Ag Policy Blog

Based on the per-acre payment details released Tuesday by USDA on the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, a lot of the early estimates of payments overall were in the ballpark. Signup for ECAP begins on Wednesday.

On its website, DOGE shows it has ended 111 USDA office contracts across nine agencies, amounting to just under $27.4 million in annual rental payments with total contract savings estimated at $59.2 million.

An interview with the president of the National Farmers Union as the group's annual conference wrapped up Tuesday in Oklahoma City. Rob Larew said NFU is focused on the farm bill, but he also believes there remains a role for climate-smart agricultural policies in the Trump...

The president of the National Farmers Union highlighted the need for his members to remain united during the current uncertainty in the Trump administration. NFU also recognized the work of former Senator Tom Harkin, who created the Conservation Stewardship program when he...

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced details of the new Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, or ECAP, as she spoke Sunday to a packed exhibit hall of farmers and vendors at the Commodity Classic show in Denver. The program will provide $10 billion to commodity crop...

Gregg Doud, who served as the U.S. trade ambassador for agriculture during the first Trump administration, highlighted how agricultural exports and farm income levels have moved in tandem, and how farm income falls when trade slips. He suggests tariffs could help open up some...

In a 217-215 vote, The House on Tuesday evening passed a budget bill allowing for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while the bill also presses cuts to an array of social programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill also increases spending...

A lawsuit filed Monday by environmental groups and a New York farm group allege USDA violated federal law by removing websites and research data in climate change.

When the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on social media it wanted help examining USDA, critics of commodity checkoff programs quickly pounced.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition with three separate federal agencies to ban the use of certain pesticides on food, notably atrazine, glyphosate and paraquat. The petition does not include the use of pesticides on animal feed or crops grown as...

A group of Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would move the Food for Peace program from USAID over to the Department of Agriculture. The move would help ensure continuity of $2 billion in commodity purchases every year for humanitarian food aid.

The American Soybean Association said late Friday that it and other agriculture groups want the Agriculture Department to resume payments under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program (PCSC). USDA also issued a statement that its foreign-aid food programs are...

Farmers are learning their conservation payments are frozen because those contracts were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The White House has frozen IRA dollars across the federal government. Other conservation programs tied to the Partnership for...

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday voted 23-0 to advance the nomination of Brooke Rollins as USDA secretary to the full Senate.

The Trump administration has frozen all international aid and at least temporarily shut down the agency. USAID buys about $2 billion a year in commodities, mainly small grains and pulse crops.

President Donald Trump signed three executive orders Saturday imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in his confirmation hearings this week, emphasized the increase in chronic diseases across America and advocated for incentives to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. Kennedy argued that chemical-intensive farming harms both human health...

Speaking to members of the American Farm Bureau Federation, House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, R-Pa., and Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., expressed optimism about passing a farm bill this year, but they also highlighted some of the major hurdles they...

Agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins' confirmation hearing with the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday was congenial and bipartisan, but senators raised concerns about the potential impacts of President Donald Trump's policies, especially around tariffs and labor...

USDA on Tuesday released the names of several people who will be chiefs of staff and supporting team members for USDA leaders in the Trump administration.