Daybreak March 4: Trump tells farmers to focus on domestic market

President Donald Trump is telling U.S. farmers to get ready to focus on the domestic market ahead of forthcoming tariffs.

“To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States,” Trump wrote. “Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”

A White House official told Agri-Pulse that the president was referencing the reciprocal tariffs Trump and others have suggested could be ready by April 2.

But multiple producers told Agri-Pulse Monday they were skeptical the domestic market could absorb additional export losses. Many commodities rely heavily on export markets.  

Former National Association of Wheat Growers President Gary Broyles told Agri-Pulse that as much as 50% of U.S. wheat is exported. He noted trade and access to foreign markets are “absolutely critical.” Former NAWG President Brent Cheyne added, “There isn't enough population in this country to consume it.”

FSA, NRCS office leases being terminated

The Trump administration is preparing to terminate 58 Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service office leases, according to Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

In a cost-cutting move, the agencies plan to “reevaluate those leases and maybe renegotiate at a lower rate,” Acting FSA Administrator Steven Peterson told Agri-Pulse at the annual Commodity Classic convention and trade show in Denver. The terminations will not go into effect right away, giving agency leaders some time to make plans in case new deals cannot be reached with current tenants, he said.

Read our report for locations of impacted sites.

Democrats to highlight farmers, federal workers at State of the Union

Democrats are preparing to highlight issues facing farmers, consumers and federal workers as Trump delivers his current administration’s first State of the Union address tonight to Congress.

Both House and Senate Agriculture Democrats have invited guests from food banks, farm country and the federal workforce to attend. The guests highlight various issues across the country, including mass firings across federal agencies and the impacts of funding freezes. 

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Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will be joined by Gary Wertish from the Minnesota Farmers Union. “I thought having Gary there would be a good point to remind all that rural America is out there strong, we have so much potential, and what I'd really like to be working on is things like child care and housing and health care in rural, as well as making sure we get a farm bill done,” Klobuchar said in an interview with Agri-Pulse.

Klobuchar and Wertish both emphasized concerns about tariffs.

“We need the export markets. We can't just replace them overnight,” Wertish said. “The threat of the tariffs puts more downward pressure on our markets and really helps destroy our trust as a reliable trading partner.”

Other guests highlight the impacts of the federal layoffs. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., will bring Jamie Werner to the address. Werner was a Forest Service employee who was fired along with thousands of other probationary federal workers in Colorado, according to Bennet’s office. 

From the House side, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., will bring a fired employee from USDA's Agricultural Research Service facility in Salinas. The guest will not be identified by name; in a letter to the congresswoman, they shared that at least half a dozen colleagues were impacted by the cuts to probationary workers. 

Other guests include Joe Newland, president of the Kansas Farm Bureau, who will join Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan.; Kristin Warzocha, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, who will join Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, and fifth-generation farmer Karin Reeves, who will join Rep. John Mannion, D-N.Y.

Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, announced that Brad Moline and his daughter Ava Moline — who raise turkeys on their century-old farm in Manson, Iowa — will be his guests.

Farm equipment manufacturers face another tough year

The struggling farm economy and the prospect of higher tariffs are weighing on farm equipment manufacturers that are already struggling with sluggish sales.

“In the ag market right now, there's just a lot of uncertainty. So that uncertainty is leading to people feeling just a little bit uncomfortable about making capital equipment purchases,” Curt Blades, senior vice president with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, said at Commodity Classic on Monday.

As of December, sales of high-horsepower tractors were about the same level as the five-year average but 17% lower than a year ago. Sales of low-horsepower tractors were 24% below the five-year average and 13% below a year ago.

Bottom line: According to AEM, the forecast for net farm income suggests there will be another decline in equipment sales this year before a recovery in 2026.

Lawsuit seeks to stop DOGE from interfering with federal agencies

Yet another legal challenge has been launched against the U.S. DOGE Service for its impact on federal agencies.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., that seeks to stop specific agencies from meeting with DOGE teams examining their operations. Among the agencies the lawsuit is targeting: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service.

The DOGE teams should be stopped “from taking further actions against multiple environmental agencies until each team fully complies with the Federal Advisory Committee Act,” the center says. 

Top HHS spokesperson abruptly resigns

The top spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services has resigned only two weeks after starting his new job, reportedly because of disagreements with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Tom Corry shared on LinkedIn Monday that he had left his job as the assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS. He didn’t provide a reason, but Politico cited tensions between Corry and RFK Jr. over the handling of a measles outbreak in Texas.

Corry served as senior advisor and director of communications for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the first Trump administration.

Final word

“They will have a very, very negative impact on our industry.” — Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, referring to the new tariffs President Donald Trump is imposing. 

Eideberg, speaking at Commodity Classic, said the uncertainty about how high tariffs will be also means companies “don't know day to day, week to week, month to month, whether you will be paying 25% more, 40% more, 60% more.”