After serving 12 of the last 16 years as agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack will end his tenure leading USDA at the change of administration Monday.
In an exit interview for Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, he talked with our Lydia Johnson about how his vision for USDA has changed since he first took office in 2009. Vilsack also discussed his ongoing concerns for ag, and he offered some advice for his successor.
“I walk out of this place knowing that I gave it my all. I walk out of this place knowing that we made a difference. I think things are better than they were when I came in, in many, many, many respects,” Vilsack said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
Watch the Newsmakers episode released today at Agri-Pulse.com.
Take note: President-elect Donald Trump named four USDA undersecretaries on Monday, including former Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce as undersecretary for farm production and conservation, Dudley Hoskins to lead marketing and regulatory programs, and Luke Lindberg as trade undersecretary. Catch up on the nominees at Agri-Pulse.com.
Senate Ag Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., shows the Capitol rotunda to Agriculture Secretary-designate Brooke Rollins and a group of Texas FFA members. (Post on X)
Todd Young: Trump to apply tariffs ‘selectively’
Senate Finance Committee member Todd Young, R-Ind., says conversations with Treasury Secretary-designate Scott Bessent lead him to believe Trump will apply tariffs strategically.
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On the campaign trail, Trump floated an across-the-board tariff applied to all U.S. imports. But the proposal was met with skepticism from multiple GOP lawmakers.
“Based on my extensive conversations with nominee Bessent and my understanding of the president's decision, he's going to apply tariffs selectively, in a targeted fashion,” Young told reporters Thursday outside the hearing room where Bessent was appearing before the Finance Committee.
Trump has also threatened tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada unless they take steps to address illegal migration and drug smuggling at the U.S. border. These, however, could still come to pass.
Young noted that sweeping tariffs could be used “on a short-term basis” to secure negotiating leverage to resolve concerns “unrelated” to trade.
The Trump transition team did not respond to Agri-Pulse’s request for comment on the senator’s remarks.
U.S., Australia, New Zealand dairy groups: Canadian products benefit from unfair trade
Industry groups in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand are urging their respective governments to address what they say are unfair trade practices from Canadian dairy protein exporters.
“At artificially low prices, these exports are distorting and undermining world markets,” the groups said in a letter to trade and agriculture officials in the three countries. Both the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the National Milk Producers Federation signed on to the letter. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai were among the recipients.
The groups are calling for “collective and coordinated action” to tackle the issue, including through the 2026 review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The Canadian embassy in Washington did not respond to Agri-Pulse’s request for comment on the letter.
USDA to ease some import restrictions on unvaccinated European poultry
USDA says it will reduce trade restrictions on certain poultry from France and other countries in the region after concluding they are unlikely to bring avian flu to the U.S.
The department limited trade of live poultry products and by-products from France and the European Poultry Trade Region in October 2023 over France’s decision to vaccinate against highly pathogenic avian influenza. At the time, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service warned that vaccinating poultry could hide symptoms of the virus, undermining U.S. efforts to prevent its spread.
“After a thorough risk evaluation,” the department said it has concluded that easing trade restrictions on certain unvaccinated commodities would not significantly increase the risk to U.S. flocks.
Unvaccinated French poultry and live ducks from EPTR countries and Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway will see their restrictions eased. Vaccinated poultry and their by-products will remain ineligible for import, however.
Zeldin appearance draws praise from Republicans
Lee Zeldin, nominated to be EPA administrator, was careful not to promise much beyond compliance with the agency’s “obligations under the law” and cooperation with Congress at his confirmation hearing Thursday.
Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman of Arkansas, also a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, asked Zeldin how he would get EPA and USDA to work together “to create a predictable, science-based and efficient regulatory system to ensure the timely availability of products and tools farmers and ranchers depend on.”
“I agree with everything that you just said, senator, that must be our goal,” Zeldin said. “That should be the relationship between all agencies, including the interaction between the EPA and the USDA.”
After the first round of questioning, Boozman said he was encouraged by Zeldin’s support of the biofuel industry. Zeldin was a critic of biofuel policy while he was in Congress.
“I think he’s very open-minded about it and I think it’s really positive in the sense that he’s somebody that we will have direct access to that is willing to sit down and talk,” Boozman said. “That’s always very helpful.”
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Zeldin appears cooperative and collaborative and has a history of working toward a clean environment. “He seems like someone who’s going to work hard to make sure that we find common ground where it can be found,” Moran said.
Agri-Pulse Editor-in-Chief Philip Brasher with Chuck Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and Michael Torrey of the Torrey Advisory Group at the Dairy Strong conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Thursday.
Burgum commits to multiple use on federal lands, Colo. River collaboration
At Interior Secretary-designate Doug Burgum's confirmation hearing Thursday, the former North Dakota governor pledged to ensure use of federal lands would be balanced among multiple uses and promised to work toward consensus on Colorado River water reductions.
Burgum said he sees federal lands as "America's balance sheet" and that they need to be open for grazing, mining and recreation. He wasn’t directly asked whether he would undo a recent BLM rule to allow conservation leases, but his comment came after North Dakota Republican John Hoeven expressed frustration with the rule.
When asked by Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., if he would work to craft a post-2026 water reduction framework for the Colorado River that was "not overly burdensome to any one state," Burgum said, "I think you can count on that we're going to look for a collaborative solution that serves everyone."
Final word
“I worked every single day to expand economic opportunity so that that discussion at the coffee table could be about how a farm could succeed to the next generation, and not how It was to get big, or get out.” –Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
