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Expiring expanded premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance will be a big issue for Congress in its post-holiday stretch. Democrats were promised a vote on the issue as part of a deal to reopen the government.

The holiday season is in full swing and 2025 in the final stretch as lawmakers and the Trump administration face a bundle of unfinished agriculture business. This includes key biofuel issues and financial relief for crop growers hurt by tariffs. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said an announcement on a support package for farmers is imminent and could land at soon as this week.

Tyson Foods is laying off nearly 2,000 workers at its beef processing plant in Amarillo, Texas, on the heels of the company's announced cuts in Lexington, Nebraska, home of another one of its major facilities. The workforce reductions come amid cattle shortages, surging beef prices for consumers and the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. 

Senate Republican leadership is assembling one more package of Trump administration nominees for a floor vote this year.

The California Association of Winegrape Growers elected new officers, including John Chandler of Chandler Farms in Selma as chair of the board. Friant Water Authority CEO Jason Phillips announced his intention to step down in January. The Agriculture Workforce Coalition elected American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall and Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia as the new coalition co-chairs. Former California Ag Leadership Foundation CEO Dwight Ferguson joined the Vanguard Food LP board of managers. 

It’s been a rocky year for food companies, agribusiness firms, ag lenders and farmers navigating the seismic shift in policies coming out of Washington when it comes to environmental policy, even as much of the farm economy is mired in a multiyear slump. But many companies are pressing forward with their environmental goals and testing new ways of financing changes in farming practices.