be self-sustaining as possible going forward in life. We’ve always counted the income that those children earn against the eligibility for SNAP benefits for those families, and that’s just absolutely wrong.
So, the Farm Bill that I wrote doesn’t penalize these families, these kids, these adult children. They need to be saving that money, to meet their own needs going forward. And so we actually expand benefits.
There has never been a situation where we’re reducing or cutting benefits.
That is just misinformation that some people have heard and others are purposely expressing.
In terms of timing…it will happen in 2025 and the sooner, the better. My goal is to get this done in the first six months and as early as possible.
Capital-Star: President Trump has been a vocal supporter of implementing tariffs, which you know, can impact a number of industries. Are you concerned about the impact tariffs might have on the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania and beyond?
Thompson: Well, I’m always concerned with tariffs, obviously, especially those that foreign countries will place on our agricultural commodities and there’s a lot of countries that do that.
I like free (trade), but I like free and fair trade.
And so although President Trump in his first four years, did a lot on tariffs, he used it as a tool. He expanded trade dramatically, the China (Phase) One deal, the redo of USMCA from NAFTA.
Now, we did wind up with retaliatory tariffs. And as an agriculture committee, we had to help our farmers and ranchers endure that to a tune of about $28 billion. We stand prepared to do that this time, if necessary. I just don’t think it’s going to be necessary. I think President Trump and his team, those first four years, learned a lot about what to do, what not to do, how to be more effective.
There are very few tools that you have in terms of getting things done and honestly, soft diplomacy takes forever. We know that because our country has been taken advantage of when it comes to trade for many decades, and I think the president’s trade policy is not defined by tariffs, but it’s using tariffs as a tool, and it’s been very effective so far.
We’re seeing a reduction in the amount of fentanyl that is coming into the United States because of the threat of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, not for a trade war, but because of the drug war. (Note: Here is an article that provides context to the claim)
You know, putting those 25% tariffs out to Canada and Mexico, and they’ve really stepped up. Mexico has put 10,000 troops on our southern border, and the use of technology, and working with our individuals, and Canada, the same thing, and deploying more people using technology, all committed to stopping the flow of this fentanyl into our country.
And so that’s just one example of President Trump using tariffs as a tool and using it very effectively.
Now, as of April 2nd, the President is going to be implementing, at least at this point, reciprocal tariffs. I think reciprocal tariffs are a better way to go.
If you’re a foreign country and and you put 10% tariffs on United States of America on a particular commodity, we’re going to be to put 10% on yours, sort of an eye-for-an-eye approach, and I think that could help to create the situation where the countries were working with will want to lower their tariffs because they don’t want to endure tariffs to the United States.
The United States is a place where the rest of the world still wants to do business. They want to do trade here because of our economy.
The president most recently exempted tariffs for a period of time on all agriculture products, zero tariffs if they were under the included within the United States, Mexico and Canada trade agreement, USMCA. So I think the trade discussion, trade policy, I would call it evolving.
I was successful getting some fundamental things, ingredients for fertilizer at zero tariffs at this point. If it does go back into effect with Canada, where we get a lot of potash from and nitrogen, peat moss, it would go to 10%, but I will say that the administration has been very open to working together.
Capital-Star: Another thing that I know is an important issue for the agriculture community in Pennsylvania and beyond is the H-2A visa program. The USDA describes it as a program that “helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries.” We know they play an important role in agriculture in Pennsylvania. Do you think changes to immigration laws may impact farmers in Pennsylvania and across the country?
Thompson: We need to reform the H2-A program. The H2-A program does not help our year round agriculture needs. The way it’s designed now…it’s got a lot of problems, but it’s primarily for folks to have to get the assistance that need to, perhaps, to plant or to harvest. So it’s only certain times of the year.
Our number one agriculture commodity in Pennsylvania is dairy, and dairy is year round. The same thing for landscaping and the mushroom industry. There’s a lot of livestock.
In the 118th Congress, I led a work task force and appointed 16 members, eight Republicans and eight Democrats. They interviewed a lot of producers and processors. We had people from Pennsylvania come in, but we had farmers and ranchers and processes from all over the country just to identify the workforce needs, because in agriculture, when you don’t have adequate concerns with the workforce, that leads to food insecurity, and food insecurity leads to national insecurity.
That task force, came up with a great list of reforms to the H2-A program, including making it work for year round, but there are a lot of other really good recommendations and a lot of unity.
We’ve already developed some legislative language, and I’ll be, in the not too distant future, opening up, not to introduce the bill but, quite frankly, to do a discussion, and I think it was some type of bill that passed through the Senate.
And so things have really lined up well, in order to be able to advance some great improvements and changes to help increase the certainty for the agriculture workforce.
There’s a lot going on right now with folks who are here illegally, but we need to make sure, for the folks that are here legally, that we have a very efficient, very effective ability of visa program to be able to come here.
And it’s not like they don’t want to hire Americans, they’re not displacing any Americans. Let me make that quite clear, right now. They’re even required to advertise, spend extensive money, and they don’t get anybody that applies, and if somebody, an American citizen does come, they tend not to last more than a day or a week. And so if we don’t have this workforce, we will have food insecurity, and that will very quickly lead to national insecurity.
Capital-Star: Next year, there is a race for governor. A few Republicans, such as state senator Doug Mastriano and Congressman Dan Meuser have already said on the record they’re considering a run for this office.
Are you thinking about weighing in on this race for governor in Pennsylvania next year, and would you consider running for the office?
Thompson: I would be honored to serve the state of Pennsylvania as governor, but I do think at this point in time with where I’m at in Congress that my best leadership and service for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is right here in Washington, DC.
I’m sure I will be involved at some point in the gubernatorial race, but I suspect there’s going to be more than two people on the Republican side that have indicated interest. I suspect we’ll see folks start, more people start to emerge here in 2025 preparing for 2026.
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