It’s National Ag Day. Reps. Mark Alford, R-Mo., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., are leading a resolution to officially designate today as a celebration of “the importance of agriculture as one of the most impactful industries in the United States.”

The latest Feeding the Economy report puts a number on just how impactful U.S. ag is. The report says industry generated $9.5 trillion in economic value in 2024, a small dip from the previous year.

The report says agriculture contributed 18.7% of the overall national economy last year. In 2023 the report found that the industry contributed over $9.6 trillion to the economy, or about 20% of the total economic output. 

The ninth annual report was supported by 36 food and agriculture groups. It was conducted by John Dunham & Associates and funded by Goodstone Group. It looks at the number of jobs in the industry, wages paid to employees, value added, total output, and taxes paid by industries and their employees. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020, the agriculture industry has seen a 25% increase in economic output, with direct employment in food and agriculture growing by over 1 million jobs. 

But, but, but: The report notes that direct and indirect industry wages have failed to keep up with inflation, despite growing each year. This could be attributed to national economic stressors and high cost of labor for employers. The number of agricultural manufacturing jobs has also continued to decline since 2020 and is down 30,000 jobs since that year. 

Ag’s MAHA challenge

Ag and food leaders are trying to navigate the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, an issue that surfaced at the 2025 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

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Long-time ag policy lobbyist Randy Russell said he believes the agriculture and food industry should “admit that we have a health problem in this country,” pointing to occurrences of obesity, hypertension and diabetes in the American population.

But Russell expressed concern that the MAHA movement offers “a very simplistic solution to a very complex problem."

“It took us decades to develop the health problems that we have in this country and the solutions are multifaceted,” Russell said.

Take note: Food companies are paying attention to the MAHA movement too, said Kellie Adesina, director of global government affairs for the Kraft Heinz Co. “We are seeing a lot and we’re just trying to figure out how to navigate this space, honestly,” she said.

By the way: Summit panelists expressed optimism that the 45Z credit for clean fuel producers is here to stay. “I don’t think it’s dead,” said Anthony Reed, a partner at FGS Global, of 45Z. “It’s here at least through [20]27 and then we’ll see what happens from an extension.” 

Reed and other panelists suggested there could be some alterations to the credit, particularly how it handles feedstocks. But Reed said he doesn’t anticipate Congress moving to bring back “legacy” biofuel credits like 40A or 40B, as some groups have proposed.

Don’t Miss: A senior USTR official told summit attendees the Trump administration is breaking with predecessors in the way it approaches trade negotiations. Read Oliver Ward’s report.

USDA to pursue rulemaking increasing line speeds at pork, poultry plants

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will start rulemaking to formally increase line speeds at pork and poultry facilities. The agency will also stop requiring these plants to submit “redundant” worker safety data, citing research showing no direct link between processing speeds and workplace agencies. 

“America leads the world in pork and poultry production, and we are committed to ensuring our producers remain competitive on a global scale without being held back by unnecessary bureaucracy,” says Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins.

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The move follows the release of two studies earlier this year that show an increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders for workers in poultry and swine plants. However, the FSIS contracted studies didn’t find that increased line speed resulted in higher risks to workers.

Dems seek reversal of USDA decision on local food purchases

Thirty-one senators are demanding USDA reverse its decision last week to cut $1 billion in purchases of locally sourced foods.

Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Jeanne  Shaheen, D-N.H. are among those who signed a letter to Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins. All but two are Democrats; Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine are both independents.

The senators say they have “grave concerns” that canceling the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program “poses extreme harm to producers and communities in every state across the country.”

“At a time of uncertainty in farm country, farmers need every opportunity to be able to expand market access for their products,” the senators say.

USDA defended the move, saying in a statement it “remains committed to strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious food through the existing 16 robust nutrition programs in place.

“Specifically, no child nutrition programs face disruption, including programs like school lunch, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and DoD Fresh. USDA foods are still regularly procured and distributed to food banks via The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).”

The department also said that Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins “welcomes input on practical, viable approaches to nutrition programs moving forward.”

Departing broadband agency official warns against BEAD changes

Evan Feinman will no longer oversee the federal rollout of $4.25 billion for expanding rural broadband access. In a departing letter, the current Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program director said the Trump administration is looking to shift the dollars away from fiber and towards low-earth satellite services, like Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The Trump administration “seems to want to make changes” to BEAD “that ignore the clear direction laid out by Congress, reduce the number of American homes and businesses that get fiber connections, and increase the number that get satellite connections,” says the letter, which was posted on BlueSky by a ProPublica reporter.

“The degree of that shift remains unknown, but regardless of size, it will be a disservice to rural and small-town America,” Feinman writes. 

“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington," he adds.

Final word

“We’re trying to call these the Trump programs.” – Matt Mika, vice president for advocacy and government affairs at AmericanHort, referring to the use of H-2A and H-2B visa programs by various businesses related to President Donald Trump. Mika was speaking on a panel at the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit.

For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.