Early last year the Agricultural Labor Relations Board certified its second union election under the card check system. It involved Olive Hill Greenhouses Inc., a nursery for landscaping plants that serves the Los Angeles and San Diego regions. United Farm Workers submitted 47 signed cards out of 70 eligible workers.
When the two parties failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement in a timely manner, UFW persuaded ALRB to dictate a contract to the company through third-party mediation. Olive Hill blamed UFW for the delays.
Last month Western Growers Association challenged ALRB’s decision in a federal district court on behalf of the company. It argues Olive Hill negotiated in good faith but ALRB was impatient and stepped on their constitutional rights. The ag association has asked the court to block the government-mandated contract while the case plays out. Escalating the battle further, UFW filed a motion last week to intervene to defend ALRB and card check.
Trump budget slashes USDA programs, international food aid
President Donald Trump is proposing to slash non-defense spending by nearly 23% in a fiscal 2026 budget that recommends a $5 billion cut to USDA programs, including agricultural research, international food aid, conservation technical assistance to farmers, and rural development.
USDA's budget would be reduced by more than 18% from existing levels. The budget proposal, released Friday, doesn’t cover mandatory spending programs at USDA such as commodity programs, crop insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and school meals.
While proposing to cut non-defense spending by $163 billion in FY26, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiative is a clear winner in the White House plan.
Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
USDA agrees to unfreeze Maine schools funding
Maine has agreed to drop a lawsuit against the Agriculture Department that challenged USDA's withholding of federal nutrition funds over the state's treatment of transgender athletes.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement, USDA also agreed to "refrain from freezing, terminating or otherwise interfering with the state of Maine's access" to USDA funds based on alleged violations of Title IX "without first following all legally required procedures."
Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com.
House committee action delayed as leaders seek deals
This was supposed to be the week that the House Agriculture Committee considered its $230 billion net reduction in spending. But the committee action is being delayed as Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., rounds up votes for the committee’s portion of the giant budget reconciliation Republicans are trying to put together.
Thompson’s challenge is that meeting the committee’s lofty target requires either cutting SNAP benefits or requiring states to start paying a portion of the program’s cost.
By the way: During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, challenged GOP colleagues to act on their concern about “out-of-control” federal spending.
“I think every Republican says that they share that concern. “The question is, will we have the political courage to execute on that and right-size the political bureaucracy,” he said.
For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
China hints at starting U.S. trade talks
A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson says the “door is open” for trade talks with the U.S., the strongest indication so far Beijing is willing to hold de-escalation discussions.
“The U.S. has recently sent messages to China through relevant parties, hoping to start talks,” the spokesperson told reporters, according to an informal translation. “China is currently evaluating this,” they added.
But the spokesperson said that if the U.S. is serious about wanting to negotiate, it should be prepared to “cancel the unilateral tariffs.”
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC last week that the first step in any talks would be revisiting the unmet purchase commitments under the phase one deal. Under that agreement, China pledged to buy at least $80 billion in U.S. food and ag products.
Take note: In an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday, President Trump dismissed a question on whether he would give tariff relief to small businesses.“They’re not going to need it,” Trump argued.
“They’re going to make so much money.”
‘Skinny’ budget targets EPA, Chesapeake Bay
The Environmental Protection Agency’s budget would be cut by more than half in the Trump administration’s request released Friday, from $9.1 billion to $4.2 billion.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation warns that about half the cuts – about $2.46 billion – “would cripple loan programs that help states upgrade water treatment infrastructure to reduce nitrogen and other pollutants harmful to the bay and its rivers and streams.”
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Six states in the bay watershed – Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia are the big ones – have been working with the federal government for decades to reduce nutrients and sediments from flowing into the nation’s largest estuary.
Another $1 billion in cuts would eliminate state grant programs, including those aimed at improving water quality and reducing polluted runoff to meet commitments under the state-federal-local Chesapeake By agreement.
Outlook: Trump’s previous attempts at slashing EPA’s budget were not as ambitious. His fiscal 2020 request – which Congress and the Biden administration rejected – sought about a 31% cut. But Administrator Lee Zeldin has previously said he wants to reduce the budget by 65% as the administration tries to get states to pay for programs that have long been funded by grants and loans.
Trump budget would give more resources for countering unfair trade
The president’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would allocate an additional $134 million to strengthen U.S. trade enforcement. Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which investigates unfair trade practices that harm national security, would get a $122 million boost under the proposals.
“These new funds would also address unfair and unbalanced trade through increased antidumping and countervailing duty investigations,” the budget proposal reads.
Why it matters: Agriculture could particularly benefit from a beefed-up antidumping and countervailing duty regime. Commerce tweaked countervailing duty rules at the end of last year to make it easier for the U.S. ag sector to bring cases against foreign subsidized companies.
Groups urge Congress to continue funding for farmer mental health efforts
Thirty agricultural groups are pressing congressional appropriators to reauthorize $10 million in funding for farmer mental health efforts.
In a letter, the groups urged lawmakers to maintain the funding for the Farm and Stress Assistance Network, which supports regional centers that help provide telephone helplines and websites, training programs and workshops, support groups, and outreach services.
The letter noted that farmers and ranchers face higher stress and depression levels than people working in other occupations. Stress will only intensify amid rising production costs, falling commodity prices and high interest rates, they wrote.
The groups include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Rural Health Association, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the National Association of Counties.
FAO food price index up 1%
A global measure of global food commodity prices rose 1% in April, driven by increases in meat, dairy and grain prices. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index is up 7.6% over a year ago.
The meat price index rose 3.2% in April, led by higher prices for pork and continued strong prices for beef. The dairy price index increased 2.4%, aided by strong prices for butter.
The index for grain was 1.2% higher in April, reflecting stronger prices for wheat and rice. Wheat prices were buoyed by tightening supplies in Russia, FAO says.
Final word
“The wheels are coming off the wagon. We can't get to the president's rocket-ship economy, we cannot usher in the golden age – in fact, we risk a sovereign debt crisis – if we don't deal with the unsustainable deficits and national debt.” – House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, on Fox News Sunday.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated Wonderful Nurseries was the first employer to face card check. It was the third.
