A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump seeks to promote precision ag techniques and expedite approval of new pesticide active ingredients. Trump signed the order shortly before hosting farmers for dinner at the White House Rose Garden.
Entitled “Advancing Regenerative Agriculture and Strengthening American Farm Resilience,” the order also addresses the cumulative health effects of pesticide exposures. It directs USDA, EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services to “expedite development of a research and evaluation framework for cumulative exposure across chemical classes that are regulated by statute in the food supply.”
The EO says EPA “shall prioritize registration actions related to substances that can be used as alternatives to older active ingredients” and “review all available data for registered pre-harvest desiccation uses and ensure alignment with all applicable safety and environmental standards, including accurate labeling of chemical products.”
“It was my honor to sign an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate agricultural innovations that give farmers and ranchers the necessary resources to ensure American crops are the healthiest and the most abundant and the most affordable,” Trump told the farmers gathered in the Rose Garden for a steak dinner Thursday night.
The order says “it is the policy of the United States to promote continued advances in precision agriculture technologies; significantly increase federal investment in regenerative agriculture practices, research, and education; and spur private-sector innovation in farm modernization by reducing red tape and strengthening public-private partnerships.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will consult with USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy and EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs to “issue a grand prize challenge from the National Institutes of Health for researchers to identify creative solutions for evaluating the exposure, diagnosis, and treatments of cumulative chemical exposures on individual health,” the order says.
Regarding regenerative ag, the order says USDA “shall maximize the funding of the current Regenerative Pilot Program and evaluate ways to expand the reach of the program, including by sharing the results of the program with a broad audience of stakeholders. This expansion shall include using existing authorities to create public-private partnerships that can bring new capacity to producers interested in adopting regenerative practices.”
USDA announced the $700 million regen ag pilot program last year, with the money divided between the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program.
“American farmers and ranchers have always prioritized care of their land and are increasingly interested in adopting innovative conservation farming practices like regenerative agriculture,” the order says. “These practices strengthen soil health, lower input costs, improve chemical efficiency to reduce overall use, improve farm profitability, maintain yields, increase market value, expand access to new markets, and strengthen rural economies.”
Beyond the executive order, Trump told the crowd that Iran will begin buying American commodities "starting pretty soon."
Iran is "having a hard time with food, and we're going to be taking some of their money," Trump told the crowd, reiterating a pledge he made on social media . "We'll spend it, and we're going to be buying wheat, soybeans, and corn. A lot of it."
Iranian officials have disputed that anyone but Iran will be in charge of making purchasing decisions.
During talks in Switzerland last week, Vice President JD Vance pushed a proposal to route released Iranian funds into an escrow account designated exclusively for purchasing U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat. The U.S. exported $3.4 million in farm goods to Iran last year, but no soybeans, wheat or corn, according to USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.
Trump also told the crowd "I saved your ethanol industry," reiterating his support for year-round E15, which was included in the White House's supplemental spending request to address the cost of the war in Iran that was sent to Congress Wednesday.
"Senator Marshall has been calling me all the time, 'You got to save the ethanol,'" Trump said. "So we did. We saved it."
Year-round E15 was left out of the Senate Ag Committee's farm bill discussion draft introduced this week, but committee Chairman John Boozman told Agri-Pulse he expects the language to allow year-round sale of higher ethanol blend fuel to be included in the package.
If that doesn’t work out, Boozman is optimistic E15 could pass the Senate as a stand-alone bill. “We're committed to getting it done, and I believe that we have an excellent chance of getting it done this Congress,” he said.
Dinner Menu
Guests dined on Caprese salad with garden tomatoes, followed by a main course of grilled prime New York strip steak with potato croquettes, creamed farm spinach, broccolini, White House-harvested peppercress and merlot sauce.
Dessert featured roasted peaches with brown butter financier, oatmeal ice cream, White House honey and Vanilla Bean cremieux. Dinner guests also received organic garden seeds and a tomato jam prepared by the White House executive chefs to take home.
Attendees
The guest list for the event was extensive, including administration officials, lawmakers, social media influencers and American farmers.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attended, as well as Deputy Ag Secretary Stephen Vaden and USDA's chief of staff, Tate Bennett.
Other members of the administration at the dinner included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Julie Callahan, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and Health and Human Services Senior Adviser Calley Means.
Lawmakers also joined, including Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Chair John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, as well as Reps. Austin Scott, R-Ga., and Celeste Maloy, R-Utah.
Numerous farm group leaders also dined in the Rose Garden: American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall; American Sugarbeet Growers Association Executive Vice President Luther Markwart; National Corn Growers Association CEO Neil Caskey and NCGA President Jed Bower; National Farmers Union President Rob Larew; and National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Sam Kieffer, among others.
Trump also recognized Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, who was in the audience.
Other notable attendees include Kait Thornton, known as ‘Apple Girl Kait’ on social media; Arleta Kay Didier and her grandson Gatlin Didier, who produce the ‘Granny Bibbins’ videos; Iowa cattle breeder Matt Lautner and South Dakota cattle rancher Amanda Radke, among others.
Derek Wulf, the lieutenant governor on the ticket with MAHA-backed Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, was also in attendance.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
