USDA must make the full amount of SNAP funding needed for this month available to states today, a federal judge ruled late Thursday.
Saying that the SNAP funding crisis never should have happened, and expressing sympathy for people who are going without food, U.S. District Judge Jophn McConnell Jr. took the government to task for delaying even partial payments.
He ordered USDA to use Section 32 nutrition funding to supplement the SNAP contingency fund in order to make the full amount for November available. He also said USDA had been disingenuous in arguing that Section 32 can’t be used because it would threaten school meals funding.
Section 32 isn’t used just for child nutrition funding, McConnell said. And even after removing approximately $4 billion to supplement the contingency fund, there would be about $19 billion left over, enough to pay for school meals through the spring, he said.
“The defendant's argument that forcing it to use Section 32 funds will cause children to go hungry is incredible, contrary to the evidence and implausible,” he said.
The government promptly filed a notice of appeal to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
The problem with partial payments: State SNAP officials have said that calculating partial benefits will take longer than simply providing the full payments to people – perhaps weeks. McConnell had ordered USDA to “expeditiously” resolve any problems with providing the partial amount, but said in court Thursday the department hadn’t done so.
China will have to break past habits to meet soybean targets, report says
If China is going to live up to its commitment to buy 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans for the rest of this year and 25 million tons in subsequent years, it will have to break with past habits, a new study argues.
Researchers at North Dakota State University argue that the 25 million-ton target is more “realistic” than the Phase One Agreement’s “aspirational” buying targets. But to fulfill its commitments, they argue, Beijing will have to buck market conditions, which it has not typically done.
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“Chinese soybean purchases are closely tied to relative pricing,” the authors write in their monthly trade monitor. “China buys U.S. soybeans when they are competitively priced compared to Brazilian alternatives.”
U.S. soybeans are now subject to 13% tariffs in the Chinese market – versus Brazil’s 3%. Accordingly, whether China meets its targets will depend on whether it makes purchases beyond market-driven demand, which it has not done since 2018.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., at FarmFest (Agri-Pulse photo)Klobuchar: Trump’s going to lose tariff power
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a lawyer who’s the top Democrat on the Senate Ag Committee and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, predicts the Supreme Court will strike down President Donald Trump’s use of a 1977 to impose his sweeping tariffs.
Klobuchar, who attended the court’s oral arguments in person, notes on this week’s Agri-Pulse Newsmakers that several conservative justices expressed doubt that the emergency powers law authorized Trump to implement the tariffs. “I don’t think that Justice [Neil] Gorsuch could have been clearer in his view of what the Constitution says, and I think you heard a number of judges that just felt skeptical,” she says.
She expects the court to issue its ruling by the end of the year. But she notes that there are other laws Trump can use to implement tariffs. She says it’s important for farmers to keep letting policymakers the impact that retaliation by trading partners can have on U.S. agriculture.
Newsmakers anchor Lydia Johnson also was joined by two trade policy experts to talk about the case and Trump’s trade policy.
This week’s Newsmakers will be available today at Agri-Pulse.com.
Apples to oranges: Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal ain’t like last year’s
President Donald Trump says Thanksgiving dinner at Walmart is 25% cheaper this year than last year.
There’s a catch, however. The retail giant’s meal, which has been touted by President Trump to show his administration is delivering on affordability, has fewer and different items than last year’s.
In announcing the meal back on Oct. 21, Walmart called it “its best offer yet” and touted the price of the Butterball turkey at 97 cents a pound. The company said it was the lowest price since 2019, but last year’s list had a frozen turkey at 88 cents per pound.
Last year’s meal also had a pecan pie and a pie crust with pumpkin filling. This year’s list has the crust and pumpkin filling. Also missing: whipped topping.
Onions, celery and sweet potatoes also are absent from this year’s Thanksgiving meal.
Trump has said publicly this week that the Walmart meal costs 25% less than last year. Walmart, however, did not make that claim in announcing the meal.
In a Market Intel report last month, the American Farm Bureau Federation said consumers should brace for higher turkey prices, since “economic factors as well as disease challenges have driven wholesale turkey prices up about 40%.”
Pelosi to retire, leaving mixed legacy with ag
California is losing yet another leader in Washington with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s announcement Thursday of her retirement.
Pelosi said she won’t seek reelection next year, opening up a competitive race in a progressive stronghold.
The 85-year-old lawmaker has represented San Francisco since 1987 and held the speaker’s gavel in 2007-2011 and 2019-2023. In a video message to constituents, she shared gratitude and said she looks forward to her final year of service.
Her tenure was marked by significant legislative accomplishments such as the Affordable Care Act, major infrastructure and climate bills, and leading the House during two impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump.
Pelosi also was instrumental in rolling out Prop. 50, California’s redistricting initiative, and delayed her announcement until after voters approved the ballot measure.
For ag: Pelosi holds a mixed but consequential record on agriculture and rural issues. She has at times been a critical ally for farm groups and rural Democrats, playing a pivotal role in the 2007 energy bill that pushed the Renewable Fuel Standard.
But her backing of the 2009 cap-and-trade bill sparked worry among many in agriculture and at rural power cooperatives and contributed to the eventual breakdown of the legislation in the Senate.
Rural Democrats and agriculture interests say Pelosi’s greatest strength lies in her ability to moderate the caucus and keep its more progressive members from tilting policy in ways that could alienate rural regions. Rep. Jim Costa told Agri-Pulse in 2019 that Pelosi was “always practical and very focused on what it takes to keep folks together.”
Final Word:
“The cattle ranchers are doing well. We’re going to bring the beef prices down, and they understand that, even if we have to help them out.” – President Donald Trump to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Philip Brasher, Brad Hooker and Oliver Ward contributed to today’s Daybreak.
