Ag Policy
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Jan. 3 that it will award $306 million to continue its H5N1 Avian Flu response.
The Senate kicked off quietly as the House steals the spotlight to start 2025. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to pass individual appropriations bills and a farm bill as well as focus on regular order and extended floor debates.
From a possible trade war to brewing discontent within the country, there are five significant trends poised to shape China in the coming year.
Will corporations, LLCs, and LPs be required to report Beneficial Ownership Information soon? Here’s the latest developments.
Nearly half of all farmworkers are undocumented, and industries such as dairy and meatpacking plants are especially vulnerable to labor shortages.
As the Trump administration prepares to return to the White House, these appointments signal a continuation of its previous agricultural policies and priorities, with experienced individuals who have both legal expertise and connections to the farming community.
The CR includes nearly $110 billion in disaster and farmer aid, which includes $10 billion in farmer aid and $21 billion ag disaster aid. $2 billion of that disaster aid is specifically for livestock producers. The measure also includes a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill.
If the funding measure fails, USDA has a contingency plan in place for essential workers and services. The plan would retain a small number of administrative employees to oversee activities including disaster response and cybersecurity should funding lapse.
The stopgap deal to avoid a government shutdown includes $10 billion in direct payments for farmers, $21 bllion in ag disaster aid, a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill and year-round E15.
Agricultural groups said over the weekend they do not support year-end spending package sans economic aid for ag producers.
Bill Previously Passed House and Goes to President for Signature
“I know people are concerned about the tariffs, but the fact is, [Trump] looks at tariffs as a way to get their attention and eventually to get better and reciprocal trade agreements,” says Terry Branstad.
Tariffs could lead to produce shortages as well as price hikes, experts warn Mexico and Canada are top suppliers of U.S. agricultural imports. Tariffs may disrupt cattle and pork trade between U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border, in a move that would appear to violate a free-trade deal.
The charismatic Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh was well known as a leading expert on agricultural policy and agricultural economics. For more than four decades he was a top adviser to politicians of both major political parties.
In an announcement on Saturday, Trump said her “commitment to support the American farmer, the defense of American food self-sufficiency and the restoration of agriculture-dependent American small towns is second to none.”
Trump taps Howard Lutnick for Commerce Secretary, signaling tariff-heavy trade strategy. Lutnick has called the tariffs a negotiating tool that could be used to convince other countries to bring down their own levies or to force companies to move production to the U.S.
Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow finally released the full text of the Senate farm bill on Monday, but it’s already drawing intense criticism. Even usually optimistic House Ag Chair GT Thompson signaled it’s time to focus on a 2018 farm bill extension by year’s end.
Threats of widespread tariffs and concerns about retaliation continue to stoke uneasiness in agriculture. With a growing trade deficit and hopes the U.S. could re-embark on the Phase One trade deal with China, could the focus back on trade be positive for agriculture?
The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, which builds on the proposal Stabenow released in May, includes $39 billion in new resources “to keep farmers farming, families fed and rural communities strong.”
Nomination sparks debate over Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance and Senate support
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) wins Majority Leader race. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) was eliminated on the first ballot. And Thune beat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) 29-24 on the second ballot.
Trump stated that Zeldin would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions” to “unleash the power of American businesses.” The administration aims to maintain “the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet” while pursuing deregulation.
One of the biggest anticipated changes that could impact farms across the U.S. is the possible change to the tax policy under a second Trump administration.
Now that the election results are in, the parlor game of who President-elect Donald Trump will tap to serve on his Cabinet has returned, and there’s a host of possibilities.
Measure J, initiated by the Coalition to End Factory Farming, appears to be headed for defeat with 85% of voters rejecting it as of the latest updated results on Nov. 6.
Biden-era clean energy subsidies would likely survive, but a reduction in offshore wind leasing is likely.
Trump garnered even stronger support in rural America versus his still robust rural vote in this first administration. That is likely a backlash against the ag policy moves of the Biden/Harris administration that focused on underserved and minority rural citizens.
China braces for continued superpower rivalry regardless of the U.S. election outcome.
Yes, the Fed is cutting interest rates but the agency can only influence mid- and long-term rates. Concerns about inflation are pushing those rates back up again.