Articles by Steve Davies

The Trump administration will release a report today from the Make America Healthy Again Commission – with notes on how pesticides and ultraprocessed foods allegedly connect to childhood chronic diseases.

Farm groups are preparing for the worst in a report due this week from the Make America Healthy Again Commission. A source familiar with the report tells Agri-Pulse’s Rebekah Alvey that it touches on pesticide usage, although the final language is subject to change.

California passes a poop milestone, thanks to dairy * Banning a car ban * A red herring in the tunnel * Ag groups back ESA tweaks

Editor's note: Bayer CEO Bill Anderson sat down with News Editor Steve Davies after speaking about sustainable agriculture with industry representatives recently in Washington. What follows are lightly edited excerpts of that conversation, which includes discussion of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, and the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture and Trade Protection will begin testing milk from dairy farms in the state under a USDA program announced in December.

House Republicans continue struggling to reach agreement on their sweeping budget bill, but the measure is at least out of committee and headed to the House floor.

Some consumer health advocates are criticizing the choice of Make America Health Again advocate Casey Means to become surgeon general, while ag groups seem to be adopting a wait-and-see attitude before the Senate considers Means’ nomination.

Bayer will shed at least 200 jobs in a reorganization of its Crop Science division that also involves halting the production of generic active ingredients, the company said Monday.

Without the use of Roundup, U.S. agriculture would face “devastation,” a dozen major farm groups said in a brief asking the Supreme Court to address the issue of whether federal pesticide law preempts state failure-to-warn claims.

Next week is shaping up to be a big one for ag policy. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says she’ll release her plan next week for reorganizing and downsizing her department. But she told members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting on Tuesday the downsizing won’t be as “drastic” as some observers fear.