Ag Policy Blog

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has launched a task force to look at ways to lower production costs to be "more in line with today's commodity prices."

NCGA noted, "Corn growers nationwide are in the third consecutive year of net negative returns, with 2026 projected to be the fourth year of negative returns."

"Corn growers have been sounding the alarm for a while that on-farm economics are not working," said Kenneth Hartman Jr., Illinois farmer and NCGA president. "This is a time to look at all pieces of the farm profitability picture. Low prices of course contribute to one side of the equation, but we must also look at the extremely high prices growers are paying for essential inputs on the other side."

NCGA's leadership on Tuesday met with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, which included posting a photo with Rollins and NCGA leaders on social media.

"Our leaders raised concerns about the ag economy and stressed the need to develop new export markets for corn. They also raised the need for more transparency on input markets. We appreciate Secretary Rollins for her continued support for year-round E15."

NCGA pointed to a recent analysis from its economists showing that input costs remain near record highs despite the declines in corn prices over the last three years.

"Average production costs have dropped just three percent from their peak in 2022 to 2025 while corn prices have declined by over 50% over the same period. Even with higher yields, farmers are unlikely to be able to offset these high costs."

Anhydrous prices, for instance, are up more than 12% from a year ago, according to the latest DTN Fertilizer Trends report.

NCGA's analysis released at the end of August cited that corn farmers continue to face widening negative profit margins.

"A farmer with an average cost of production who receives the expected average price is facing an $0.85 per bushel loss in 2025. The outlook for 2026 is even worse, with a forecast projecting lower corn prices and rising costs."

Looking at E15, right now little is happening in Congress despite the push from NCGA and others. Of course, Congress isn't in session at the moment and also is staring at a government shutdown next week so to suggest that E15 is a backburner issue right now is a minor understatement.

Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., introduced an E15 bill back in February. The bill right now has 44 co-sponsors -- 31 Republicans and 13 Democrats. The bill was sent to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where it sits and no other action has been taken on it.

A Senate version of the same bill also was introduced where it also sits in committee as well. That bill has 19 total sponsors.

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

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GROUPS CONTINUE TO COMMENT ON ERS FOOD SECURITY REPORT

The Food Research & Action Center and Share Our Strength, another anti-hunger group, have issued statements on the Trump administration's plan to end the Agriculture Department's annual household food security report.

FRAC President Crystal FitzSimons said, "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to terminate future Economic Research Service (ERS) household food security reports is shortsighted and dismisses the need for clarity on the extent of food insecurity for families and struggling communities across the country."

"This research is pivotal, and without it, we cannot evaluate whether policies are effective or responsive to community needs or document the impact of harmful policy decisions, such as the recent historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," FitzSimons said.

Anne Filipic, CEO of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign, said, "We should all be deeply concerned about the Trump administration's move to eliminate the USDA's annual hunger report."

"This data has been used for three decades to show trends in food insecurity across our nation and, in turn, illuminate how policy decisions impact how children and families across America experience hunger," Filipic said.

"By helping policymakers and advocates understand the impact policy decisions and the economy have on hunger trends, this research helps ensure we're wisely investing taxpayer dollars efficiently and effectively on programs that work to end hunger.

"The government is uniquely positioned to conduct this body of research which forms the foundation for food insecurity data tracking nationwide. Cancelling it is the latest signal that data-driven efforts to end hunger are not a priority for this administration," Filipic said.

"It is no coincidence that this comes on the heels of the most extreme cuts that have ever been made to SNAP -- America's largest food assistance program, and one of the most effective tools we have to fight hunger. The $200 billion in SNAP cuts within H.R. 1 will make it harder for 42 million Americans -- including 16 million children -- to access grocery benefits. This will cause a spike in hunger in coming years that the administration doesn't want us to see."

The team of ERS economists and researchers responsible for producing the household food insecurity report were put on indefinite paid leave Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Around a dozen employees, all involved with economic research at the USDA, were put on leave, Laura Dodson, vice president of the union that represents some of the workers, told the WSJ.

Not all of the workers placed on leave were directly involved in the hunger report, but they were all present at meetings last week during which they learned that the hunger survey was being canceled, Dodson said.

According to a letter from a USDA human resources official obtained by the Journal, the leave "is not a disciplinary action." It bars the employees from conducting any government business until further notice.

Dodson, a chapter vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the workers were told by managers that they were being placed on leave while "an unauthorized disclosure" was being investigated. Staff were ordered to turn in their laptop computers, she said.

A USDA spokesperson said in an email to DTN: "As employees of one of 13 federal statistical agencies, ERS employees are trusted with confidential information. An unauthorized disclosure of non-public information shows questionable judgment, and any employee willing to break that public trust undermines the integrity of the agency."

Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com

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