Politics

RSS

In an address to attendees at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, AFBF President Zippy Duvall said the group will continue to push for year-round E15 to drive domestic crop demand and will advocate for additional farm aid, citing a specific need in the specialty crop sector. 

The House has several fiscal 2026 funding bills to pass before Jan. 30, but House Majority Whip Tom Emmer expresses confidence the chamber will complete their work to avert a government shutdown, paving the way for the House Ag Committee to move a farm bill in February. 

The White House on Wednesday said the U.S. will withdraw from over 60 international organizations, including more than 30 United Nations entities and several trade and conservation groups.

The new year is a week old and the window for Congress to tackle pressing U.S. agriculture legislation is already rapidly narrowing.

Amy Klobuchar is said to be considering a run for governor of Minnesota this year as Democratic Gov. Tim Walz drops out of the race. 

Congress returns from holiday break this week faced with a mountain of unfinished work in what’s certain to be a raucous midterm-election year, starting with the possibility of another government shutdown at the end of this month.

The $11 billion in aid for row crop farmers is welcome but not enough to cover losses incurred “over the last few years,” an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis says.

President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January and quickly followed through on many of his campaign promises – an aggressive trade agenda, a renewed focus on food inflation, and the use of a Republican-controlled House and Senate to enact a sweeping budget reconciliation bill that included major new agriculture spending. Take a look back at Agri-Pulse's top stories in 2025. 

A group of more than a dozen congressional Democrats is urging the Trump administration to impose safeguards on farm aid payments to prevent the money from further driving consolidation in U.S. agriculture. 

The Agriculture Department lost 18% of its staff to voluntary resignations, retirements and for other reasons during the first five months of the Trump administration, with some agencies losing up to a third or more of their employees, according to a report by USDA’s inspector general. California lost the most workers, more than even D.C.