Ag Outraged by MAHA Commission Report

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The much-anticipated Make American Healthy Again Commission report calls out the potential hazards of glyphosate-based Roundup while saying a balanced approach is needed between improving pesticide safety in general and the needs of farmers.

The 68-page document released by the commission makes several recommendations as it relates to pesticides while pointing to what MAHA says is the critical role farmers play in children's health.

MAHA also calls out what it says are the negative effects of government programs on health and points to the need to put more natural foods produced by farms front and center in the food system.

"Today, 90% of medical costs in the United States are tied to chronic conditions, many of which are tied to diet," the report said.

"The production of UPFs (ultra-processed foods) transforms the whole and healthy food produced by America's farmers into food-like substances that have far different nutrient profiles than the original form. Farmers are the backbone of America and the most innovative and productive in the world. We continue to feed the world as the largest food exporter. The greatest step the United States can take to reverse childhood chronic disease is to put whole foods produced by American farmers and ranchers at the center of healthcare."

When it comes to research and evaluation of pesticides, the MAHA report emphasizes the need for more study of the cumulative effects of pesticide exposure particularly in children. That includes calling for better tools to assess how multiple exposures to pesticides affect health over time.

The commission calls for the launching of a national initiative to map how interactions with pesticides, pollutants and endocrine disruptors affect childhood disease risks.

MAHA also calls for investments in new testing models as well as surveillance powered by artificial intelligence.

When it comes to glyphosate specifically, MAHA points to possible health effects including studies that show potential effects including reproductive and developmental disorders, cancers and liver inflammation.

However, MAHA concedes in the report: "Federal government reviews of epidemiologic data for the most common herbicide did not establish a direct link between use according to label directions and adverse health outcomes, and an updated U.S. government health assessment on common herbicides is expected in 2026."

The report also points to "More recent data from the USDA's Pesticide Data Program found that 99% of food samples tested in 2023 were compliant with EPA's safety limit."

MAHA also pointed to "experimental animal and wildlife studies" that exposure to atrazine can "cause endocrine disruption and birth defects."

When it comes to regulating pesticides, MAHA said in its recommendations that any changes need to consider the effects on agriculture as well as the domestic and global food supply.

MAHA said there is a need to collaborate with farmers and that any regulatory changes take cost considerations into account to ensure farmers can continue to operate while protecting public health.

AGRICULTURE RESPONDS

Agriculture interest groups made swift and forceful responses to the MAHA commission report and called on President Donald Trump to intervene.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation said it was "deeply troubling" for the White House to "endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear" about the U.S. food system.

"Farmers are identified as 'critical partners,' yet were excluded from development of the report, despite many requests for a seat at the table," Duvall said in a statement.

"The report also expresses a desire to ensure farmers continue to thrive, but undermining confidence in our food system directly contradicts that noble goal. The report spotlights outlier studies and presents unproven theories that feed a false narrative and only then does it acknowledge a mountain of evidence about the safety of our food system. We suspect USDA had a prominent role in the report's recognition that farmers are the critical first step in the food system, but as a whole, the report falls short."

The American Soybean Association said it "strongly rebukes" the report for being "brazenly unscientific and damaging to consumer confidence" in America's "safe, reliable" food system.

"Should the administration act on the report -- which was drafted entirely behind closed doors -- it will harm U.S. farmers, increase food costs for consumers, and worsen health outcomes for all Americans," the ASA said in a news release.

"ASA calls on President Trump, who has long been a friend of farmers, to step in and correct the commission's deeply misguided report."

The group said farmers represented by ASA are "disturbed the MAHA report contains recommendations that are not at all grounded in science and seem to advance the agenda of food elitists and activist groups that have long sought to undermine U.S. agriculture."

ASA said the developments are "even more troubling" after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "falsely assured members of Congress earlier in the week of the report's release that, 'there is not a single word in (the report) that should worry the American farmer.'"

Alan Meadows, a farmer from Halls, Tennessee, and director of the American Soybean Association, said he worries about the report's implications.

"Both farmers and members of Congress tried to warn the administration that activist groups were trying to hijack the MAHA commission to advance their longstanding goal of harming U.S. farmers," Meadows said.

"Reading this report, it appears that is exactly what has happened."

The National Corn Growers Association said the report "denigrates the safety of key pesticides" used by corn growers.

"The Make America Healthy Again Report is filled with fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides," NCGA said in a statement.

"We are deeply troubled that claims of this magnitude are being made without any scientific basis or regard for a long history of EPA expert evaluations of these products. Decades of extensive research and testing show that pesticides, including atrazine and glyphosate, can be applied safely for their intended uses. If the administration's goal is to bring more efficiency to government, then why is the secretary of Health and Human Services duplicating efforts by raising questions about pesticides that have been answered repeatedly through research and reviews by federal regulatory bodies?"

The Modern Ag Alliance said it's concerned that the MAHA report will drive future policy decisions that could ultimately harm agriculture.

"For example, without glyphosate -- the most widely used weed-fighting tool by U.S. farmers -- crop yields would decline, input costs would surge by 150% and food inflation would more than double," the alliance said in a statement.

The Modern Ag Alliance said its most recent ag insight survey found that Americans are "deeply concerned" about these potential outcomes and "overwhelmingly support" science-based policies that preserve access to crop protection tools.

"We've already seen the disastrous effects of policies like those that have been contemplated by certain leaders of the MAHA commission," said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the alliance.

"When Sri Lanka prohibited the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in 2021, crop yields fell by over 50%, forcing the government to import massive amounts of food just to meet basic needs. We should be focused on moving American agriculture and the country forward."

OILSEEDS TARGETED

The MAHA commission also classifies seed oils as ultra-processed foods that are harming health.

The American Soybean Association said in response: "Significant research conducted over decades shows that plant-based oils are low in saturated fats and can improve health outcomes. For example, a March 2025 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association found after following more than 220,000 individuals for more than 30 years that frequent consumption of plant-based oils led to a 16% reduction in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other ailments when compared to alternatives high in saturated fat."

ASA also cites a "third-party economic study" released in April conducted on behalf of ASA and the United Soybean Board that found removing seed oils from the food supply could "increase consumer costs for edible fats and oils by as much as 42%."

Jay Vroom, longtime CEO for CropLife America and now a senior policy advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda in Washington, told DTN in an interview that ag advocates should be willing to talk about the importance of crop protection tools when it comes to safety and their value in conservation.

"I don't think we can expect success by just getting into a pure public tit-for-tat disagreement with the MAHA movement and the secretary of HHS," Vroom said.

"I think the legitimate request from agriculture ought to be let's drive this into the very formal process that EPA has followed for years, which is everybody's welcome to criticize their work and question the safety of crop protection products. But let's do it in an organized fashion."

Vroom said the Trump administration should put together an advisory committee at EPA that includes USDA and HHS and "get all of the cards on the table" for a dialogue on these issues.

"These products have been highly regulated, with billions and billions of dollars of scientific research that has been contributed by the private sector for EPA review," Vroom said.

REPORT FALLS SHORT

George Kimbrell, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, said the MAHA report falls "woefully short" of providing any next steps.

"The need to reform our broken industrial agriculture system to build a better future for our food is paramount," he said in a statement.

"The MAHA commission recognizes that the overuse of pesticides in America's industrial food system is a critical piece of the nation's health crisis and acknowledges the now well-established scientific evidence of the dire harm these toxins are causing children, public health, and the environment. To be meaningful, the findings of the report must translate into concrete actions that truly advance a healthier, more sustainable food system for America's farmers and consumers."

Lori Ann Burd, staff attorney and director of the Center for Biological Diversity's environmental health program, said the report's acknowledgement of "pesticides' risks to our children's health" was a "small" step forward.

"But it's clear that big ag was successful in strong-arming EPA Administrator Zeldin, Agriculture Secretary Rollins and their puppets in Congress to make sure this administration's focus will continue to be on protecting not American's health, but industry profits," Burd said.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement that farmers and ranchers "dedicate their lives to the noble cause of feeding their country and the world." In the process, Rollins said, they have "created the safest and most abundant and affordable food supply in the world."

Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the nation's "childhood chronic disease crisis" would be solved through innovation. "At EPA, we will do our part to protect human health and the environment while fulfilling all of our statutory obligations to safely regulate chemicals needed for every part of modern life."

REPORT OUTLINES FARMER CHALLENGES

MAHA said farmers today receive a "small share" of consumer food spending, as only 16 cents of every $1 spent on food went to farmers, "while 84 cents was absorbed by food manufacturers, marketers and distributors."

The report said regulation of the food industry also presents a "challenge" to smaller farmers.

"Key regulations, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act enacted in 2011, implemented rigorous compliance requirements for food safety that smaller farms often lack the resources to meet," the report said.

"This has inadvertently led to increased costs and burdensome paperwork that disproportionately impact family-run operations."

The report also takes issue with government programs including crop insurance and alleges that many of them contribute to health problems particularly in children.

"Historically, federal crop insurance programs have primarily covered traditional field crops like wheat, corn, and soybeans, while providing much less support for specialty crops such as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery plants," the report said.

"While specialty crop coverage has been expanding, it still only accounted for 17% of the entire federal crop insurance portfolio by liability during crop year 2017, and subsidies for fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and support for organic foods account for a mere 0.1% of the 2018 Farm Bill."

DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton contributed to this report.

Read more on DTN:

"Farms Brace for MAHA Commission Report," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

"RFK Downplays MAHA Commission Report," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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