Farm groups are looking for an announcement as soon as this week about the economic assistance package the Trump administration is planning.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday that the payments are needed because China has “used our soybean farmers as pawns” in trade negotiations with President Donald Trump.
Farmers need these “bridge” payments” because agriculture is all about the future,” Bessent said. “You’ve got to start financing for planting next year when things will be very good.”
By the way: Bessent says he just divested from a North Dakota farming operation this past week. “I probably know more about agriculture than any treasury secretary since the 1800s,” he said.
For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
Trump executive order seeks to address food prices
President Trump is leaning into the affordability issue.
After characterizing “affordability” as a “con job” early last week, Trump signed an executive order Saturday directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential price fixing in the food industry.
The order targets foreign-controlled companies, in particular.
The FTC and DOJ will examine whether “control of food-related industries by foreign entities is increasing the cost of food products in the United States or creating a national or economic security threat to Americans,” the order says.
Read more here at Agri-Pulse.com
Rollins weighs in: Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said on X that “prices are starting to fall — but too many families still aren’t seeing the savings at the checkout.” The latest Consumer Price Index showed grocery store prices up 2.7% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30. The index measuring meats, poultry, fish and eggs rose 5.2% over those 12 months.
“It’s time for lower prices to ACTUALLY reach the people,” Rollins said.
Europe set to ease restrictions on gene-edited crops
The European Council and European Parliament reached a deal last week on new rules for governing crops edited with new genomic techniques, eliminating a major obstacle in discussions.
The new European Union framework would exempt some edited products with traits that could be natural from the bloc’s genetically modified crop regulations. It would also allow them in the EU market without special labels.
U.S. companies are already eying the potential market opportunities that looser restrictions might bring.
Dan Jenkins, vice president for regulatory and government affairs at U.S.-based plant breeding company Pairwise, told Agri-Pulse in an email that he welcomed the news. He called the deal a “decisive step toward policy that encourages investment and development of a wide variety of crops that can have a big impact in meeting the challenges we face.”
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What next?: Both the Council and the Parliament still have to pass the agreement in a second reading, but this is considered a formality. The rules would apply approximately two years after those votes, the Parliament says.
USMCA under threat?
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday reiterated that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ‘s future remains up in the air and said the administration is still considering alternatives. But a trade expert tells Agri-Pulse that Trump is unlikely to scrap the deal in the face of overwhelming pressure to preserve it.
“I take that as kind of negotiating leverage,” Nonresident Fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and founder of WorldTradeLaw.net Simon Lester says. The administration, he says, is “trying to scare Canada and Mexico” by indicating it doesn’t care for USMCA, which comes up for a six-year review next year.
Officials may not care for the deal, but they “recognize that other people do care,” Lester said. “Members of Congress care. The markets care. So, I don’t think they want to actually take a step towards withdrawal or blow it all up.”
Take note: Last month over 100 House members wrote to Greer touting the deal’s benefits for U.S. ag, and multiple industries relayed the same message to the administration in hearings last week.
However, over 70 House members from both parties renewed calls last week for the administration to use the forthcoming review to address concerns over Canada’s implementation of dairy provisions.
House to consider Secure Rural Schools Act
Secure Rural Schools Act reauthorization is expected to come up in the House this week after expiring in fiscal year 2023.
Jaime Green, the superintendent of Trinity Alps School District, which is in a heavily forested part of Northern California, said the House is preparing to take up the bill on Tuesday afternoon. The bill funds school districts and counties unable to get tax revenue from federal Forest Service land within their borders.
Its expiration has already forced some school districts to begin making hard decisions. The Wind River Middle School in Carson, Washington, has closed amid budget uncertainty, and other schools are considering staff reductions due to funding issues.
Take note: The Senate passed a SRS reauthorization bill in June by voice vote.
Final word:
“To stipulate that burgers and sausages are ‘plant-based,’ ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ should be enough for sensible people to understand what they are eating … This also encourages attitudes essential to our health and that of the planet.” – Former Beatle Paul McCartney speaking with the Times of London about EU plans to ban the use of names like “burger” and “sausage” on plant-based foods. His late wife, Linda McCartney, launched a vegetarian sausage business in 1991 that still exists today.
Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
