Report: Food and agriculture sector will contribute $10.4 trillion to U.S. economy in 2026

The U.S. food and agriculture industries will produce $10.4 trillion for the economy in 2026, backing 48.7 million jobs, reports Feed & Grain staff.

Despite rising inflation and global trade pressures, the sector makes up almost 20% of the national economy, increasing profits by $894 billion each year, according to data from the Feeding the Economy report.

Food manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in the country, from two million farms and ranches to 200,000 food manufacturing, processing and storage facilities. It also includes more than one million restaurants and foodservice establishments, and 200,000 retail food stores.

The economic impact of the food and agriculture sector in each state. (Interactive map via Feeding the Economy, Click here to choose your state.)

Some of the highlights from the report show the food and agriculture sector generating:

• More than $177.3 billion worth of exports
• More than $3 trillion in workers' wages
• 6.5% growth in direct employment over the last decade
• 4% yearly rise in wages and 13% rise over the last decade, surpassing inflation
• $1.35 trillion in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments, increasing 7% each year

Many rural communities rely on food and agriculture revenue as the backbone of their local economy, with wages reinvested to support local housing, healthcare, education, small businesses and infrastructure, reports Feeding the Economy. “From farm to factory and truck to table, food and agriculture's impact sustains jobs, powers commerce, and strengthens communities across America."

As energy and fertilizer prices climb, American farmers feel the impact of the county's conflict with Iran

Synthetic urea-based fertilizers are commonly used to provide nitrogen to U.S. crops. American farmers
worry that an extended war with Iran could make supplies scant. (Global Trade Tracker graph)

Whether it's citrus crops in Florida, corn in the American heartland or wheat grown in the Dakotas, U.S. farms, which are thousands of miles from the Straits of Hormuz, are already feeling strained by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The length and intensity of the conflict will determine how deeply American farms and the businesses and consumers that rely on them will be affected. 

"Farmers are now feeling the impact in Iran with not only higher fertilizer prices, but the concern that farmers may not even be able to find enough fertilizer for spring," reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "As the situation unfolded over the past week, analysts say the reaction across commodity markets illustrated just how closely agriculture is tied to global energy and political dynamics."

The war has already led some U.S. farmers to shift the amount of corn they plan to grow. "Corn is far more fertilizer-intensive than soybeans, particularly when it comes to nitrogen," Morgan explains. "When fertilizer prices rise sharply, the relative profitability of soybeans often improves quickly." Most U.S. farmers use synthetic urea fertilizer or anhydrous ammonia to provide their crops with sufficient nitrogen for high-yield, healthy growth.

Beyond corn, wheat crop farmers generally use hefty amounts of urea-based fertilizer, so those farmers may change how many acres of spring wheat they decide to plant this April. Chip Nellinger, founder of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, told Farm Journal, "There’s a lot of nitrogen that needs applied on U.S. wheat acres here over the coming three or four months ahead of us.”

U.S. farmers want to see the situation with Iran de-escalate and shipping lanes reopen. Morgan reports, "Much of the global focus right now remains on reopening critical energy shipping lanes and restoring stability to oil markets. . . . If that happens quickly, the agricultural ripple effects may prove temporary."

Quick hits: E15 'Stop the Stall' campaign; popcorn history; Connecticut's bid to attract first responders; Tolkien for men

Rural Voices USA photo

When the congressional Rural Domestic Energy Council failed to meet its Feb. 15 deadline to pass year-round E15 legislation, Rural Voices USA began targeted billboard campaigns in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. WisPolitics-State Affairs reports, "The billboards, part of a six-figure multi-channel pressure campaign, are now live on digital boards. . . .The campaign targets districts represented by Republican champions of E15 legislation who have been unable to move the bill through congressional leadership." Allowing E15 year-round would help corn farmers secure a reliable, domestic income that isn't subject to export volatility.

March has arrived, but in many parts of the U.S., the snow hasn't left. In fact, there are still piles and piles of it everywhere. Victoria Hoffmann of the Christian Science Monitor wondered where a city like Boston, which received more than 5 feet of snow this winter, put all their snow. The answer: Snow farms. "My search led me on a journey to places in Boston I’ve never ventured before. Boston is operating 14 snow farms this year, the first time in years that a mayor ordered that many to be opened."

At first, U.S. movie theaters didn't want to sell 'the noisy
snack.' (Photo by M. Ingvordsen, Unsplash)

Heading to the movies didn't always include a bucket of popcorn. "At first, theater owners wanted nothing to do with the noisy snack. But then came the Great Depression," reports Heidi Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal. "The appeal was obvious: It was cheap, fast and theatrical. Families popped it over wood stoves; peddlers sold it in paper cones at circuses. . . .A whiff of fresh corn could draw a crowd quicker than any barker’s repetitive shout." Read about popcorn's history in the U.S. here.

In a bid to attract more first responders, Connecticut plans to offer recruits a range of incentives. Gov. Ned Lamont's bill, H.B. 5046, "would waive tuition to the state’s public colleges and universities for people who have worked as police officers for at least five years and for people who have served as paid or volunteer firefighters for at least five years," reports Emilia Otte of the CT Mirror. "The bill also authorizes the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to create a mortgage assistance program for police officers and firefighters."

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy has taken millions of readers on what is arguably the most epic rural adventure -- to Mordor and back again. And while the tales of Bilbo and Frodo remain strikingly popular, they continue to have a more dramatic appeal for men. "Both Tolkien’s cosmic vision of Middle-earth and the many genuine heroes that populate his work likely make for an attractive combination in the eyes of many a meaning-starved young man," writes Peter Biles for The Dispatch. "As I wrote for The Dispatch a few months ago, boys don’t just automatically become good men in a vacuum; they need role models. Manhood must be carefully nurtured. . ."

The Great Florida Cattle Drive celebrates the Sunshine State's ranching heritage.
(Great Florida Cattle Drive photo)

When it comes to cowboys and cattle, most Americans tend to think of the West, but in early America, Florida was where the cattle and the cowboys traveled together. In a tribute to the state's history, "nearly 300 people and 300 head of cattle traveled a century back in time for the 5th iteration of the Great Florida Cattle Drive," reports Isaac Eger for National Geographic. Over six days and six nights the drive became "a living history reenactment where hundreds of riders on horseback walk, trot, canter, and gallop through 54 miles of pristine Florida country that is now part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor." Read about their adventure here.

Flora & Fauna: Masked bandits evolve; 2-purpose turkeys; foraging stats; whales' aging secrets; birds can help farmers

Perhaps one day, urban raccoons will be pets.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Racoons are masked, cute, and affectionately known as "trash pandas," and they are proving to have a real knack for evolving to live alongside humans, reports Axios. "The same evolutionary forces that turned wolves into domesticated dogs over thousands of years may now be reshaping urban raccoons, recent studies suggest." Marcie Logsdon, who works closely with wildlife rehabbers, told Axios, "Raccoons have adapted incredibly well to our presence. . . [They are] bold enough to raid garbage cans but polite enough" to avoid altercations with people.

An agrivoltaic 'trial flock' enjoys solar panel shade.
(Photo by Evan Carpenter, Offrange)

These turkeys have it made in the shade as they peck and strut under solar panels, unwittingly being prepared as a holiday dinner while also participating in a "dual-use agrivoltaic system," reports Jake Zajkowski for Offrange. Evan Carpenter, who is raising the "trial flock," will share bird and energy outcomes with "project collaborators United Agrivoltaics and Cornell University, to study the feasibility and business model of Carpenter’s project to scale dual-use income land."

In the Mid-Atlantic forests of the U.S., researchers Amy Wrobleski and Eric Burkhart explored regional fungi foraging and shared some of their findings with The Conversation. "We learned that harvesters use the mushrooms primarily for food and medicinal purposes. . . . Over 800 harvesters reported that, collectively, they foraged 160 species of wild mushrooms. . . . Morels and chicken of the woods were the two most popular. . . .Other popular species were hen of the woods, oysters, lion’s mane, black trumpet, honey mushroom, turkey tail, bolete, reishi, puffball, chaga, shrimp of the woods and Dryad’s saddle." Mid-Atlantic fungi can be found here. 

Bowhead whale and calf (NOAA Fisheries photo)

At full-grown, a bowhead whale can weigh 88 tons, which is roughly the weight of 15 elephants. But that's not the only outrageous bowhead fact -- the whale can live to be 268 years old. "Some whales caught in the late 1900s had old harpoon points lodged in their blubber that dated to the mid-1800s," reports Carl Zimmer of The New York Times. "A study published in the journal Nature offers a clue to how the animals manage to live so long: They are extraordinarily good at fixing damaged DNA."

K4 Ranches photo

When it comes to raising cattle, a horse is a rancher's best friend. "Using horses to check and gather cattle is typically the only option with rugged terrain," reports Maddy Rohr for Drovers. Diamond A Ranch, a division of K4 Ranch in Arizona, employs a large crew with seasonal cowboys and eight camps with full-time cowboys." Sarah Kieckhefer of K4 told Rohr, "A good horse can go where a pickup, ATV or side-by-side can’t. Horses can cover long distances and a horse allows you to move quietly, ease cattle along and reduce stress, which leads to fewer wrecks and better weight retention.”

Photo by Mike Wagner via Reasons to be Cheerful

American rice grower Mike Wagner welcomes thousands of migratory ducks, geese and shorebirds that "arrive on his farmland after harvest every autumn," writes Elizabeth Hewitt for Reasons to be Cheerful. "Over winter and early spring, the birds clean up leftovers from the growing season. Thousands of webbed feet mix up soil and water, leaving the fields ready for planting when they depart in the spring. And their droppings are so rich that Wagner has cut how much synthetic fertilizer he needs for his crop by more than a third."  

Farm Aid turned 40 this year: U.S. farmers still need the concert to raise public awareness and financial support

John Cougar Mellencamp performs at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 22, 1985.
 (Photo by Seth Perlman, The Associated Press via The Daily Yonder)

Farm Aid began as a mega-concert event in 1985, featuring the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and John Cougar Mellencamp, who performed to raise awareness and funding for American farmers in crisis. The musical event, which turned 40 this year, spurred a homegrown tradition that recognizes the struggles American farmers face to stay afloat. "Farmers need just as much support now as they did 40 years ago," reports Claire Carlson of The Daily Yonder. 

Held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Farm Aid 2024 provided an opportunity for farmers and their families to connect with others who are also trying to survive the "difficulties of competing with large-scale agriculture, the disconnect between producers and consumers, and the vanishing federal support as some of the most pressing challenges facing farmers today," Carlson writes.

Jesse Womack, a policy specialist at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, told Carlson, "This is not a favorable economic time for producers, period. We are watching a lot of our leaders in this country totally ignore how difficult producers have it right now and really neglect their duty to make tools and services readily available and easy to use for producers."

In addition to this year's performances, a "separate corner of the arena hosted booths for farmer advocacy organizations that spoke on topics like factory farming and regenerative agriculture," Carlson writes.

During the concert, Farm Aid T-shirts and food sales highlight all things American-grown and made in the USA. Carlson adds, "The sales of these items and the festival tickets go to Farm Aid initiatives like their Distressed Borrowers Assistance Network and Family Farm Disaster Fund."

Many U.S. producers are anxious for Congress to pass a new Farm Bill, but "farmer advocacy organizations have been critical of the proposals they’ve seen," Carlson reports. "The Farm Bill, which authorizes federal spending on agricultural and food programs, is two years past its expiration date."

Farm Aid photos, swag and information about performances can be found here. 

As farm raids continue, farmers may not have enough workers to harvest crops; some in GOP want reforms

Deportation raids and fear have led to fewer farm workers.
 (Photo by Tim Mossholder, Unsplash)

Despite President Donald Trump's aggressive push to oust unauthorized immigrants from the United States, a growing number of Republicans see the current lack of illegal border crossings as an opportunity to push for a shift in priorities that includes legislation that protects farm workers from deportation.

GOP backers for immigration change warn that "if farms can’t hire all of the workers they need, they risk being forced to leave crops to spoil or paying more for labor, which could lead to higher food costs," report Olivia Beavers and Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal. Some GOP members "argue the party should focus on changing immigration law to allow some workers to gain temporary legal status and make sure people can remain on the job."

Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), "who controls what bills come to the floor, signaled any immigration overhaul would face an uphill battle," Beavers and Hackman write. 

The Labor Department recently "established the Office of Immigration Policy, which aims to streamline and modernize the process for employers — including agricultural employers — as they navigate the various programs that include supporting legal pathways to work," Beavers and Hackman add. 

While the U.S. has several visa programs for agricultural workers, many farmers say that the programs are cumbersome and fail to meet the needs of certain types of farms. According to the Wall Street Journal article, "People using the visas also need to return to their home countries for a chunk of each year, meaning farms with year-round work, like dairy farms, can’t use them."

Republicans backing immigration reform face push-back from the Trump administration and potential fallout from another failed immigration reform bill. "Administration officials have repeatedly pledged to hit a goal of arresting a million unauthorized immigrants in Trump’s first year in office, though they have hit less than a fifth of that number so far," the Journal reports. "Farm areas skew heavily toward Republicans, raising the political stakes for the party."

A mayor's death in rural Tennessee 'unleashed one of the county’s biggest political conflicts in memory'

Following the unexpected death of their mayor, residents in rural Coffee County, Tennessee, split into factions that began with arguments over real estate development and spiraled into heated debates over what it means to be politically conservative in a deeply red county.

Coffee County, in green, is nested between several
urban centers. (Caliper maps)

 

At 55 years old, Judd Matheny was a pro-growth mayor busy working to develop farm-based Coffee County as a haven for suburbanites fleeing expensive living in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville, Ala. "Rural Coffee County was poised to become Tennessee’s next boomtown, with subdivisions rapidly replacing farmland," reports Cameron McWhirter of The Wall Street Journal. 

Upon Matheny's death, his plans were diverted by county officials "pushing hard to limit development across the area’s vast farmlands. In March, the county imposed a three-month moratorium on all large subdivision projects in areas zoned for agriculture," McWhirter writes. After the moratorium expired, officials passed a ruling that limited "property owners in agricultural areas to selling land in a minimum of 5-acre-lot increments, effectively halting large subdivisions in those areas." The median lot size in Tennessee is roughly half an acre.

While county officials have sided with multi-generational farmers and residents who want to limit growth to preserve the region's rural identity, the area's strong pro-development faction isn't going quietly. McWhirter explains. "Rival camps have hired lawyers and clash on social media through dueling Facebook pages. . . . Planning commission meetings, typically mundane affairs where leaders wear jeans and work boots, now draw heated crowds and viewers on streaming.

Judd Matheny

The duel extended to what it means to be conservative. "An anti-moratorium sign at a local meeting read: 'Vote like a conservative! Less government. Less rules. Less regulations. Lower taxes," McWhirter reports. "A pro-moratorium group responded in a post that, 'Historically, conservatism has emphasized order, prudence, stewardship. . . .It’s about preserving traditional values and communities — not selling them off for short-term gain."

Even with the current restrictions, Coffee County continues to expand. "Construction crews dig and drill throughout Tullahoma and Manchester, the county seat; real estate for-sale signs line roads," McWhirter writes. 

Meanwhile, both sides seem to agree that if Matheny were still alive, things wouldn't be so contentious. McWhirter adds, "Matheny’s death unleashed one of the county’s biggest political conflicts in memory."

Trump officials reverse pause in ICE raids targeting farm, service workers

A seasonal migrant worker carries fruit in Michigan.
(Photo via The Conversation, CC)

In an abrupt about-face from last week's guidance that paused Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on farms, restaurants and meatpacking facilities, Trump officials reissued their call for ICE to enter any business where undocumented migrant workers might be found.

"Officials from ICE, including its Homeland Security Investigations division, told agency leaders in a call Monday that agents must continue conducting immigration raids at agricultural businesses, hotels and restaurants," report Carol D. Leonnig, Natalie Allison, Marianne LeVine, and Lauren Kaori Gurley of The Washington Post.

The see-sawing instructions reflect the tough reality of supporting American farmers and service workers all the while pushing ICE to arrest thousands of undocumented workers a day. Leonnig writes, "Some immigration experts say ICE would need to ramp up worksite enforcement to meet the administration’s ambitious arrest quotas. Past raids at meatpacking plants, for instance, have led to hundreds of arrests at once."

Even among President Trump's officials, the two sides pull against each other. "White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said last month that the administration wants ICE to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests a day," the Post reports. "Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, meanwhile was on the opposite side of the issue, stressing to Trump the concerns that those in the farming industry had raised about losing workers."

On Sunday evening, Trump pulled away from his farming and service worker exemption stance and "made a post on his Truth Social account that he said amounted to an order for ICE officials 'to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,'" Leonnig adds, "which he said would require them to 'expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities.'"

On Monday, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for DHS, told reporters, “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s effort. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.”

Montana small-business owner touts restoration, permanence of 2017 tax laws

Robert Majerus

Tax breaks and job reforms from President Donald Trump's first term helped jump-start and strengthen rural businesses, but many of those provisions already have expired or will end in 2025 unless Congress acts soon, writes Robert Majerus in his opinion for InsideSources. "Many of the 2017 tax law’s most essential cuts and deductions run out at the end of the year, and others already need to be restored."

Provisions that already have been phased out and need restoration include the "20% qualified business income deduction, which many small businesses have benefited from, as well as the immediate expensing of research and development and equipment," Majerus explains. "For farmers, the ability to expense these investments in the same year that they are made and brought online makes a huge difference, supporting innovation in the agricultural economy."

One of the most important changes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made was to reduce the "corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, bringing the tax burden on U.S. businesses more in line with other countries," Majerus points out. "The TCJA provided more incentives for many small businesses to restructure themselves as C-corporations to take advantage of the lower tax rates."

To maintain profits and support continued small business growth, it is "critical for lawmakers to avoid calls to increase the corporate tax rate to help pay for the much-needed extensions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s economy-growing tax cuts," Majerus explains. "Reverting to a high corporate tax rate would be akin to raising taxes on Main Street and rural businesses that struggle to keep their doors open after years of high inflation."

Part of President Trump's presidential campaign included promises to "revitalize middle America," Majerus writes. "Now, these small businesses and communities that were helped in 2017 are the ones that will see the most gains wiped out if these tax cuts are not extended and made permanent."

The House has passed its support for reinstating and extending TCJA provisions. Majerus adds, "It’s time for the Senate to move forward while acknowledging the time limit businesses have before these expiring tax cuts go into effect at the end of the year. Time is short."

Robert Majerus is a member of the Community Business Alliance and a small-business owner in Montana.

Farmers worry about labor shortages as migrants hide from threats, deportation confusion

A large, dedicated work force is needed to pick the more than 1.2 billion pounds of apples New York farms can produce. (Adobe Stock photo)

Migrant farm workers across rural northern New York are reportedly hiding to avoid being picked up, harassed and possibly shipped out of the U.S. by immigration police. American farmers, who often rely on migrant workers to keep their farms profitable, are in an uncomfortable spot. Many voted for Trump but now "feel anxious about the prospect of losing a crucial labor force," reports Anan Ley of The New York Times. 

For migrant workers, hiding is one of the few ways to avoid "what they describe as cruel and chaotic deportation efforts," Ley explains. "In rural New York, some immigrants have been briefly detained and then released, while others with legal papers languish in custody, leaving many confused about who is being forced out of the country and who gets to remain."

If immigration police continue to round up and deport undocumented farm workers, farmers say they will be in a bind. David Fisher, the president of the New York Farm Bureau, a nonprofit industry group, told Ley, "Local sources of labor are simply not available in most cases."

Regardless of the national tension surrounding immigration, undocumented workers fill many U.S. agriculture jobs. "About 42% of farm workers are not legally authorized to work in the country," Ley reports. "In New York State, experts at Cornell University estimated in 2019 that about half of all farm workers were undocumented."

The loss of migrant workers could alter how much of a product a state can produce and ship nationwide. For New York, that means apples. Ley writes, "It is famous for producing more apples than any other state except for Washington — supplying the nation with one of its most-consumed fruits."

Farmers like Robert J. Colby, who runs Colby Homestead Farms just outside the small town of Spencerport, N.Y., advocate for a quick, no-nonsense approach to immigration. He told Ley, "The Congress and Senate [need] to get to work and get an immigration program together . . . . We should be able to vet people’s backgrounds and process them within six months in order for them to be able to come and become citizens."

Trump pitches plan to help undocumented farmworkers avoid deportation and become legalized to work in the U.S.

Roughly 500,000 undocumented workers fill labor positions
on American farms. (Photo via Progressive Farmer)

Since President Trump took office, many farmers have worried about the deportation of valuable, but undocumented, farm workers. Discussions yesterday suggest a go-around could be in the works. "Trump suggested a new program will be set up to help legalize farm workers and reduce the risk of farmers losing undocumented workers to mass deportations," reports Chris Clayton of Progressive Farmer.

Trump floated the idea during a Cabinet meeting, marking the first time he has shown "willingness to temper his mass deportation plans to help protect the labor pool for industries such as agriculture," Clayton writes. "Undocumented workers will be given a chance to self-deport and return to the country legally, Trump said. That should be an incentive for people in the country illegally to identify themselves under the Alien Registration Act with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol."

The plan would allow farm workers who register to "remain working on a farm -- at least for a temporary period," Clayton explains. "The president told Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in the Cabinet meeting that her department would work with farmers to help verify worker status on farms."

Trump explained the process at the meeting, saying, "A farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people saying they're great, they're working hard. We're going to slow down a little bit for them, and then we're going to ultimately bring them back. They'll go out, they're going to come back as legal workers, OK?"

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, responded to Trump's comments, saying: "We heard President Trump's comments about farm labor during his cabinet meeting. We thank the president for recognizing the importance of farmworkers and for considering the impact of the labor crisis in agriculture. We look forward to learning about the specifics of his plan. Every American is dependent on these workers to keep their families fed and pantries full."

The mass employment of migrant farmworkers by American farmers is real. Clayton adds, "A USDA Farm Labor Survey pegged the percentage of undocumented agricultural workers at around 42%, or roughly 500,000 people, working in crops. . . . To fill the void of assuring they have legal labor, farmers' H-2A programs have grown in recent years and now fill more than 384,000 job positions."

As tariff wars continue, Farm Journal asks farmers their opinion on tariffs as a trade tool

As the U.S. continues to levy or threaten heavy tariffs to renegotiate international trade terms, Farm Journal asked farmers how they feel about being caught in trade war crosshairs again.

"As both targeted and blanket tariffs are applied, retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agriculture are also caught in the middle of the latest trade war," reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "How do farmers feel about this?"

AgWeb's latest poll asked, “Do you support President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiation strategy?” Morgan writes, "Even though the majority of farmers say they don’t support Trump’s use of tariffs, according to the AgWeb poll, it wasn’t an overwhelming majority."

Farm Journal polled 2,891 farmers in March 2025. (Farm Journal graph)

The poll's second question asked, “Do you believe USDA will compensate farmers for losses if agriculture is affected by a trade war?” Morgan notes, "The responses were much more mixed."

• 36% responded “no”
• 34% said “yes”
• 30% responded they were “unsure”

"What are farmers saying in the field? Michelle Jones, a fourth-generation farmer in south central Montana was asked the question about if she supports Trump’s use of tariffs on 'AgriTalk' last week," Morgan reports. 'No, definitely not,' Jones said. 'I don’t think that tariffs are an effective negotiation strategy, and I also don’t think that we’re truly being surgical in how we are applying them.'"

Not everyone agrees with Jones' assessment. "Some farmers and those in agriculture support the president’s heavy use of tariffs," Morgan writes. "One of those is Bubba Horwitz of Bubba Trading, who focuses on the commodity markets. . . . Horwitz said on AgriTalk, 'I think it’s a great tool to use. . . .You can bargain with those tariffs, you can do whatever you want.'"

At a recent interview with Fox News, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins "defended the president’s use of tariffs, also saying he’s holding Canada accountable," Morgan reports. "Rollins pointed out the president has been very clear that there will be an interim period where the economy readjusts."

Morgan adds, "Ninety-two percent of economists think Trump’s strategy of using tariffs as a negotiating tool won’t benefit U.S. agriculture in the long run."

Opinion: New USDA leader says she has plans to trim the department and refocus it to help U.S. farmers and families

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she
aims to 'get back to basics.' (USDA photo)

The Department of Agriculture traces its humble beginnings back to 1862, when it opened with a commissioner and nine employees. Since then, it has grown into "29 sub-agencies with nearly 100,000 employees, and it reported its total outlays last year at $228.3 billion," writes Sierra Dawn McClain in her opinion for The Wall Street Journal. "Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins aims to get back to basics."

At the time the USDA was created, "more than half of all Americans worked on farms," McClain explains. Since the 1860s, the number of U.S. citizens who "work in agriculture has shrunk to less than 2%, but the USDA reaches into every farm, national forest, rural town, grocery store and school cafeteria."

Secretary Rollins sees herself as a bureaucracy trimmer and "says her broader mission is the 'restoration of rural America,'" McClain writes. "The government tends to ignore farmers, she says, except to impose 'burdensome and costly regulations that hamper innovation.'. . . She wants to ease off, and her plan to lower egg prices, announced in these pages, exemplifies her approach — offering services to farmers without rushing to add new requirements."

Rollins also plans to remake the Forest Service, a "USDA sub-agency that manages 193 million acres of land. The service faces a fiscal crisis that Rollins attributes to unprofitable forest-management practices and Biden-era wage and workforce increases," McClain writes. Rollins told her, “This is the classic case of government gone awry." 

As far as entitlements such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Rollins aims to "reduce fraud, establish stricter work requirements for SNAP recipients and re-evaluate the Thrifty Food Planants," McClain adds. "She wants to make sure the program continues 'serving the families that need it the most,' and she says she grew up in such a family: She and her two sisters were raised by a single mother making $5 an hour." She told McClain: “I will do everything I can to make sure that the people that truly need that will get it."

To read more about USDA plans for bird flu management, tariff responses and Rollins' approach to working with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary at Health and Human Services, click here.

China hits U.S. farmers with 15% tariff. When farmers don't make money, it 'directly ripples across the rural economy.'

Tariffs could permanently hurt U.S. farm income.
(Adobe Stock photo)

In the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute, China has issued retaliatory tariffs targeting American farm goods. "Beijing imposed the levies in response to President Trump's extra 10% blanket tariff on Chinese goods," reports Megan Cerullo of CBS News. "Under China's retaliatory action, U.S. farmers now face levies of 15% on chicken, wheat and corn, and 10% on soybeans, pork, beef and fruit."

In the immediate future, the tariffs will cost American farmers money from lost sales. In the long-term, the tariffs could do U.S. farm product sales greater harm because some vendors may decide to permanently purchase meat and fruit from other producers. Cerullo explains, "If prices of foreign-grown goods rise in China, locals will turn to less expensive alternatives either from China or other countries. American farmers that deal in chicken and more will likely lose market share as a result."

Alongside tariffs doled out by both countries, the inconsistent tariff announcements by the Trump administration have left farmers feeling like their livelihoods are on shifting sands. Virginia-based farmer John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, told Cerullo, "You are really shaking at the root of all the major commodities that we produce in the U.S. because we are a market-driven industry."

Even though U.S. farmers may have "anticipated Trump would impose levies on key U.S. trade partners, there wasn't a whole lot the farmers could do to prepare," Cerullo adds. Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, told Cerullo, "This trade war and these tariffs adds to that very stressful time and does not help the farm economy. When farmers aren't making money, they are not spending money, and that directly ripples across the rural economy."

U.S. DOJ begins investigating reasons behind high egg prices, and bird flu may not be the only culprit

The rise and fall of egg prices from 2015 to 2022. (Federal Reserve St. Louis graphic, Bureau of Labor data)

Bird flu may not be the only driver of historically high egg prices throughout the United States. The Department of Justice "has opened an investigation into the cause of soaring egg prices, including whether large producers have conspired to raise prices or hold back supply," report Dave Michaels and Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "The probe comes after prices have doubled over the past year and eggs are sometimes entirely absent from grocery store shelves."

High egg prices can mean more than an expensive omelet or a surcharge on a restaurant's border scramble. Eggs are a surprisingly common ingredient in hundreds of grocery items, which can range from baked goods to salad dressings. When egg prices increase, the overall cost of multiple products increases. 

Industry producers have "attributed high egg prices to the worst outbreak of avian flu in American history. It has resulted in the death of more than 150 million U.S. chickens, turkeys and egg-laying hens since 2022," the Journal reports. Egg producers say they have struggled to reestablish their egg-laying flocks "because even young birds, known as pullets, have been killed by the flu."

Despite spiking prices, many Americans still buy eggs, which can leave the supply chain stressed. "On average shoppers are paying about $5 a dozen, according to the Labor Department," Michaels and Thomas add. "Grocers and food distributors are paying about $8 a dozen at wholesale, which makes selling them often a money-loser."

When consumers pay double for a dozen eggs and grocers still lose money, some egg producers' huge profits may appear irregular. Lisa Phelan, an antitrust partner at Morrison Foerster, told the Journal, "Antitrust authorities often open investigations when high prices appear to stem from unusual disruptions to supply chains."

"Egg producers were losers in one recent lawsuit that alleged they restricted the supply of eggs through a trade association program," Michaels and Thomas explain. "A federal jury in Chicago found in late 2023 that Cal-Maine, Rose Acre Farms, United Egg Producers and U.S. Egg Marketers were liable for restricting supply between 2004 and 2008 through measures such as early slaughter and henhouse density restrictions." 

A federal plan to combat avian flu has 5 parts, but scientists disagree on how effective the changes will be

Major poultry and dairy organizations back vaccine
use to control the virus. (Farm Journal photo)

The Department of Agriculture has been hard at work "hatching" a plan to contain and prevent further avian flu, also known as bird flu, outbreaks among chicken flocks. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins "released a five-pronged strategy and investment of $1 billion to combat avian flu and reduce rising egg prices," reports Dawn Attride of Sentient Media. "The new measures focus largely on fixing on-farm biosecurity gaps as well as push for a new poultry vaccine."

A large chunk of the USDA's investment will shore up farm biosecurity by "ramping up protocols to guard against disease spillover from wildlife — at no cost to farmers," Attride explains. "The Rollins plan is light on concrete details as to what exactly the new biosecurity strategies are," but it appears the rollout will lean on a set of biosecurity protocols created in 2016 as part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

In her Wall Street Journal commentary, "Rollins notes that of the 150 sites that followed recommended biosecurity protocols, only one was subsequently affected by avian flu," Attride reports. The USDA plan includes using "smart perimeters" to predict and prevent the disease from infecting flocks.

Not all scientists agree that "smart perimeters" can deliver bird flu prevention. Maurice Pitesky, an associate professor and expert in poultry disease modeling at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told Attride, "[Smart perimeters] are a pretty crude way of assessing risk." Attride adds, "What works better, according to Pitesky: accurately tracking bird movement and holistically assessing different factors — such as wind or temperature — that might drive birds into this radius."

The USDA also plans to step away from its long-held insistence that infected flocks be culled; however, experts disagree on how that change will play out. Meghan Davis, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, would like more details on which "strategies will replace depopulation," Attride reports. Davis told her, "These stamping out policies have been in place for quite some time. There’s a reason it exists and one of them is animal welfare issues –– these birds get really sick… and [rarely] recover."

The new plan looks to incorporate vaccinating chickens against the disease. "The USDA has given conditional approval to a Zoetis vaccine H5N2 for chickens, but has yet to give the go ahead for vaccinating commercial poultry flocks against avian flu," Attride adds. But "many countries won’t accept vaccinated chickens. The U.S. is the second-largest exporter of poultry and should a vaccine be rolled out, the federal government would have to negotiate agreements with its trading partners."  

"The plan’s success hinges on industry adoption and global trade acceptance," reports Jim Wiesemeyer of Farm Journal. "Balancing effective disease control with maintaining poultry exports remains a critical challenge."

The 'demise' of plow-based farming is coming as farmers use healthier ways to grow food

Jesse Stubs plowing, prepares soil to plant corn on newly-terraced land in Flint River Farms, Ga.,
in May 1939. (Marion Post Wolcott, Library of Congress Prints &Photos via the Post)

The enduring match of farms and plows seems destined for a breakup as more farmers incorporate no-till farming practices. "The demise of the plow and other tools that turn the soil is a rare good-news story in these depressing times for Planet Earth," writes Dana Milbank in his Washington Post opinion. "Modern, mechanized tillage [is] an ecological disaster, killing all that was alive in the soil while worsening erosion and runoff."

Over the past five decades, farmers realized how much harm tilling was doing and began to step away from their plows. Milbank explains, "In 1973, 82.2% of U.S. cropland was managed by conventional tillage, and only 2% was managed by 'no-till' methods, with the remaining 15.8% using reduced tillage. Half a century later, only 27% of U.S. cropland uses conventional tillage, with 38% now using no-till and 35% using reduced tillage."

Part of the shift to no-till includes a change in farming culture. Milbank adds, "If Big Ag destroyed the soil with its heavy use of chemicals and monster tilling equipment, the new agriculture is about building soil health so that it can nurture as it once did." The no-till resurgence takes its lessons from "traditional farming methods that existed for centuries before chemical fertilizers and pesticides. . . . and newer technologies, such as drilling seeds into the soil to preserve the soil’s structure."

John Piotti, head of the American Farmland Trust, which has been working on regenerative practices with big and small farmers and food companies including Land O’Lakes and General Mills, told Milbank, "It’s a very good trend — an excellent trend . . . . It’s really about whether we’re going to have a planet we can live on.”

Quick hits: Growing local rye for bourbon; winter's delights; farm radio plays on; a new way to support local journalism

Rye from thousands of miles away is used in many KY 
bourbons. (Graphic by Adam Dixon, Ambrook Research)

Bourbon's ingredients are relatively simple and most can be locally grown. But as history tells it, grain farmers in Kentucky, where 95% of the world's bourbon is produced, quit growing rye, reports Daniel Walton of Ambrook Research. "While its water is drawn from limestone-filtered springs, and its corn from nearby farms, the ingredient that gives good bourbon its distinctive pepper and herbal notes is shipped in from thousands of miles away. . . . In the interests of sustainability, supply chain resilience, and good old-fashioned local pride, the bourbon industry now wants to bring rye back to Kentucky."

Squirrels can provide winter
entertainment. (Unsplash photo)

Is it too soon to start planning springtime projects? For people who would like to build a chicken coop, heading into winter is a great time to learn what's required and start gathering supplies. If you're lucky enough to have any indoor building space, getting started now is ideal. Lisa Foust Prater of Successful Farming provides a step-by-step primer on building an idyllic home for your spring chicken flock.

The days of winter darkness are coming. Some call it dreary, others get ready to hibernate, and still, others continue to wear shorts in what appears to be a total denial of summer's end. "It’s not all dark mornings and bulky coats," writes Jancee Dunn of The New York Times. From making lists of books you want to read to exploring "slow hobbies" experts shared with Dunn how to "open yourself up to the delights of the season. . . .Take note of the birds and squirrels as you take a walk, or look at the moon or the changing sky outside your window."

Farmers love to "tune in from their tractors" to their ever-reliable and ever-useful farm radio station, reports Sarah Murphy of Ambrook Research. In fact, "83% of farmers with at least $100,000 of gross farm income listened to farm radio five days per week or more in 2023, according to a National Association of Farm Broadcasters survey. But even as the medium faces changes from podcasts to streaming services, farm radio's "staying power is impressive."

Journalism comes in many forms, but reporting on music may be one of the most challenging. Enter in NPR's "From the Top," which lets music do the reporting and highlights young musical talent from around the country, including students from rural America. In this episode, a 15-year-old violinist from the small coastal community of Damariscotta, Maine, and a talented young banjo player from the foothills of Leicester, North Carolina, are shared.

Photo by Max Kabat via The Daily Yonder

To help sustain local journalism, the small town of Marfa, Texas, created a place for community residents, tourists and local news to come together in a shared space, which they named "The Sentinel." The Sentinel's renovated, adobe-style building houses The Big Bend Sentinel and the Presidio International, which provide independent news to area counties, reports Kim Kobersmith of The Daily Yonder. The Sentinel's kitchen serves local food favorites, specialty coffee drinks and regional cocktails. All in all, the space supports independent journalism, while providing a friendly, reliable and delicious restaurant for the community to share.

What is "climate-smart" agriculture and how do we know if it works? Report authors call for a CSA framework.

U.S. farmers have their hands full amid increased production demands, climate change management and working to use fewer environmentally harmful practices. In response to those needs, a new agricultural strategy known as "climate-smart agriculture" has evolved; however, the concept lacks a prescribed model. In their article for the Prairie Research Institute, Olivia Messerges and Trent Ford "call for developing a consistent, widely applicable, and standardized framework to assess what makes a specific agricultural system or practice 'climate-smart' and analyzes agroforestry and prescribed grazing within said framework."

At this time, CSA is broadly defined with a three-pillar structure, which includes: increasing agricultural productivity, enhancing agricultural resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond those requirements, more specific guidance is needed. Messerges and Ford explain: "A standardized framework would also enable producers, policymakers and researchers to consistently compare the effectiveness, tradeoffs and implementation barriers of various CSA systems and practices. The framework will result in improved implementation of CSA goals, better policy development, and more informed decision-making processes on a national scale. . . . This article subsequently provides examples of such an assessment using examples of agroforestry and prescribed grazing systems, which are often referred to as 'climate-smart.'"

In its simplest terms, agroforestry means farming with trees, and its use is divided into four methods including silvopasture, riparian forest buffers, forest farming and alley cropping. Each implementation practice comes with a complex set of positives, negatives and "we don't know yet" results. "Alley cropping can support soil stabilization, bioremediation, and biodiversity, which are important for climate change adaptation and emission reduction," Messerges and Ford note. "However, root competition with grain or horticulture crops may hinder production benefits. Riparian forest buffers are effective at helping farmers to become more resilient. . . but productivity and emission benefits are not well-known."

Prescribed grazing is another farming practice considered "climate-smart," but once again without a structure the term and use of grazing as a method that delivers on the three pillars is hard to measure. "In the context of the three-pillar framework, the CSA benefits of prescribed grazing are less clear than for agroforestry," Messerges and Ford report. "While prescribed grazing offers many benefits, there is substantial uncertainty in its effectiveness in achieving CSA objectives."

To read Messerges and Ford's full report, sources and descriptive graphs, click here.

Friday's quick hits: This bot cleans up; sculpture park honors enslaved people; trying weird veggies; camping trip plan

(The Searial Cleaners photo via Route Fifty)

Almost everyone knows what a litterbug is, but what about a litterbot? In Detroit, a litterbot named BeBot "will sift through the sand and suck out trash like cigarette butts, bottles, food wrappers and other small pieces of plastic to help prevent trash from making its way from the Detroit River, which flows between the U.S. and Canada, into Lake Erie," reports Kaitlyn Levinson of Route Fifty. "The robot is roughly the size of a riding lawn mower and weighs more than 1,300 pounds. It uses a metal grate to sift through the sand and pick up trash as it rolls along beachfronts at about two miles per hour. "

Bernie Sanders of Vermont isn't the only one investigating 4-day work weeks. Educators in Pennsylvania now have the option of a 4-day school week. "Legislation signed into law in December amended the Pennsylvania School Code to eliminate the requirement for a minimum 180 school days, providing 900 or more instruction hours each academic year," reports Valerie Myers of The Erie Times. "Districts now can choose between 180 school days and hourly instruction requirements: 900 for elementary students and 990 for secondary students." Despite the option, a lot of school administrators don't feel ready to sign up.

The Legacy Sites photo

How can Americans confront slavery's part in our national history? A park in Alabama is memorializing this past with art. "Montgomery, Alabama -- once a major trafficking port for enslaved people – opened its new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, which features bronze sculptures and historical artifacts that highlight what life was like for enslaved people," reports Mackenzie McCarty of The Christian Science Monitor. "The park culminates in the four-story National Monument to Freedom, inscribed with 122,000 last names that formerly enslaved people chose for themselves after being emancipated."

Guess who's hitting their Earth-loving metrics? U.S. farmers. Daniel Munch of the American Farm Bureau Federation reported on a new study from the Environmental Protection Agency that showed "'U.S. agriculture represents just under 10% of total U.S. emissions when compared to other economic sectors. Overall, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased from 2021 to 2022 by 1.3%, though agricultural emissions dropped 1.8% – the largest decrease of any economic sector.' . . . 2022 marks the lowest U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions since 2012."

With googly eyes, most veggies look more approachable.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Some vegetables get a bad rap: Okra is slimy. Eggplants look more like purple slugs than food. Rutabagas don't even sound like a food. But what if there was a way to make those strange foods approachable? Even edible. "It's hard to be intimidated by celeriac — or rutabaga, radicchio, eggplant or okra — when it's wiggling googly eyes at you," reports Rebekah Denn of The Washington Post. Chef and food educator Becky Selengut "began pasting eyes on produce while teaching a 'Misunderstood Vegetables' cooking class and writing a related new cookbook."

Don't let raccoons, bugs, lumpy ground or lackluster meals ruin your summer camping trip. A great camping trip starts with solid planning, "so you'll return home with great memories," writes Alex Temblador for National Geographic. "We’ve created a list of all the items you’ll need. . . . From clothes to kitchen supplies and gear to help you sleep." Find the checklist here.