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As California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross prepares to retire at the end of 2026 after more than a decade leading the nation's largest state agricultural economy, she says farmers are facing some of the toughest conditions she's seen since the 1980s farm crisis. 

Demand for major U.S. crops like corn is waning while harvests get bigger, creating an urgent need to develop new new biofuel markets for American agriculture producers, a new study says.

Price indicators for key farm inputs tumbled on Monday following news of the U.S.-Iran preliminary peace deal. The latest U.S. soybean crush data signals robust oilseed processing for the June-August quarter, says Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX Group.

President Donald Trump announced a “deal” with Iran Sunday involving the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Circularity Fuels says it has completed the world’s first end-to-end conversion of raw agricultural biogas into sustainable aviation fuel, putting the California startup closer to making SAF at a cost rivaling standard jet fuel.

A peace deal between the U.S. and Iran was forged Sunday after 107 days of war that wreaked economic chaos on global fuel and fertilizer supply chains. In Washington, the House is in recess all week while the Senate reconvenes Monday afternoon.

The costs states face in co-funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are comparable to the roughly $15 billion spent on transportation in fiscal 2025, the National Association of State Budget Officers tells Senate and House Agriculture committee leaders. USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Mindy Brashears says 7,000 inspectors with the Food Safety Inspection Service are “leading the animal health charge” in the fight against New World screwworm, and the parasitic pest does not pose a threat to the food supply.

Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, has withdrawn support for a bill that would nullify animal welfare laws like California's Proposition 12. 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the $1.3 billion fight against a potentially deadly livestock pest includes federal funds reallocated from a local food buying program. Rollins said USDA is “stretched” on using the Commodity Credit Corporation because the $30 billion annual cap has not been increased since 1987. 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins used her time with the International Fresh Produce Association to highlight the administration’s deregulation push, as well as efforts to reshape federal nutrition policy, expand export markets, lower labor costs and support specialty crop producers.

USDA and blue states aren’t giving an inch in their continuing battle over SNAP data, as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins continues to blast the program as rife with fraud, waste and abuse. The fight over SNAP was highlighted at a recent House Agriculture Committee hearing where Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., harshly criticized Rollins over SNAP.