Ag Policy Blog

The official release of the latest MAHA report mirrored a leaked copy from last month that backs away from criticisms of pesticide use by farmers. The report does tout agricultural investments in precision spraying with drones and repeatedly champions soil health...

The trade agreement details some commitments to buy U.S. agricultural products, including rice, soybeans and biofuels. Japan already buys on average nearly $13 billion in U.S, agricultural goods each year.

Stakeholders now have until Sept. 30 to send their comments or questions about USDA's reorganization plan to a department email address. Some commenters want USDA to publish official comments through the Federal Register.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden spoke to farmers and visited companies on Tuesday at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. He talked about the need to open markets and increase demand for farmers, but also suggested further aid may be necessary to...

In a column, Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O'Lakes, spotlighted the continuing loss of farmers and implied that trend could get worse with the low prices that have plagued grain producers.

The Risk Management Agency has released some details about crop insurance changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Among the bigger changes are reduced premium subsidies for beginning farmers.

USDA's Farm Service Agency has published a notice in the Federal Register detailing a change to the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) that opens some additional acres under double cropping now eligible for the program.

Officials go back and forth between taking a hard stance against Chinese involvement in U.S. agriculture, but also recognizing that farmers have come to rely heavily on that market. That was reflected by speakers at the Midwest Agricultural Export Summit this week.

The Trump administration's lead agricultural negotiator said her office recognizes the need to get new trade deals in place by harvest to boost market access. At a conference on Wednesday, governors and others expressed optimism in the administration's trade strategy.

An adviser to President Trump and an activist in the Make America Healthy Again movement said there is a deep state in agriculture that must be rooted out, but MAHA can't afford to make enemies of corn and soybean farmers while pressing for changes to the ultra-processed...

The government plans to relocate some 2,600 of the 4,600 Washington-based USDA Positions to five regional hubs. The reorganization is expected to save about $4 billion. But is the call for such a massive overhaul in the best interest of American agriculture?

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., spoke to members of the American Sugar Alliance at the group's annual meeting this week. Moolenaar was hopeful Congress could pass some reforms to farm labor wages. Broader reforms will require strong support from President Donald Trump.

USDA announced on Friday that the department will accept comments on the Trump administration's reorganization plan. The U.S. Senate on Saturday also confirmed the nomination of Luke Lindberg to be Agriculture undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

How should agriculture view EPA's decision to revoke its own authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions? If EPA declares there is no reason to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, the implications for ethanol could be far-reaching, especially in terms of policy support, market...

In announcing the deal, the White House noted the agreement with the EU includes an effort to remove non-tariff barriers for U.S. agriculture exports. Non-tariff barriers, including some favorite European issues such as geographical indicators, have been the biggest source of...

Lia Biondo, a former executive vice president for the U.S. Cattlemen's Association and Western Skies Strategies and most recently an analyst for the Congressional Research Service, died suddenly on Thursday, USCA announced over the weekend.

The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on Tuesday addressing statements by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about crop protection tools as well as legislation that could ease the development of new tools to protect crops from disease and...

Julie Callahan is currently the assistant trade representative for agricultural affairs and commodity policy and a longtime civil servant. Agricultural groups offered a lot of immediate support for President Trump nominating her to the chief agricultural negotiator.

President Donald Trump claims Coca-Cola will use cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Coca-Cola hints at innovation while the Corn Refiners Association warns of job losses, a decline in the price of corn and no real nutritional benefits.

In a House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, state and federal veterinarians talked about some of the risks from highly pathogenic avian influenza and the New World Screwworm.