Senator Daines Grills Agriculture Secretary Vilsack on Grain Inspections [VIDEO]

Senator Steve Daines today demanded the release of the safety reports that the United States Department of Agriculture conducted during the shutdown of grain inspections at the Port of Vancouver.

During today’s Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on the USDA's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request, Daines called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to release the three safety reports conducted during the duration of the lockout to ensure that the USDA’s decisions are transparent and accountable to the grain growers across Montana and the nation.

“It’s relevant to me and it’s relevant to our grain growers across Montana that the USDA’s decisions are transparent and held to account and I would ask for you to release those reports for review as soon as possible,” Daines stated.

Vilsack would not commit to releasing the reports.

Last week, Daines sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders renewing his call to ensure timely and efficient grain inspections from USDA are conducted so that normal shipments of Montana grain will continue uninterrupted.

Bulk wheat is Montana’s largest export. Montana farmers grow and export more than 150 million bushels of wheat each year. More than half of that wheat was purchased by Japan. Other markets for Montana wheat include Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.