Ag Policy Blog

OMAHA (DTN) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced it will spend $100 million looking for ways to reduce farmer reliance on chemical crop protection tools under the guise of a "farm modernization" plan.

HHS, in a news release on Friday, touted the Trump administration is spending more than $1 billion "to accelerate progress on farm modernization and long-term food supply," by pointing to investments in regenerative agriculture at USDA and programs at both HHS and EPA.

In an unusual move for the Trump administration, Friday's announcement included comments from public officials.

HHS cited President Donald Trump's executive order creating the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission that "directed the involved agencies to work with farmers to ensure that United States food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world. American farmers are critical partners in the success of the Make America Healthy Again agenda."

The news release then pointed to Trump's Feb. 18 Executive Order protecting the production and domestic supplies of glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.

"This plan and these investments show that the federal government also recognizes the need to accelerate farm modernization and long-term food security."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy -- a long-time critic of glyphosate -- has been trying to hold together the "MAHA" movement as some supporters have criticized Trump's glyphosate order.

Kennedy initially defended Trump's order on social media. In an interview Friday with podcaster Joe Rogan, Kennedy said he wasn't "particularly happy" with Trump's decision. "It's not something that I was particularly happy with. Let me put it that way, mildly," Kennedy said.

Still, Kennedy added, "But I also understand the president's point of view. If you ban glyphosate overnight, or if you got rid of it ... it would destroy the American food system."

HHS cited a "three-pillar plan to accelerate progress:

-- Better understand risks of chemicals to individual and population health.

-- Increase federal government investment in regenerative agriculture practices and education.

-- Spur private sector innovation in farming modernization by reducing red tape and matching private funding."

With that, EPA, USDA and the National Institutes for Health (NIH) will develop a framework to study cumulative exposure across chemical classes in the food supply, HHS stated. The research will focus on using "New Approach Methodologies" to address the risks of chemical contaminants in the food supply.

HHS stated the department would spend $100 million "for researchers to identify creative solutions for evaluating the exposure, diagnosis, and treatments of cumulative chemical exposures on individual health."

HHS will spend another $100 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to identify "cost-effective technologies that reduce reliance on chemical crop protection tools" to improve human health, including the health of farmers. HHS suggested some options to consider would be "electrothermal and electrical weeding technologies, robotic weeding systems, precision mechanical weed control, thermal weed control, biological and non-toxic herbicides, mulching systems, and integrated systems."

The news release also highlighted USDA's $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program that includes $400 million for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $300 million in for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to fund regenerative conservation practices in FY 2026.

USDA also is spending $140 million under the Strengthening Agricultural Systems Program to "support new uses and markets of agricultural products, innovative solutions to pests and diseases of plants or animals, and combatting food and diet-related chronic diseases."

HHS also pointed out EPA is spending $30 million for a grand prize challenge to come up with "cost-effective alternatives to pre-harvest desiccation use of pesticides, which is a potential contributor to human exposure. This challenge will lead to reduced usage of pesticides while providing new innovative tools for farmers to use."

HHS on its farm modernization plan: https://www.hhs.gov/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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