Trump: We’ve got a ‘deal’ to cut beef prices
President Donald Trump claims his administration has found a way to cut retail beef prices – but it’s not at all clear what he has in mind.
"We are working on beef. I think we have a deal on beef that's gonna bring the price of beef down,” he told reporters Thursday. “That would be the one product that we would say is a little bit higher than we want it. … We did something. We worked our magic."
Keep in mind: Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has ruled out paying producers to rebuild cattle herds, but she said she and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would have an announcement this month on “opening up more working lands,” Economists say they expect cattle producers to start expanding without government intervention.
Sen. Kaine: More tariff votes likely next week
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine tells Agri-Pulse that the Senate will likely vote on the Brazil and Canada tariffs next week.
Kaine, who is co-leading both tariff challenges, said on Thursday “it's going to be before Oct. 31,” adding “it's likely to be next week.”
Kaine said the votes to overturn the underlying emergency declarations used to impose the tariffs could happen the same day, or on subsequent days.
Agri-Pulse reported that multiple farm-state lawmakers raised their tariff concerns with the administration earlier this week. Kaine says rural state lawmakers could flip their votes.
The first Senate vote on the Canada tariffs saw the resolution pass with four GOP backers – Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins.
Kaine says the price effects of tariffs are only increasing. “If we had four Republican votes before the pocketbook effect, I think we're likely to have more,” he said.
Take note: The effort isn’t going anywhere in the House any time soon. Republicans there voted to block future tariff challenge votes until at least the end of January.
Trump, Putin talk post-war trade
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing post-war trade between the two countries and agreeing to a future meeting.
Trump said the call was “productive” in a Truth Social post. The two “spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over,” Trump added.
U.S. ag exports to Russia totaled $100 million in 2024, down from $143 million before the 2022 invasion. 2024 exports were mostly prepared food products.
The pair also agreed to a second meeting to discuss peace options, Trump said, this time in Hungary.
Take note: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be at the White House today, where the Putin call and the potential Hungary meeting are certain to come up.
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Vilsack: Farmers will need new markets after the trade war
U.S. soybean growers may never get back the market share in China they’ve lost in the latest trade war and may need to look elsewhere for sales, says former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Speaking on this week’s Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, Vilsack says China’s built a relationship with Brazil ‘that’s not going to change. They’re not going to go back to the United States immediately.”
Vilsack says the challenge “is figuring out what else can we do with these soybeans, what other products could potentially be produced domestically that create a larger domestic market. I'm thinking of renewable fuels.” Southeast Asia could also be an important market, he says.
Vilsack, who heads the World Food Prize Foundation, also talks to Newsmakers about shutting down USAID, moving the Food for Peace program to USDA, and competition issues in agribusiness.
This week’s Newsmakers will be available today at Agri-Pulse.com.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at the Capitol Thursday, where he criticized cuts in SNAP in the One Big Beautiful Bill (Agri-Pulse photo: Parker Litterick)Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran says State Department officials tell him they will soon direct the Agriculture Department to scale up Food for Peace program purchases.
“I had a conversation with State Department officials this morning,” Moran told Agri-Pulse on Thursday. He said that officials told him, “they will not stand in the way, and they're going to give the green light at some point in time to USDA.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a question from Agri-Pulse on when they would ramp up Food for Peace purchases.
Take note: Supporters of the program have lamented that purchases have nearly stalled since the program moved from the shuttered U.S. Agency of International Development to the State Department.
“Nothing's moving,” Kim Cooper, vice president of government affairs for the North American Millers' Association told Agri-Pulse last month.
Some on Capitol Hill, including Moran, want to move the program to USDA.
NFU leaders say farmers becoming more skeptical of tariff strategy
National Farmers Union state leaders say many growers need financial aid to stay in business, and tariffs and the government shutdown aren’t helping.
“Even the Trump supporters are starting to wonder – is there an endgame here?” said Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union. “It’s been said a lot of times, short-term pain for long-term gain. But who's going to get the long-term gain? That's the question.”
The shutdown is affecting farmers who need to have operating loans serviced, he and Chad Franke, president of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, say. They were on a call with Colorado and Minnesota state officials and reporters organized by the group For the Long Term.
State officials affiliated with the group also were on the call. Colorado Treasurer David Young stressed the uncertainty about the current economic climate.
“When the president turns on a dime without notice and changes [tariffs] overnight, this is really difficult for anybody trying to make a business decision. They’re just paralyzed … and that's not just in the agricultural community, that's across the board.”
Former Tennessee ag commissioner challenges Ogles for House seat
Former Tennessee agriculture commissioner Charlie Hatcher is running to unseat Rep. Andy Ogles in next year’s Republican primary.
Hatcher, who also served for 10 years as Tennessee’s state veterinarian, announced a campaign for the state’s 5th congressional district, which Ogles has held since 2023. Hatcher retired from his 7-year stint as Tennessee Ag Commissioner at the beginning of October.
In his campaign launch video, Hatcher touts his farming background and praises President Trump, saying “would have been a fantastic farmer because he has that work ethic.”
Final word
“The President's betting the farm on the use of tariffs, but he's not betting his farm on his love of tariffs.” – Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, on a media call Thursday.
Philip Brasher, Parker Litterick, Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
