Policy Updates
USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden outlined a list of priority topics for the agency in 2026.
“You can’t just look at ‘ag’ or ‘farm policy’ any longer,” says Jim Wiesemeyer. “It’s interrelated.”
Hunter Carpenter from ARA’s public policy team joins The Scoop Podcast to share an update.
The administration is expanding the list, which includes potash and phosphate, amid efforts to boost domestic mining and cut reliance on imports.
ARA Applauds the Department of the Interior on Potash and Phosphate Critical Minerals List Inclusion
“These designations are a major step forward for American agriculture and supply chain resilience,” said ARA President & CEO Daren Coppock.
The senior senator from Iowa says the president ‘has to’ get an agreement made that will enable trade between China and the U.S. to resume.
President Trump is urging China to buy more U.S. soybeans as they face a shortage, but analysts say quadrupling soybean orders is ‘highly unlikely.’
The new rule is part of the Trump administration’s directives to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the federal government.
The groups are urging the administration to “formally include farmers, ranchers and food producers in a collaborative stakeholder process.” An action report — a follow-up to the MAHA report released in May — is due by August 12.
“We must ensure that we make a way for young and beginning farmers to fill our boots,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
NAICC has worked to strengthen and expand our relationships with members of Congress and multiple agencies such as EPA, Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources Conservation Service, etc.
“The work on Capitol Hill is not finished,” says ARA president and CEO Daren Coppock.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) released the unedited responses from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to its questionnaire on federal agricultural policy.
The details of the tentative agreement reached on Thursday morning have not been shared, and could still be voted down by members who need to ratify the agreement to settle the matter.
Union: New offer has modest modifications to offer voted down Nov. 2; Vote Wed.