Ag eyes next MAHA fight

Politico

27-05-2025

Presented by Bayer
With help from Marcia Brown and Samuel Benson
QUICK FIX
— A major Trump administration report on its 'Make America Healthy Again' goals is dividing allies in the agriculture industry and on Capitol Hill.
— USDA is working to approve more statewide bans of junk food and soda purchases using federal nutrition benefits.
— President Donald Trump is granting the European Union more time to strike a deal before imposing 50 percent tariffs.
IT'S TUESDAY, MAY 27. Welcome to Morning Agriculture. I'm your host Grace Yarrow, back from celebrating my little sister's graduation! What did I miss? Send tips, scoops and thoughts to [e-mail] and follow us @Morning_Ag for more.
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Driving the day
THE NEXT MAHA FIGHT: Trump allies on Capitol Hill and in the agriculture industry are divided over a much-anticipated report released Thursday by the White House's Make America Healthy Again Commission.
Farmers, ag lobbyists and farm state Republicans lobbied furiously behind the scenes ahead of last week to ask HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other MAHA leaders to tone down rhetoric that targets use of pesticides and some food ingredients. That pressure paid off to some extent, with the report avoiding some of the language Kennedy has used in the past to argue that pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are 'poisoning' consumers.
Not everyone representing farmers is relieved. Many are gearing up to continue their pressure campaign, asking MAHA leaders to keep their hands off agriculture as the commission develops policy solutions per instructions in Trump's executive order.
Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, said in a statement that the group has 'serious concerns' about the report's framing of pesticide use.
'The report includes statements that do not reflect the wealth of evidence developed over decades by federal agencies such as the EPA and USDA on the safety of crop inputs and food production methods,' he said.
Ag groups are now looking to meet with Kennedy, USDA chief Brooke Rollins and other MAHA commission leaders to ensure the group's policy recommendations won't step on their toes. They've already been frustrated by unanswered calls made to Calley Means, Kennedy's key adviser, as MA readers will recall.
SPLIT SCREEN: Top Ag committee Republicans said they were 'troubled' by the initial commission report, while their close ally Rollins praised the work.
House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and Senate Ag Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) said in a statement after the report's release that the commission 'must move forward in a manner that avoids undermining the very systems that allow American farmers to produce the safest, most abundant, and affordable food in the world.'
They urged the commission to move toward 'course-correcting to prioritize sound science, peer-reviewed research, and the buy-in of the agricultural community.'
Meanwhile: Rollins, a member of the commission, said in a statement that Trump 'knows agriculture is at the heart of the solution.'
'America's farmers and ranchers dedicate their lives to the noble cause of feeding their country and the world, and in doing so have created the safest and most abundant and affordable food supply in the world,' she said.
On The Hill
HOUSE GOP HITS BACK: A nonpartisan analysis from the Congressional Budget Office found that increased work requirements in the House megabill would kick 3.2 million people off the program.
Requiring states to share some of the costs of the program would reduce or eliminate benefits for about 1.3 million people in an average month, Marcia wrote last week. House Ag Committee GOP spokesperson Ben Nichols defended the proposal.
'No one who is able-bodied and working, volunteering, or training for 20 hours a week will lose benefits,' Nichols said in a statement, noting that some exemptions from work requirements, such as for pregnancy, remain in place.
He added: 'We reject the hypothetical assumption that some states may not chip into 5 percent of a supplemental nutrition program. Federal policy should encourage states to administer the SNAP program more efficiently and effectively, and this bill does just that.'
'It is a responsible, common-sense approach that protects vulnerable families while respecting hardworking taxpayers.'
FIRST IN MA: A survey of voters in key ag swing states shows support for popular Biden-era conservation programs — as congressional Republicans look to add unobligated conservation funds to the farm bill baseline and reduce climate-smart guidelines.
The poll, commissioned by conservation advocacy group Invest in Our Land and conducted by firm Embold Research, surveyed 1,807 likely voters in key ag states Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.
The majority of respondents said they were somewhat or strongly supportive of increasing farm conservation programs. Nearly half of all voters said they were 'much less likely' to vote for a lawmaker who voted to decrease conservation funding.
The House-passed reconciliation ag package aims to rescind around $10 billion in unobligated conservation programs from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the farm bill baseline for conservation programs.
SNAP BATTLE
LATEST IN WAIVER NEWS: USDA has approved requests from Indiana and Iowa to ban federal food aid recipients from using their benefits to buy junk food, as our Samuel Benson reported.
Indiana's waiver bars recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from purchasing soft drinks and candy. Iowa's 'excludes any food item eligible for sales tax including sweetened beverages, snacks, and candy' from being purchased with SNAP benefits, per a USDA announcement. Iowa exempts most food from its state sales tax.
Both states' waivers will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Indiana and Iowa are the second and third states to obtain waivers from USDA limiting how benefits under the nation's largest anti-hunger program can be used. Rollins signed the first state waiver with Nebraska last week.
Several other states — including Arkansas, Colorado and Utah — have requested waivers or expressed interest in doing so.
And in the Cornhusker State: Nebraska's Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who met with Rollins last week, brushed aside concerns from farmers about SNAP restrictions, especially in his state which produces corn for sweeteners like corn syrup.
'That is the last thing that comes to mind in our farmers' minds. We are making things phenomenal for our kids,' Pillen said Friday during a 'Fox & Friends' interview.
'We all like to have a can of pop, but it is not a food group, for crying out loud,' Pillen said.
MORE MAHA NEWS FROM THE STATES: The Texas state legislature passed a bill that would tighten labeling requirements for food labeling and increase education about the impact of ultra-processed foods.
The measure passed with support from 'MAHA Republicans and crunchy granola Democrats' and with the backing of Kennedy, as the bill's sponsor Republican state Rep. Lacey Hull said on X.
AROUND THE AGENCIES
NO RIFs YET: U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a preliminary injunction halting further agency reductions in force and reorganizations, including at USDA.
The case, brought by labor unions, nonprofits and local governments, argues that the president needs backing from Congress in order to conduct such restructuring of the federal government.
MA readers will remember USDA has a schedule for RIFs teed up, but the preliminary injunction means the agency likely won't be announcing anything until the case has worked its way through the courts.
UPDATE ON TARIFFS: Trump announced Sunday that he's granting the European Union an extension to strike a deal to avoid his sweeping 50 percent tariffs — punting back the deadline to July 9.
Trump's announcement comes after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as our Ali Bianco and Ari Hawkins wrote.
The tariffs were set to take effect at the beginning of June. 'I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so. The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The European Union now is facing the same 10 percent tariff rate as other countries, but that is scheduled to rise to 20 percent in early July if a deal is not reached within Trump's previous 90-day deadline.
Row Crops
— USDA is buying up to $67 million worth of domestic food for distribution to food banks through Section 32 authority.
— JBS shareholders approve the company's plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
— The House budget bill's cuts to SNAP spending could impact the seafood industry, some of which relies on federal purchases of fish. (SeafoodSource)
— Texas farmers say that a looming state THC ban will destroy the state's hemp agriculture industry. (The Texas Tribune)
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