Latest Agricultural News & Farm Policy Updates | Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.

04/12/25 10:49 AM

USDA employees head for the doors as potential RIFs loom

Thousands of USDA employees are planning to leave the agency through a deferred resignation program that could challenge the department’s ability to fulfill critical functions such as food import and export inspections. According to one report, 16,000 USDA employees have opted for buyouts over two rounds.

News
04/12/25 9:00 AM
By Noah Wicks
Judge orders USDA to release Maine nutrition program funding
News
04/11/25 2:13 PM
By Oliver Ward
Canadian ag tries to smooth path to USMCA renewal
News
04/11/25 9:10 AM
By Oliver Ward
China raises tariffs again to match the U.S.
News
04/10/25 2:57 PM
By Noah Wicks
Fifteen USDA programs under review, Klobuchar says

News
04/10/25 2:05 PM
By Steve Davies
Trump says farmers will get a break on deportations
Farmers will be given some flexibility under the current administration’s mass deportation program so they can continue to employ undocumented immigrants working at their operations, President Donald Trump said at a cabinet meeting today.
Economy
04/10/25 1:20 PM
By Rebekah Alvey
Daybreak April 10: Farmers applaud tariff pause — but there’s still China
Farmers and 401(k) holders are certainly breathing a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump paused his reciprocal tariffs. But two steep tariff increases on China in the last two days will still deal a huge blow to some ag sectors.
Farm Bill
04/10/25 12:41 PM
By Rebekah Alvey
House clears budget resolution on promise of steeper spending cuts
The House cleared the Senate-amended budget resolution, after Freedom Caucus holdouts said they got the necessary guarantees that the Senate will pursue higher spending cuts.
Economy
04/10/25 9:18 AM
By Philip Brasher
Supermarket prices surge on meat, milk, eggs
The cost of groceries jumped in March on higher prices for meat, eggs and milk, despite an overall decline in the cost of living. The overall Consumer Price Index fell 0.1% last month.
News
04/10/25 8:20 AM
By Oliver Ward
EU pauses retaliatory tariffs for 90 days
The European Union responded to President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause of U.S. reciprocal tariffs by announcing its own pause on pending retaliatory tariffs on Thursday.
News
04/09/25 1:42 PM
By Oliver Ward
Trump announces 90-day tariff pause, hikes duties on China even higher
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will temporarily pause the country-specific reciprocal tariffs announced last week, except those applied to China.
News
04/09/25 6:10 AM
By Oliver Ward
As new tariffs kick in, what do they mean for U.S. ag?
Sweeping new tariffs are set to ripple across the farm economy, driving food and ag input prices up, shrinking key export markets, and potentially worsening a long-running labor crisis, analysts say.
News
04/09/25 6:07 AM
By Rebekah Alvey
States embrace 'MAHA' movement with dozens of bills
Statehouses across the country are going “MAHA” and considering dozens of bills that would limit food dyes, seed oils, ultraprocessed foods and soft drinks in federal nutrition programs.
News
04/09/25 6:06 AM
By Rebekah Alvey
GOP eyes tighter SNAP requirements in bid for budget savings
As Republicans struggle to meet budget goals, Democrats highlight the prospect of tighter work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that GOP lawmakers propose.
News
04/09/25 6:05 AM
By Steve Davies
Ag research community worries about staffing, funding cuts
Land-grant universities are sounding the alarm about potential damage to agricultural research as USDA goes through a rapid transformation that's likely to include deep funding and staff cuts.
Environment
04/09/25 6:04 AM
By Noah Wicks
With planting season underway, Mid-South farmers grapple with flooding
Rainstorms that began Tuesday and, in some cases, lasted through Sunday have devastated communities across the Mid-South, who are dealing with flooded homes and fields.
Economy
04/09/25 6:03 AM
By Philip Brasher
Replacing seed oils raises food prices, boosts palm oil, study says
Removing soybean oil and other seed oils from the food supply would force the food industry to rely heavily on imported palm oil to fill the gap, driving up consumer prices, according to a study funded by the United Soybean Board.

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April 06, 2025

Agri-Pulse Open Mic: Adam Bergman, EchoTech Capital

This week’s Open Mic guest is Adam Bergman, Managing Director at EchoTech Capital. While opinions still widely vary regarding what sustainability really means, Bergman stands in the gap between would be investors and those willing to adopt certain sustainable practices. In agriculture the topics include regenerative farming, a vast array of climate smart practices and even indoor farming. Washington has proven that financial support for renewable fuels as well as electricity from solar and wind sources can influence growth. Moving forward, the question remains which energy sources will see favor from Capitol Hill and what agricultural practices investors will support toward a greener environment and stronger food security.

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Newsmakers

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Agri-Pulse Newsmakers

04.11.2025

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: April 11, 2025: Rep. Newhouse on tariffs, USDA staff reductions

President Donald Trump this week temporarily paused country-specific reciprocal tariffs while those applied to China increased to 125%. We asked Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., how the move could change the U.S.' ag trading relationship with China and his thoughts on staff reductions at the Agriculture Department.

Then, Tim Lust from the National Sorghum Producers and Ken Barbic with Invariant discuss the tariffs, including how long producers can wait for government payments for market loss.

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Agri-Pulse Newsmakers

04.04.2025

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: April 4, 2025: Sen. Hoeven on tariffs, budget reconciliation

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers

03.28.2025

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: March 28, 2025: Castaneda, Kuball on ag labor, trade

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers

03.21.2025

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: March 21, 2025: Rep. Kat Cammack on reconciliation, farm bill, producer payments

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers

03.14.2025

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: March 14, 2025: Ted McKinney on ag trade, farm bill

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Calendar of Events

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Apr 13-Apr15
IFPA Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference/ Carlsbad, CA
Apr 13-Apr16
American Commodity Distribution Association Conference / New Orleans, LA
Apr 14-Apr18
National Child Nutrition Conference / Dallas, TX
Apr 22-Apr25
National WIC Association Education & Training Conference / Las Vegas, NV

Ag By The Numbers

Impact of Chinese retaliatory tariffs on American Commodities

President Donald Trump has increased duties on China twice since taking office less than two months ago. This week, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on more than $22 billion of agricultural exports.

As you can see on this chart, soybeans accounted for nearly one-half of U.S. agricultural exports to China, totaling over $12 billion in 2024. China is the world’s largest soybean importer, accounting for nearly 60% of global trade and half of U.S. soybean export value.

Grains are the second highest U.S. ag product imported to China, totaling a value of nearly $3 billion.

Meat followed, valued at about $2.5 billion.

The United States logged record export values to China for key ag commodities in 2021-22, but China has been diversifying its sources for farm imports since.

While the retaliatory duties will push a shock through the industry in the short term, some in the ag community are willing to accept the sting for long-term correction with trading partners.

Oliver Ward has more in his story on Agri-Pulse dot com.

To learn more about "Map it Out" and "Ag By the Numbers," check out our Newsmakers show.

AGRI-PULSE TV

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03.24.2025

Ag and Food Policy Insights for 2025 and Beyond

Moderator: Sara Wyant
The speakers included:
- Kip Eideberg, Senior Vice President, Association of Equipment Manufacturers
- Matt Mika, Vice President Advocacy and Government Affairs, AmericanHort
- Kellie Adesina, Director, Global Government Affairs, The Kraft Heinz Company
- Randy Russell, President, The Russell Group

Agri-Pulse TV

03.24.2025

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