"Through a self-inflicted, perfect storm of damaging actions, the Trump administration has exposed the vulnerabilities of a fragile agriculture economy, highly dependent on exports of a few crops and reliant on immigrant labor." Our latest from @benlilliston.bsky.social: www.iatp.org/beyond-soybe...

The shutdown, combined with loss of USDA staff under Sec Rollins, is making it hard for farmers to plan for next year. Tariff and trade uncertainty + no Farm Bill making it even harder. Government Shutdown, Trade Wars Hit Farmers' Bottom Line Hard dailyyonder.com/government-s...

Forrest Smith, the only National Park Service engineer cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells, lost his contract, leaving 93 orphaned wells on park lands unmanaged. These leaking wells release methane and toxins, threatening human health and the environment.

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard gives credits for biogas projects at large factory farms around the country. The credits subsidize some of the largest dairy and hog operations, incentivizing expansion. New map shows which farms are tapping CA credits. www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/10/28/n...

Timely opinion piece from Pasa Sustainable Ag via @LancasterFarming. The next #farmbill must rebuild trust between farmers & the federal government. Without that, policy won’t meet the real-world needs of producers. #AgriculturePolicy #sustainableag www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news...

Are we living in a post Farm Bill world? We try to answer this question and more in our latest Q&A.

ICYMI - Among the many shutdown casualties is the Packers and Stockyards division. It's the latest blow to ag antitrust enforcement after USDA canceled its Farmer Seed Liaison cooperative agreement early last month.

We are #hiring! IATP is seeking a policy analyst with demonstrated expertise in agricultural finance, climate risk assessment, and farm policy to join either our Minneapolis, MN or our Washington D.C. office. Find the full job description and instructions to apply here: www.iatp.org/about/jobs-a...

Trump is certainly showing who he is to farmers and ranchers. Of course, ranchers don't set consumer prices - that's controlled by the big 4 companies (JBS/Tyson/Cargill/Natl Beef) that dominate the beef sector, several just settle price-fixing cases. www.cnbc.com/2025/10/22/t...

“Put America first”: GOP senators are fuming at Trump’s idea to import Argentinian beef to lower US prices. Lawmakers face blowback from angry ranchers who were already alarmed by Trump’s $40 billion bailout of Argentina — even as the country undercuts US soybean farmers over trade with China.

It's a risky time for farmers, and yet Republicans in Congress want to take away yet another income stream for farmers. The Conservation Reserve Program provides income for the farmer while keeping over 20 million acres' worth of grain off the market. Important in a time of low grain prices.

Trump's claim that he has a solution to higher beef prices has people wondering - is he talking about more imports? And who benefits from that approach? "Why is it that beef has to remain `affordable' at the cost of cow-calf operations?" www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

I raise a few questions about McDonald's commitment to regen ag here. @nsac-sustainableag.bsky.social puts this initiative in context, including major cuts to #USDA staff managing programs that could help farmers. Great reporting by @clairek.bsky.social www.foodandpower.net/latest/mcdon...

🗞️The government shutdown is hurting farmers nationwide. Vital USDA services (loans, disaster aid, conservation funding, & food safety) are halted or at risk. Congress & the President must act now. Farmers can’t wait! Read NSAC's press comment: sustainableagriculture.net/blog/comment...

Toxic PFAS sludge is being spread on farmland, contaminating our food and water. EPA was set to take action, but a rider slipped into the Interior funding bill would stop that work cold. thenationaldesk.com/news/spotlig...

IATP is excited to be part of Farm Aid next week — if the festival can take place. We support Farm Aid's stance defending the rights of workers and hope the University of Minnesota comes to the bargaining table and the Farm Aid concert can go forward.

Nearly $50M in SARE grants, critical for farmer-led innovation & research, is still on hold, w/ just weeks before it’s set to expire. W/out action, over 500 farmers could lose out on support for sustainable, practical solutions. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

🚜Since Jan 2025, USDA has lost 18,000+ staff. A rushed reorganization would cost thousands more, threatening support for farmers, ranchers & rural communities nationwide. 📬Submit comments to USDA by Aug 31 to: [email protected].🔗Details #ontheblog: sustainableagriculture.net/blog/usda-st...

President Donald Trump revokes a Biden-era executive order that tasked the USDA and FTC with curbing consolidation across the food system to improve fairness and competition for farmers and consumers. buff.ly/SEhKKrB

Please save the date for Kansas Rural Center's Annual Food and Farm Conference. 🌻 This February 14th, 2026, our conference will be held at the Spring Hill Suites in Lawrence, Kansas.

Expect to see more of these types of stories. The mood was pretty dark in my visit to Minnesota's Farmfest this year. “You can’t sustain the losses. It’s going to force sales...It’s stressful, stressful. And it’s all related to the markets.” www.startribune.com/more-minneso...

🧵 The budget reconciliation bill passed by Republicans in Congress and signed by President Trump will increase hunger in America, risk closure of rural hospitals, and take resources from the bottom of the income ladder and give them to the top. (1/4)

More from us here, with a deep dive analysis coming soon: sustainableagriculture.net/blog/release...

The study showed that even a relatively brief pause in funding provided by Biden-era IRA legislation could push many farmers out of these conservation efforts entirely.

@michaelhapp.bsky.social : “There’s not been a lot of clarity. Some of the money has been released, but a lot of it still hasn’t. And there’s a lot of mixed messages coming from USDA, and farmers are getting frustrated and confused, understandably.” @iatp.bsky.social

Medicaid is a "silent lifeline" is a really powerful description of its role in the safety net for millions of people. It's not silent for those who rely on it, but for many Americans, Medicaid is an abstract concept, something for "other" people.

🚨NSAC responds to the Senate’s partisan reconciliation bill, which abandons farmers & rural communities by slashing key programs & increasing tax breaks for the few. “This is not a vote for farmers – it’s a vote to abandon them.”🔗 Read more: sustainableagriculture.net/blog/comment...

On JBS’ public listing today, and why it is bad: “They're the largest [meatpacker] in the world, the largest we've ever seen in the history of mankind,” Frerick said. “This will just make everything we've seen in the meat system just get worse.”

NEW: Today we are launching the Meat and Dairy Emissions Dashboard, a database of major meat and dairy companies’ climate-related risk and emissions reporting, featuring interactive graphics created using our open-source dataset. www.iatp.org/introducing-...

NEW: In FY2024, thousands more farmers were able to enroll in farm conservation programs, largely thanks to additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Our latest report digs into the data — and threats to this important progress. www.iatp.org/keep-the-doo...

NEW: In Fiscal Year 2023, thanks to an influx of federal funding, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was able to distribute more than $3 million in Farm to School grants that went directly toward local food purchases. www.iatp.org/mda-farm-sch...

USDA farm conservation programs, which received a boost in 2024 with IRA funding, are once again facing setbacks under the new administration. We caught up with IATP’s Michael Happ for a short Q&A on the importance of these programs and how they could be improved: www.iatp.org/usda-farm-co...

So many things can be said about House Ag's reconciliation plan. But one crazy thing is adding adults with children over age 7 to "Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents" group for SNAP. They are literally saying that an 8 year old is not a dependent. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

My 4th grade CCD teacher told me that dogs don’t have free will and an American will never be Pope, so we’ll circle back on that.

Save the date! On May 22 at 11 a.m. CT, join IATP for a conversation on the state of trade and tariffs, with a focus on impacts on farmers and food. Learn more and register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

In the U.S., support for important on-farm sustainability practices comes from Farm Bill conservation programs. These underfunded programs got a boost with IRA money but are now under threat. Learn about IATP’s latest research on these programs at our upcoming webinar: www.iatp.org/event/future...

📢 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀. Email your legislators & ask them to make LFPA & LFSCC funding permanent through the #FarmBill! #TakeAction Tell Congress to support these programs & invest in healthy food for al secure.everyaction.com/OQip4txA9U-H... #dontfailourfarms #keepfarmersfarming

📢Students & neighbors facing food insecurity deserve access to fresh #localfood. When @USDA terminated LFPA & LFS, it cancelled valuable contracts for farmers, making it hard for food banks & schools to get the food communities need. secure.everyaction.com/OQip4txA9U-H... #dontfailourfarms

🌎Happy #earthday! What better way to celebrate than by supporting farmers invest in soil health and clean water - ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor the #AgResilienceAct! #AgResilienceAct! #dontfailourfarms secure.everyaction.com/RaugOgaRgUaT...

For nearly 40 years, IATP has been analyzing the role of trade in food & farm systems. Join us tomorrow, April 15 at 12 p.m. CT, for a short webinar introducing our work on trade policy and answering questions about tariffs & the unfolding trade war. Register here: www.iatp.org/event/future...

🗞️Shawn Peebles, a sweet potato & fruit & vegetable grower in Arkansas, got hit w/ a double whammy. He found out he wouldn’t be getting high tunnels under an NRCS grant that would have enabled him to produce a crop faster, then learned the LFS program was being cut. www.agri-pulse.com/articles/226...

Minnesota was set to receive $17.9 million over three years in federal funding to support Farm to School & Early Care programs and local food purchases for food shelves. This month, the USDA cancelled those funds. What does this mean for schools and farmers in the state? www.iatp.org/trump-admin-...

🗞️NSAC Applauds Bicameral Reintroduction of the Save Our Small Farms Act, which “includes common-sense reforms to remove burdensome red tape that prevents small, specialty crop & direct-marketing farmers from accessing permanent #farmsafetynet programs.” sustainableagriculture.net/blog/nsac-ap...

IATP is one of more than 300 groups supporting this bill requiring the USDA to honor its contracts with farmers and stop closing USDA offices without informing Congress as required. www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/b...

36 USDA conservation offices will close bc it's easy to back out of their leases. Thousands of farmers will have to drive farther to get basic services. DOGE itself admits that closing many of these offices will lead to $0 in savings. Latest for @iatp.bsky.social www.iatp.org/local-usda-o...

Reposting my Sunday article about importance of basic science even if you don't always understand it. Previous version had a typo in the title www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

USDA says it's bringing back more than 5,000 probationary employees after the Merit Systems Protection Board temporarily paused the firings. Story to come. www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

Agriculture needs a just transition, with support for farmers to transition to agroecological systems. Instead, we are getting destructive shocks to a rigid & vulnerable system, threatening farmer livelihoods and food supplies while environmental crises worsen. www.iatp.org/just-transit...