Bessent’s tariff assistance comments met with confusion
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is teasing that the administration will announce tariff assistance to farmers as soon as next week, but both the messenger and the message are raising questions.
"How are you rolling out something on Tuesday if the government is still shut down?" a soybean industry source granted anonymity to speak frankly about the announcement tells Agri-Pulse.
Multiple legal analysts have said there’s no mechanism for the administration to channel tariff money to farmers without congressional action; the USDA fund President Trump used in his first term to bail out U.S. ag, the Commodity Credit Corporation, is severely depleted.
"With the shutdown, we can't get any details,” the source said. “We talked to our friends on the Hill and they're trying to [get information]” but the usual sources are furloughed, they noted.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the administration is weighing $10-$14 billion in assistance. But that could fall short of anticipated export losses. FY2025 exports to China were more than $8 billion lower than the previous year, and USDA anticipates FY2026 exports to fall $15 billion below 2024 levels.
The soybean industry source also questioned why it was Bessent who announced the assistance. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was on Fox Business on Thursday morning but did not mention it.
However, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., tells Agri-Pulse on this week’s Newsmakers that helping farmers would strengthen the administration’s negotiating position with China.
It “sends a very clear message to the Chinese that we're going to keep our farmers in the game,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice President JD Vance at the White House (AP photo)Van Orden pushes temporary ag labor legislation
Rep. Derrick Van Orden joined dairy farmers at the Global Dairy Expo Thursday to push for legislation to address dairy operation workforce shortages.
At a press conference in Madison, the Wisconsin Republican touted a bill he introduced in July that lets “covered aliens” work in the U.S. if they go back to their home countries for 30 days. Both the worker and their employer would then pay a fine.
An ICE raid in Manitowoc County in Wisconsin last week arrested 21 dairy workers said American Business Immigration Coalition Director of Legislative Affairs James O’Neill.
Van Orden said at the expo Thursday that one person who is “an incredibly strong supporter of the dairy industry” is Trump administration border czar Tom Homan. “He was raised on a dairy farm,” Van Orden said. “So keep that in mind.”
Administration may not have authority to conduct RIFs, officials say
Senior administration officials say it may not be legal for federal agencies to conduct RIFs during a shutdown, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The officials cited some of the same roadblocks to RIFs included in a lawsuit brought by federal employee unions, the newspaper reported.
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Those include the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from spending money not appropriated by Congress. The American Federation of Government Employees and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees say that work to administer RIFs is not an exception to the the Antideficiency Act.
Administration officials — including President Trump and Office of Management Budget Director Russell Vought — have signaled that agencies plan to lay off federal workers during the shutdown.
Turkey flock in Iowa hit with bird flu
The H5N1 avian flu virus was found in a commercial flock of about 42,000 turkeys in Calhoun County, Iowa. It’s the eighth case in domestic birds in that state this year.
“The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is strongly encouraging Iowa poultry producers and backyard flock owners to bolster their biosecurity practices and protocols to protect their flocks,” the department said in a news release.
Bird flu detections are picking up nationwide, with 27 detections in commercial and backyard flocks in the last 30 days, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Tyson to pay $85 million in pork antitrust settlement
Meat processing giant Tyson Foods says it will pay $85 million to settle a class-action pork antitrust lawsuit, bringing meatpackers’ total commitments to resolve the case to $207.9 million.
The money will go into a settlement fund for consumer purchasers and Tyson would also agree to authenticate up to 50 court documents during the case's trial, according to a court filing. In exchange, the plaintiffs will drop their claims against the company.
So far, JBS, Smithfield, Hormel, Seaboard Foods, and Clemens Food Group have agreed to settle. Smithfield’s $75 million settlement had been the highest settlement prior to Tyson's proposal.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minnesota still needs to sign off on the deal.
Final word
Disaster assistance payments have all been impacted by the government shutdown, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo.
“We can’t move any money out to these farmers. … It is all really, really tough in the countryside,” she said. “We’ve got to get this country moving.”
Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak
