Ag Policy Blog

OKLAHOMA CITY (DTN) -- Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, sat down with DTN this week at the group's annual meeting to talk about some of the challenges facing farmers as the Trump administration moves aggressively on its agenda to cut both government and regulations.

NFU is often considered a more left-leaning group, but Larew had noted in his speech to members that there is a broad range of views on staff cuts, tariffs and the farm bill.

"Probably the theme that is consistent here and across the country is just a lot of uncertainty, a lot of questions, a lot of confusion and a fair amount of frustration," Larew said. "Much of that is due to the lack of clarity on the DOGE cuts, the funding freezes and the other actions that are being taken at USDA that nobody has great information on."

NFU has been collecting stories from members about staffing cuts and the impacts of frozen grants on farmers. While USDA has unfrozen some conservation funds, there are still frozen contracts for other conservation programs and renewable energy. Other programs involving local foods or minority farmers are being eliminated altogether.

"Through no fault of their own, whether it is beginning farmers, or well-established farmers who felt they had the full faith of the U.S. government in the form of a contract to help them, that's now in jeopardy, and we've had some pretty significant disruptions in a lot of places. That, I think, is concerning to folks. The impact on veterans and beginning farmers, in particular, gets everybody's attention."

Tied to the lack of USDA information is that the farm bill is lost in conversation at the national level, he said.

"The farm bill seems to be pushed further and further down the priority list. So there is a strong desire, certainly from Farmers Union, to help the House and Senate Agriculture committees to not lose sight of the fact that we still need the certainty of a strong farm bill renewed."

Part of the uncertainty on a farm bill is just how the House Agriculture Committee intends to move forward on its marching orders to cut $230 billion in spending over ten years.

"It's pretty clear that if the House position moves forward, not only will that hurt nutrition programs, but I don't think there is any doubt that it will spill over into the farm programs," Larew said. "And that's not the direction we need with this farm bill. We need a stronger safety net. We need additional investment to help farm country right now and these cuts are going the wrong way."

NFU plans to launch a spring fly-in in May as well as a social media campaign from farmers in the field to press Congress to take action on a farm bill.

On the positive side of the ledger, Larew said the general message of the Trump administration is making sure that farmers are successful. "Hopefully that will also allow us to keep farm bill on the kind of priority list here as we go through into the spring," he said.

Larew also noted he believes "there is a great deal of promise" that the Trump administration will continue to press against consolidation in agriculture and monopoly power. He pointed to both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission's new chair.

"Although they may have a slightly different approach on how to tackle issues like right-to-repair and monopoly issues that they look at, I think there continues to be a strong push in making sure the laws on the books are enforced."

USDA has frozen the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, a $3.1 billion pilot project that was championed by the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA), a coalition of 24 agricultural and environmental lobby groups. As a group, FACA so far has remained quiet during the early days of the Trump administration. NFU and the American Farm Bureau Federation spearheaded FACA.

"So, the Food and Ag Climate Alliance remains together, I think, in its entirety and we continue to meet on a schedule that hasn't stopped through the election into this new administration," Larew said. "Right now, we're seeking a meeting with (Agriculture) Secretary (Brooke) Rollins to introduce the alliance to here and those conversations are going on. I would expect hopefully that we can have that meeting in the coming weeks."

Larew noted FACA was created before the Biden administration took office, saying at the time it was unclear which party would lead the country in 2021.

"Folks gathered together because we recognized that regardless of who was in the White House that we need to find common ground on climate policy, which was going to be really important for all of us," Larew said. "So, I think those basic tenets and the fact that we still operate by consensus is hopefully going to be very relevant in this administration as well."

Larew later added, "It was recognized that we need to have this voice because this is impacting farmers directly and it is impacting the supply chain, and so all of these interested parties came together. It was not a function of the Biden agenda in any way. But the fact that you have this broad coalition, I think we played an important role there. That role remains, I think, regardless of who is in the White House. Now with President Trump in the White House, this I think this is FACA's opportunity to step up and explain why."

DTN spoke to Larew on Tuesday, a day before EPA announced it will withdraw most climate laws overseen by that agency. Rollins has repeatedly said USDA will end the "far-left climate agenda."

Still, there's little connection between the funding going to help with climate resiliency and the constant demands for disaster aid. Congress passed nearly $21 billion in agricultural disaster aid in December for two years of losses. AFBF noted last month that farmers lost more than $20 billion due to weather disasters in 2024 alone. The disaster losses for farmers continue to rise.

"That's really the role that FACA can play in this space," Larew said. "When we sit down with Secretary Rollins, I hope that seeing the very broad coalition of ag and farm interests, as well as environmental and conservation interests and the food industry that this is about dollars right? We're setting ourselves up for a future where those losses are due to climate-related disasters and so forth, that we're mitigating that as much as possible, and setting ourselves up for success here in the U.S. Hopefully, that's ultimately where Secretary Rollins and this administration wants us to be and wants us to be successful going forward."

Editor's note: DTN is a contractor for one of the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodity grant recipients, Farmers for Soil Health.

Also see, "USDA Contract Freezes Continue to Threaten Local Food Programs and Conservation Efforts," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

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

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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