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It was only a matter of time… before retaliatory tariffs imposed by China would hit U.S. beef and pork exports.

‘Tis the season! … for the EPA to approve E15 usage across the nation for the summer. It’s becoming a bit of an annual tradition. The emergency waiver goes into effect May 1. E15 an emergency? According to Todd Neeley of the Progressive Farmer, Biden’s EPA finalized a rule on February 22, 2024, allowing eight Midwestern states to permanently sell E15 year-round with delayed implementation to April 28, 2025.

Living is expensive, but so is dying. (Whoa, getting dark in here.) Truly, losing a loved one is a dark enough time… then the IRS comes knocking nine months later to ask for money from someone no longer with us. *Pretends to not be home* ‘Til death and beyond do us part: The estate tax, aka, “death” tax, is one of many provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire Dec. 31 this year.

Mexico might find itself screwed out of animal exports if it doesn’t let the U.S. step in to help eradicate the New World Screwworm outbreak. According to Ag Secretary Brook Rollins' letter to her Mexican counterpart, Mexico has been limiting companies hired for aerial spraying to eliminate the pests. They were only flying six days a week and put “burdensome custom duties” on parts needed for these planes.

The USDA is hatching a different plan after withdrawing a proposed regulatory framework aimed at reducing salmonella outbreaks from raw poultry products. Hot off the nest: The agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will no longer require companies to reduce salmonella bacteria in products beyond current requirements. That reverses a proposal from the Biden administration.

Researchers at the University of California-Davis are hungry like the wolf after seeing how many losses cattle ranchers are incurring because of the state’s protected gray wolf population. Spoiler alert: Losses are in the millions of dollars. Background: The gray wolf was thought to be extinct in California until it crossed over the Oregon state line in 2011.

The sweet solution: A miracle for beekeepers facing historic hive losses has emerged from the fields at Washington State University and Belgium’s APIX Biosciences NV after almost a decade of research. Researchers developed a new food source to sustain bees without pollen: basically a Power Bar for bees.

The latest update in the tariff saga: 13 states—plus a few more parties—are suing President Trump. On the west coast, Governor Gavin Newsom and State Attorney General Rob Bonta kicked things off by suing Trump’s administration at a district court in California. Their argument is Congress, not the president, has dominion over tariff policy, and the president can’t use tariffs in an economic emergency.

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Casting off constraints: The commercial fishing industry is coming up for air after President Trump recently signed an executive order scaling back regulations on fishing in previously protected waters, including acres in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) near Hawaii. Whoa, what a swim: The U.S. controls more than 4M square miles of fishing territory but imports about 90% of its seafood, representing a $20B tr

The Bezos Earth Fund and the Global Methane Hub are on a $27.4M mission to reduce global methane emissions from livestock through selective breeding. Grant $ for genetics: Using the power of genetics, 50 partners from 25 countries will receive funding for a new Global Methane Genetics Initiative, which aims to breed climate-friendly cattle across four continents. Initiative leaders call low-emitting cattle “one of the most elegant solutions” to climate change.

It may be the “end of the road” for Roundup in the U.S. The rundown: After years of litigation, Bayer’s CEO warned the company may stop making the weedkiller. And it may come sooner than you think. For years, glyphosate has been at the root of legal battles linked to users developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer found in the lymphatic system.

“But what about the farm workers?” It’s a question all too familiar to the agriculture industry. And with the Trump administration, it’s been top of mind for months. But President Trump says there will be a new program set up to help legalize farm workers and reduce the risk of farmers and ranchers losing their “undocumented workers” in mass deportations. 

At this point, the chicken can’t even get across the road. Setbawks galore: Amid issues with avian influenza and increasing egg prices, our feathered friends aren’t getting a beak… break. Coops in crisis: A new study out of Texas A&M indicates chicken fertility rates in the U.S. could decline to roughly 60% by 2050. The researchers combed through USDA NASS data from 2013 to to 2022, which revealed declines in hatchability, chick viability, and production efficiency.

The Climate-Smart Commodities program is getting repackaged. Earlier this week, the USDA announced the $3.1B partnership with approximately 135 conservation programs would continue under a new name. “Biden-era climate slush fund”: This is the nickname the Trump administration gave the Climate-Smart programs. But they said projects can continue if “a significant amount of the federal funds awarded will go to farmers.”

A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2025 to crack down on anticompetitive practices in the meat industry. ICYMI: Only four companies control 85% of the beef-packing industry and 67% of pork. Despite consolidation bringing efficiencies to the industry, farming and ranching advocates have long criticized companies for driving out competition.

Ag lender Compeer Financial is taking three Iowa and South Dakota-based swine operations to U.S District Court for a billion-dollar check-kiting scheme. Check-kiting 101: This expert-level check fraud takes advantage of "float time"(the delay between when a check is deposited and when funds are actually cleared).

Do not fear: the Food Security and Farm Protection Act is here! As of last week, Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, along with Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, penned new legislation fueled mainly in response to California’s Proposition 12. Refresh: Prop 12 went into effect in January 2024 in California and regulates the confinement of sows, egg-laying hens, and calves used for veal. In simplest terms, it banned the use of gestation crates.

Farming is an around-the-clock job, but technology is taking that to the extreme. Carbon Robotics announced the new Carbon AutoTractor autonomous system, designed to keep the tractor running without stopping. Here’s the plowdown: The autonomy system aims to help farmers with productivity while reducing labor dependency. Tasks the tractor can perform include tilling, plowing, cultivating, ripping, discing, listing, mulching, and mowing.

It’s going down: an “Emergency Situation Determination,” which gives the U.S. Forest Service freedom to speed up its work to reduce wildfire risks on National Forest System lands. And Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is yelling, “Timber!” The memo applies to more than 112M acres of National Forest System land. It’s no coincidence it’s also related to an executive order to boost domestic timber production by 25%. 

Trade, but make it spicy. Tariffs, tariffs everywhere: China and the U.S. are going tit for tat on tariffs, and it’s getting dicey. China, which we export several ag commodities to, is hiking tariffs on U.S. products by up to 81%. You hang up. No, you hang up: The slapback includes, but is not limited to: U.S. pork exports: 81% tariff (China accounts for 54% of U.S. pork variety meat shipments)