Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testified on the the state of the rural U.S. economy. The majority of the hearing was focused on the furloughs resulting from sequestration budget cuts and their impact on meat inspections. Secretary Vilsack said that furloughed meat inspectors would not affect food safety but would have a significant ripple effect on food production with plant closures and rising food prices. He also reiterated the urgency of passing a farm bill in 2013.
“Sequestration,” a legal procedure in which every federal agency has the same percentage of its budget cut in order to take back deficit spending, was agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011 and took effect March 1, 2013.