April 18, 2025

White House Budget Plan Proposes Local FSA, NRCS Office Closures

The Trump administration is planning to severely scale back or outright eliminate funding for many programs across the Agriculture Department, according to White House documents obtained, as it slashes workers and closes offices at the local level. The ‘passback’ document from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposing fiscal 2026 funding levels would gut research and conservation efforts, trim program budgets nearly across the board, and cut staff as part of what OMB called many difficult decisions that were necessary to reach the proposed spending level. In the document, the OMB directed USDA to develop plans to consolidate its local, county-based offices around the country into state committees that would service the FSA, NRCS, and Rural Development. Ironically, these are the people that are directly where the farmers are. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins last month called those agencies, along with the Risk Management Agency, the most farmer-facing mission area at USDA, which producers rely on every day.

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Can Trump Solve the Farm Labor Crisis Before Harvest?

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said easing restrictions for noncitizen farmworkers is a top priority, as labor shortages continue to strain farmers across the U.S. Changes to the H-2A visa program and new legal pathways could offer relief soon. The Trump administration is working to finalize more lenient guidelines for noncitizen farmworkers by harvest season. She said it’s an issue she’s had many long conversations with the president about over the years. There is zero doubt that labor is a massive issue for probably the large majority of our agriculture industry, our farmers and our ranchers. Her remarks came just days after President Donald Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that he may ease immigration restrictions for farm laborers. Under his plan, farm and hotel workers would leave the country and then return legally with the backing of their U.S. employer.

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Ocean Rates See Uptick Amid Tariff Turmoil

Ocean container rates from Asia to North America saw a slight uptick last week as the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade strategy roils global markets, Freightos reported Wednesday. Rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast were up 10% week over week to $2,465 per forty-foot equivalent unit, per an April 16 market update. Rates to the East Coast went up 3% to $3,647 per FEU. As shippers navigate trade uncertainty, a pullback in China-to-U.S. volumes, paired with an increase in demand from other Asia trade lanes, may reflect “diverging rates on the port-pair level,” according to Freightos. U.S. shippers have been frontloading goods since November to get ahead of tariffs. The administration’s plans to roll out country-specific reciprocal tariffs April 9 prompted another rush to move cargo before the new duties went into effect.

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Live Animal Gifts Spark Health Concerns as Easter Nears

Gifting live animals like chicks, ducklings and bunnies during Easter remains a cherished tradition, but public health officials and animal welfare advocates warn of significant risks. Salmonella outbreaks, animal abandonment, and ecological harm continue to plague this practice, prompting calls for safer alternatives like toys or candy. In 2024, the CDC reported 470 Salmonella cases linked to backyard poultry across 48 states, with 125 hospitalizations and one death. Investigations identified contact with live poultry as the primary source. Salmonella spreads through handling birds or their environments, even without direct contact. Infants, young children, seniors, and immuno-compromised individuals face the highest risk of severe illness, including diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps lasting up to seven days. Severe cases may require hospitalization. Food and food surfaces can become contaminated with bacteria from live animals if strict hygiene is not practiced. Animal welfare issues are significant.

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Japanese Researchers Announce Breakthrough in Fake Meat Production

Researchers in Japan have produced nugget-sized chunks of chicken using animal cells, signaling a breakthrough in lab-grown food production. Lab-grown or cell-cultivated meat has been around for over a decade, offering an animal-based protein option that does not derive from slaughtered animals. Previous attempts at lab-grown chicken have been made with cells taken from living animals to create chicken strips less than 1 millimeter thick that are then bound together. Creating thicker portions of meat is difficult without blood vessels, which help oxygen and nutrients keep tissue alive and healthy. Scientists at the University of Tokyo invented a process that mimics blood vessels, therefore enabling tissues to grow stronger, and produced a bite-sized chunk of chicken at 10 grams that indicates improved texture. The team believes they could build larger chunks of meat using the same process—and even create functional organs.

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UK Bans EU Cheese and Meat to Stop Disease Spreading

The UK government has brought in a temporary ban on holidaymakers bringing in cheese and meat products from the EU in a bid to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Travellers have not been allowed to bring back items such as cured meat and cheese, including in sandwiches, since Saturday due to the growing outbreak on the continent. The restrictions apply regardless of whether the goods are packed or packaged, or bought from duty free. It follows an earlier ban of similar products from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria after rising cases of the cattle disease in those countries. FMD is a highly infectious virus that causes blisters inside an animal’s mouth and under their hooves, and can cause lameness and problems feeding. It causes no risk to humans and there are currently no cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

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