Hunter Carpenter from ARA’s public policy team joins The Scoop Podcast to discuss the bill reopening the federal government, and what’s included for ag. He also gives an update on trade including USMCA, China, and the critical minerals listing.
Federal Government Reopening
After 43 days, the federal government is open with the senate and house passing a funding bill which the President signed.
The funding bill included full-year appropriations for USDA.
“For agriculture specifically, this package would reauthorize major ag programs, through all of fiscal year 2026, which helps ensure continuity for crop insurance, risk management tools, and also pluses up and restores the Commodity Credit Corporation’s funding, which is obviously very important if the administration plans to use CCC funds to pay for some sort of market facilitation program like they did in the first Trump administration,” Carpenter says.
You can join the ag retail industry as it gathers from the annual ARA Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City. Learn more at aradc.org.
Carpenter says the latest bill in conjunction with the “One Big Beautiful Bill” have patched together many of ARA’s policy priorities—but they aren’t a replacement for a comprehensive Farm Bill.
“Much of the budgetary portions of the Farm Bill were included in the One Big Beautiful bill that passed back in July. Now, a lot of the policy goals that we try to get achieved within the Farm Bill were set aside, and now, with these ag appropriations bills, which are different than a farm bill, those approps bills have to be passed every year,” Carpenter says.
He points out the last five-year Farm Bill was passed in 2018. We’ve had one-year extensions every year since.
Critical Mineral Listing
Another policy issues ARA has been working on the inclusion of potash and phosphate as a critical mineral for the Department of Interior.
“Potash and phosphate are both essential for agriculture production, as both primary nutrients that crops need to grow alongside nitrogen. They’re fundamental to plant health and yield and quality. The U.S. imports a lot of the potash that we receive, largely from Canada. And then significant amounts of phosphate as well from other countries. That makes this supply chain vulnerable to trade disputes, geopolitical instability, transportation bottlenecks,” he says.
He points out the phosphate listing isn’t limited to just phosphate rock but also ammoniated phosphate, which is used for manufacturing of glyphosate.
“If we’re not producing the most popular herbicide on the market, who fills that void? It’s likely going to be China. Then what happens to the prices of that input, when you’re reliant on another country for all of that production?” Carpenter says.
He says when minerals are added to the listing is given recognition to their importance, encourage domestic investment, build supply chain resilience and support research.
“There are going to be benefits to ag retailers here, reliability of access, and maybe, hopefully, some price stability. Also, some regulatory and policy support, and maybe, hopefully, some confidence. So, we think that food security is national security, and adding these products to the list will strengthen national food security,” Carpenter says.
Trade
ARA also contributed comments to two trade fronts—both supporting USMCA and a 16-year agreement and talking about Section 301 tariffs and their effect on farmers and ag retailers being able to plan for their businesses with confidence.
Potential Rail Merger
Since July, the industry has been watching Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern who filed a formal notice of intent with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) of their intent to merge.
“They’re expected to submit their full merger application in January of 2026, so just in a couple of months. Once that application’s filed and deemed complete, STB begins the formal procedural review schedule. This would likely take about 12 to 18 months, which means the decision could come early to mid-2027,” Carpenter says. “It might seem like a long way away, but with supply chain issues, these things still have consequences. So, during this ongoing review period, stakeholders like ARA, other shippers, labor unions, competitors can all submit comments and raise concerns about competition, service reliability and some of the impacts that could be seen in supply chains.”
Carpenter spotlights a letter signed 18 senators—9 Democrats and 9 Republicans—showing Congress’ interest in the STB following its rigorous and comprehensive evaluations in this progress reviewing the merger.
“The letter highlights their key concerns, which would be this network between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would control over 40% of the U.S. freight rail traffic. And this would span roughly 50,000 route miles across 43 states. So, this could significantly affect agricultural producers who depend on competitive rail service,” Carpenter says.
