Mega merger would create first coast-to-coast rail company in U.S.; farming and manufacturing sectors voice concerns

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads signed an 
agreement to merge. (Photo by Tyler Silvest, DTN CC)

Union Pacific has announced plans to merge with its smaller rival, Norfolk Southern. The $85 billion merger would create the nation's first transcontinental railroad while giving Union Pacific the power "to reshape the movement of goods from grains to autos across the country," report Sabrina Valle, Shivansh Tiwary and David French for Reuters. "If approved, the deal would be the largest ever buyout in the sector."

The mega deal, which would connect 50,000 miles of track across 43 states, "will face lengthy regulatory scrutiny amid union concerns over potential rate increases, service disruptions and job losses," Reuters reports. "The 1996 merger of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific had temporarily led to severe congestion and delays across the Southwest."

Particularly at harvest time, railroad changes, costs, delays and timing can directly impact farming incomes. The National Grain and Feed Association said in a news release "that it will undertake an extensive evaluation of the proposed merger to better understand its implications for our industry," reports Mary Kennedy for Progressive Farmer.

The American Chemistry Council weighed in and cautioned against further rail mergers. ACC leadership told Kennedy, "The impact of a transcontinental merger between two of these railroads threatens to leave American manufacturers, farmers and energy producers with even fewer competitive options to ship by rail. . . . Many rail customers are currently dealing with high rates and unreliable service. Further consolidation within the rail industry is likely to make these problems worse."

The proposed merger "reflects a shift in antitrust enforcement under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration," Reuters reports. "Executive orders aimed at removing barriers to consolidation have opened the door to mergers that were previously considered unlikely. . . .The Union Pacific merger would give the company a 43% market share, dominating most categories of commodities."

After an immigration raid takes more than half of its labor force, a meatpacking company looks at ways to begin again

Immigration agents raided Glenn Valley Foods on June 10.
(ICE photo via Nebraska Examiner)

After Immigration and Customs agents arrested roughly half its labor force, meatpacking company Glenn Valley Foods in Nebraska is looking for ways to start over. 

The company had religiously used the federal system, E-Verify, to cross-check employees' eligibility to work in the U.S., but federal agents still arrested 76 workers "who they said were undocumented immigrants using false identification," reports Eli Saslow of The New York Times.

Before the raid, Glenn Valley Foods was expanding with "new hires, new manufacturing lines, and new sales records [as] one of the fastest-growing meatpacking companies in the Midwest," Saslow writes. "But, in a matter of weeks, production had plummeted by almost 70%. Most of the workforce was gone." 

Now, the company is piecing together a new workforce with a new human resource manager, Alfredo Moreno, who believes "the only way to truly prevent fraud is to scrutinize IDs with black lights and magnifying glasses to make sure they aren't fake, and then interview each potential employee in person," Saslow reports. "The government maintained that Glenn Valley employees had been using IDs that were stolen." 

The raid cost Glenn Valley days of business, but slowly, a barebones crew formed, and some lines restarted. Meanwhile, Moreno and his tiny HR staff are still using E-Verify along with their additional verification measures to try to hire as quickly as possible. Still, almost none of their applicants are U.S. citizens.

Since the raid, the company's owner, Gary Rohwer, has "received phone calls from strangers who accused him of 'stealing American jobs,'" Saslow writes. "But Nebraska [has] a work shortage, with only 66 qualified workers for every 100 positions. . . . 'There are some jobs Americans don’t want to do,' Rohwer tried explaining to one caller. 'We’re caught up in a broken system.'"

Given the new federal budget cuts, more affordable medical care for many Americans seems unlikely

Many Americans will pay more for health care in
the coming months. (Adobe Stock image)

Americans who hoped to see their medical costs decrease during the next four years are likely to be disappointed, as federal-level decisions aimed at cutting or reducing benefits take effect and other expenses are passed off to states and the public.

"Millions of people are expected to lose health insurance in the coming years as a result of the tax cut legislation, leaving them with fewer protections from large bills if they get sick or suffer an accident," reports Noam N. Levey of KFF Health News.

President Donald Trump "promised a rosier future while campaigning last year, pledging to 'make America affordable again' and 'expand access to new Affordable Healthcare,'" Levey writes. "Polls suggest voters were looking for relief."

People who purchase health insurance on state marketplaces can expect to see substantial increases over the next year, which may cause more people to drop coverage or opt for higher-deductible plans. Certain Medicaid enrollees may be required to cover copays up to $35.

For consumers who can’t pay their medical bills, there are fewer guardrails. Levey writes, "(In July), the Trump administration secured permission from a federal court to roll back regulations that would have removed medical debt from consumer credit reports."

Arika Sánchez, who oversees health care policy at the nonprofit New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, sees how negative credit report "dings" can hurt a family struggling to survive. She told Levey, "When families get stuck with medical debt, it hurts their credit scores, makes it harder to get a car, a home, or even a job. Medical debt wrecks people’s lives.”

Overall, medical debt is a national problem and not a partisan issue. "About 6 in 10 adults — Democrats and Republicans — say they are worried about being able to afford health care, according to one recent survey," Levey explains. 

When temperatures sizzle, outdoor laborers often continue to work; a new OSHA rule could help keep them safe

To help outdoor workers stay healthy amid U.S. heat waves, last year the country took steps "towards protecting millions of workers from the impacts of extreme heat on the job," reports Frida Garza of Grist. In July 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published "its first-ever draft rule to prevent heat illness in the U.S. workforce."

OSHA's proposed rule would "require employers to provide access to water, shade, and paid breaks during heat waves," Garza writes. "In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 986 workers died from heat exposure on the job from 1992 to 2022, or about 34 per year."

While the Trump administration has sought to undo several workplace regulations, the drafted heat protection rule has moved forward. "The agency is currently in the middle of soliciting input from the general public about the proposed policy."

Some labor experts say the proposal is moving through the process quickly, but labor advocacy groups "focused on workers along the food supply chain, say workers have waited too long for basic life-saving protections," Garza reports. "Even in a best-case scenario, regulations would not be on the books for another 12 to 14 months." In some cases, it takes several more years for a rule to be fully implemented.

Given the lengthy timeline, several advocacy groups are working to educate employers and give outdoor workers a voice in public forums. The group "WeCount" in South Florida "has spearheaded multiple campaigns to draw public attention to how sweltering temperatures impact outdoor workers in the region, including plant nursery workers," Garza explains. "WeCount members are trying to publicize the risks that agricultural workers take on."

Getting consumers to care about their workforce enough to take action is one of the best ways outdoor employees can lobby for heat protections. Garza reports, "The Fair Food Program, first established by tomato pickers in 2011 in Florida, has won stringent heat protections for farm workers in part by building strong support for laborers’ demands among consumers."

Quick hits: NASA needs farmers; 988 to use geolocation; opioid prescriptions required to have warnings; why child care needs national support

NASA's sub-agency, NASA Acres, would like to meet more farmers. (Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

If you're a farmer, NASA could use your help. The space agency has a growing sub-agency, known as NASA Acres, that is "designed to use satellite data to help U.S. farmers make sustainable decisions and be more profitable," reports Donavyn Coffey for Offrange. NASA Acres is recruiting farmers to participate in its Farmer Innovation Ambassador Team. The group will "weigh in on the problems that need solving, and to spread the word: NASA can help. The space agency is leveraging 50 years of satellite and data science to help any farmers willing to join in."

A change in location guidance aims to help 988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline counselors route help based on where callers or texters are calling from, instead of their cell's area code. "The Federal Communications Commission voted to require text messages to the 988 suicide and mental health crisis hotline to be georouted to local crisis centers based on where they are sent from," reports Chris Teale for Route Fifty. "Over the past three years, the crisis line service has received 11.1 million calls, 2.9 million texts and 2.4 million chats via instant message."

New labels come with direct warnings about long-term
use of opioids. (Graphic via MedPage Today)

The Food and Drug Administration will require opioid makers to update their labels to include details that "highlight the safety risks of long-term use," reports Nicole Lou of MedPage Today. "Now, opioid drug labels should clarify that patients should undergo periodic checks for signs of addiction, abuse, or misuse of these painkillers." The labels will include less common but possible health complications that longer-term opioid use can cause, such as esophageal dysfunction and negative interactions with other medications. Opioid makers have 30 days to submit their new labeling for FDA review.

Haspel's book launches Aug. 11.

While the national conversation about child care is decades long, few changes have been made to address the dearth of providers, poor wages for child care teachers and the overall cost to families who are lucky enough to secure care. "Researcher Elliot Haspel suggests child care is a lost American value," writes Jackie Mader for The Hechinger Report, which reports on education. "Haspel's new book “Raising a Nation" presents 10 arguments — some of them well known and others less intuitive — for why child care needs to be a more supported part of American society."

In what could be a national first, energy company Holtec International looks to reopen the once-retired Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan by the end of this year. "The 800-MW Palisades plant received key federal approvals to open three years after shutting down," reports Eric Wesoff of Canary Media. "If Holtec succeeds, it would be the first nuclear plant in the U.S. to restart after being closed down. Remarkably, it would be just the second or third reactor to come back online in the global history of civilian nuclear power." 

Consumer enthusiasm helped inspire the  
combination. (Hershey/Mondelēz graphic)

Reese's peanut butter cups and Oreo cookies are slated for a mash-up, hitting grocery store shelves this fall. "Snack giants Hershey and Mondelēz are combining two of their top-selling products in a sugary marriage they say consumers have been begging for," reports Jesse Newman for The Wall Street Journal. The dynamic snack duo was partially inspired by "consumers’ own posts of their DIY combinations, such as a Reese’s peanut butter cup sandwiched between two Oreo wafers." 

USDA announces plan to move staff out of Washington, D.C.; many in Congress want more details, answers

Brooke L. Rollins

In a bid to lower costs and cut the federal workforce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will "relocate much of its Washington, D.C., workforce to five regional hubs and vacate several buildings in the area, including its flagship research center," reports Leah Douglas of Reuters. "More than 15,000 USDA employees, about 15% of its total workforce, have this year taken one of the agency's two financial incentive offers to leave."

The restructuring plan would keep roughly 2,000 USDA employees employed in Washington, D.C, but the "rest, about 2,600 people, will be relocated to hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah," Douglas writes. "The phased plan to relocate workers was made to bring USDA staff closer to its 'core constituents,' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a video to staff."

Despite the goal of cutting expenses, critics say relocating staff is costly, often inefficient and can mean less oversight guidance. Laura Dodson, an economist with the USDA Economic Research Service, told Douglas, "While this is bad for employees, it will be worse for the American public."

Meanwhile, lawmakers are weighing in on the restructuring plans, with many wanting to hear more about the plan and others opposing it, report Steve Davies and Rebekah Alvey of Successful Farming. 

John Boozman at Agriculture Committee Hearings
(Photo via Successful Farming)

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., and the committee’s top Democrat, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, are "calling for a hearing on the USDA’s reorganization plan, which Klobuchar said was 'completely unacceptable' and would 'decimate research work at the USDA,'" Davies and Alvey write. "Klobuchar said she got only a brief advance notice of the announcement for something that’s going to 'destroy the whole USDA.'"

Many lawmakers were caught off guard by the announcement and want to see the plan in detail. Representatives from states where new "hubs" would be located tended to see the announcement more positively. Some experienced agribusiness professionals cast doubts on how much cost savings or service assistance moving thousands of employees could accomplish.

Gbenga Ajilore, who served as a senior adviser in the office of the undersecretary for rural development, said "the messaging in the plan about making USDA a customer-focused agency conflicts with the fact that more than 15,000 people from across the country have taken buyouts," Successful Farming reports. 

Ajilore told reporters, "They’re moving people out of D.C. and moving them into pretty much big cities ... at the same time that they’re removing staff from these field offices that may end up being closed. I just don’t see how that’s going to work.” 

Northwestern timber industry hopes to revive as Trump administration eyes tariffs, more logging in national forests

Northwestern timber looks for a comeback.
(Photo by Spurwing, Unsplash)

Despite decades of decline, the U.S. northwestern lumber industry is hoping that changes under the Trump administration will revive the industry. "Sawmills have been closing across the Pacific Northwest over the past 30 years," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal. "Owners of the remaining mills have high hopes that President Trump will deliver relief by increasing logging in national forests and raising trade protections against Canadian exports."

Historically, northwestern timber harvesting has been a boom or bust industry for more than a century, with the government stepping in at times to prevent overlogging. In 1994, President Bill Clinton helped pass the Northwest Forest Plan, which "reduced logging on federal lands. In practice, there has been even less logging than the plan prescribed," Dezember explains. "Owners of the remaining mills have high hopes that President Trump will deliver relief by increasing logging in national forests."

Along with harvesting restrictions, cheaper Canadian lumber imports added to the region's timber decline, which has the Trump administration considering timber tariffs. Even if those specific tariffs aren't levied, an ongoing trade dispute is expected to increase Canadian lumber duties to "more than double in the coming weeks to about 34% for most producers," Dezember explains. 

Location of Skamania County in 
Washington. (Wikipedia photo)

While the anticipated duties on Canadian timber or even additional tariffs on its imports can help the area's lumber companies over the next few months, changing federal logging restrictions will take time and planning. "Boosting the federal timber harvest could take years and be impeded by litigation and red tape," Dezember reports. "Regional Forest Service supervisors have been directed to map five-year plans to contribute to a 25% increase in the overall volume of timber harvested from national forests to satisfy Trump’s call for greater wood production."

The slow bleed of logging jobs from the region hasn't just meant lost incomes; it has translated into community budget cuts. Skamania County, Washington, serves as an example. The county is "80% federal forestland and a further 10% or so is controlled by the state," Dezember writes. "That means that the county earns tax revenue on most of its territory from timber receipts, which have slowed to a drip. Recent budget cuts forced the local school district to lay off teachers and close two of its four schools."

Opinion: As the Trump administration puts the brakes on clean energy support, many rural farmers will feel the loss

Solar panels can help cut energy costs for farm operations like dairies. 
(Photo by S. Patrick, Portland Herald, Getty via The Conversation CC)

Wind and solar power add grid support and help farmers maintain steady incomes when weather, bugs or market upheavals make farming less profitable. Particularly for rural communities, taxes generated by renewable energy help local budgets pay for schools, roads and health care. "But some of that opportunity is now at risk as the Trump administration cuts federal support for renewable energy," writes Paul Mwebaze in his opinion for The Conversation.

In areas with wind turbines, farmers lease their land in return for payments. "Those historically were around $3,000 to $5,000 per turbine per year, with some modern agreements $5,000 to $10,000 annually, secured through 20- to 30-year contracts," Mwebaze explains. Roughly a third of the $3.5 billion paid out on wind turbine leases goes to rural landowners.

Solar energy adds to a farmer's bottom line by providing cheaper electricity throughout an agricultural operation. "Farmers use rooftop panels on barns and ground-mounted systems to power irrigation pumps, grain dryers and cold storage facilities, cutting their power costs," Mwebaze writes. 

In some rural communities, renewable energy is the "largest new source of economic activity, helping stabilize local economies otherwise reliant on agriculture’s unpredictable income streams," Mwebaze adds. The Iowa turbine blade factory, TPI Composites, serves as an example of how clean energy stimulates rural manufacturing. TPI "just reopened its plant in Newton, Iowa. Tax benefits in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act helped boost [the industry] and the jobs and local tax revenue they bring in."

The Trump administration has "rolled back many clean energy incentives. It phased down tax credits for distributed solar projects, particularly those under 1 megawatt, which include many farm‑scale installations, and sunsets them entirely by 2028," Mwebaze explains. "It also eliminates bonus credits that previously supported rural and low‑income areas."

Renewable energy is one way the federal government could continue to invest in rural America, providing energy for communities and generating a reliable income source for farmers and smaller municipal budgets. "I believe homegrown renewable energy offers a practical path forward," Mwebaze writes. "Wind and solar aren’t just fueling the grid; they’re helping keep farms and rural towns alive."

It's been a year since Buc-ees opened up in this small town; many residents consider the mega gas station a positive

Smiths Grove is Buc-ees' second location in Kentucky.
(Photo by Grace McDowell, BG Daily News)

A year after Buc-ees opened in the small town of Smiths Grove, Kentucky, many residents, including some who were initially wary of the sprawling development, shared positive views on the changes the mega gas station has brought to the area. Jack Dobbs of the Bowling Green Daily News reports, "Now, though, many are receptive to the store. . . . But some still have reservations."

Traffic dust-ups and crime were among community concerns voiced before Buc-ees opened, but pre-opening warnings turned out to be more dire than reality. Jason Franks, the chief of the Smiths Grove Police Department, told Dobbs, "With any new business, especially retail business, we’ve had more theft complaints, shoplifting calls, parking lot accidents, things of that nature, especially with that volume of vehicles coming in and out." Dobbs adds, "In all, though, Franks views the store as having been a boon for Smiths Grove."

Shelvie Payne, who has a 20-minute daily work commute to Smiths Grove, initially thought Buc-ees traffic would increase her travel time. Dobbs reports, "Payne takes the interstate every day to get to work, and said traffic conditions have improved in the area from what she has seen."

Payne added that she thought Buc-ees visitors helped her workplace attract more customers. She told Dobbs, "It’s brought in a lot more folks here on this exit that normally would have probably bypassed us."

Not everyone in town is sold on Buc-ees. "K.O. and Waz Blankenship run Psycho Granny’s Quilt Shop in Smiths Grove," Dobbs writes. "When asked what they thought the impact of Buc-ee’s had been, K.O. said 'negative, negative.'" She told Dobbs, “Business is dead, nobody’s walking (through town), we can’t talk them into coming in."

What happens to a mill town when the mill closes? Residents may have to accept change or move elsewhere.

Once known for its good-paying paper mill jobs and stinky smell, the small town of Canton, North Carolina, faced an uncertain future after the mill suddenly closed in March 2023. "Canton’s paper mill set the rhythm of life here for some 115 years," reports Emma Goldberg of The New York Times. Despite its sulfur-laden odor, "locals were proud of the mill, which employed hundreds in town and allowed its residents to build homes and send their children to college."

After the mill closed, residents weren't sure if the town could survive without the salaries the factory had provided for generations. "Canton lost its life source, and with it any sense of certainty about its economic future. It became one of more than 60,000 manufacturing hubs that have been wiped off America’s map since the late 1990s," Goldberg writes. "Just over a year after it closed, Hurricane Helene destroyed more than 30 homes and businesses in the area."

After its doors were shuttered, the mill sat vacant for two years until a developer from Missouri purchased it and worked to rally Canton residents to help reinvent the town. "Eric Spirtas closed the deal to buy the mill site," Goldberg reports. "He arrived in a flurry of ideas." 

Canton, N.C. is roughly 20 minutes from Asheville.

While Spirtas cheered for making Canton a must-see tourist destination, locals, including the town's mayor, Zeb Smathers, didn't see tourism jobs as a solution. Goldberg writes, "Smathers knows that many of the locals do not want hospitality jobs. They want high-paying manufacturing jobs. They talk excitedly about President Trump’s promises to make America once again a 'manufacturing superpower.'"

Now that the town's rotten-egg smell has disappeared, new residents and shops have moved in. "Canton’s main street has welcomed an apothecary, a record shop and a guitar store. Amanda Barta, who moved from Texas during the pandemic, opened a soap boutique weeks after Helene," Goldberg writes. 

Even as the town attracts new business, many former mill employees have taken jobs in nearby cities or moved away. At a recent Canton celebration, 77-year-old Gail Mull, a former mill worker who now serves as mayor pro tem, took a good look at the crowd and told Goldberg, "As my mother would say, these are not locals.”