Ag Policy Blog

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.

President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders after his inauguration Monday. Among those were provisions allowing year-round E15. Trump also told reporters he would put tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting in February.

President-elect Donald Trump announced through his Transition Team and Truth Social that he will nominate Richard Fordyce as Agriculture undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Dudley Hoskins as undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Luke Lindberg...

On Wednesday, 427 agricultural groups from a broad spectrum of commodities and organizations wrote leaders of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee calling for swift confirmation of Brooke Rollins as President-elect Donald Trump's Agriculture secretary. The committee scheduled...

Pushing back on some criticisms last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released an interim technical rule for how corn, soybeans and sorghum producers could measure and lower their carbon-intensity scores on the farm. The rule addresses feedstocks for biofuels and how...

Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted that the administration is finalizing its third regulation under the Packers and Stockyards Act to provide more fairness to producers. The last rule from the Biden administration on ag competition will restrict how chicken...

Politico and others had reported the hearing for nominee Brooke Rollins would be held Jan. 15, but the Senate Agriculture Committee had not made any formal hearing announcement. Now it appears senators are still waiting on paperwork from the Trump transition team.

A report released Monday by Rabobank's research arm looked at the impact of a new tariff war on U.S. soybeans. The report suggests as much as a $2 drop in prices and 5 million fewer soybean acres.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn GT Thompson held a forum at the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Saturday with Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., the new ranking member of the committee. The pair discussed their plans to pass a farm bill in the new Congress.

The University of Missouri's Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) offers one look at how $10 billion in economic aid breaks down by state and crop.

On a social media post Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump announced U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Alexander Vaden will be his nominee for deputy secretary of USDA.

In a news release, USDA stated the loan payments announced Friday are expected to provide $300 million in assistance to over 12,800 distressed direct and guaranteed Farm Loan Programs (FLP) borrowers. Overall, USDA paid out more than $2.5 billion from the funds provided...

A $31 billion aid package for farmers faces collapse, as President-elect Donald Trump, JD Vance and Elon Musk oppose it, citing overspending. GOP infighting, Democratic opposition and looming deadlines heighten fears of a government shutdown and delayed disaster relief.

The year-end funding bill congressional leaders released late Tuesday includes nearly $21 billion to help farmers recovering from natural disasters and another $10 billion in economic aid to crop producers.

Rep. Angie Craig, 52, of Minnesota, won a vote by House Democrats on Tuesday to replace Rep. David Scott, 79, of Georgia as the top Democrat on the Ag Committee.