September 17, 2025

Trump Administration Considering Economic Aid for Farmers: Agriculture Secretary

The Trump administration is evaluating whether to grant aid to American farmers this fall, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday. “We are working with our colleagues in Congress and closely monitoring markets daily to evaluate the amount of additional assistance that might be needed this fall,” Rollins said at a meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in Rogers, Ark. Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) told The Hill that the senator “is engaging with his colleagues and the administration about the dire circumstances in rural America and the need to provide farmers resources to continue farming.” Boozman told Brownfield Ag News earlier this month that “everything is on the table” regarding assistance to farmers. Rollins’s comments come as Chinese buyers have yet to purchase soybeans from U.S. farmers, despite increased production yields relative to last year. China is utilizing soybeans as a bargaining chip in its ongoing trade negotiations with the Trump administration. 

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‘The Whole Thing Is Screwed Up’: Farmers in Deep-Red Pennsylvania Struggle to Find Workers

As House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson prepares to introduce legislation aimed at easing the farm labor crisis, farmers in the Pennsylvania Republican’s district are hoping he’s heard their cries that they need more help right now. According to Politico, in Tioga County, where President Donald Trump won 75 percent of the vote in 2024, farmers are losing patience with the White House’s promise of a quick solution for farmworkers. Their urgent need is highlighted by stories like those of a multigenerational dairy farm that sold off all its dairy cows because the owner could not find workers. “The whole thing is screwed up,” said John Painter, a three-time Trump voter who runs an organic dairy farm in Westfield. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ assurances that American workers and machines can help close the gap ring hollow among farmers. “People don’t understand that if we don’t get more labor, our cows don’t get milked and our crops don’t get picked,” said Tim Wood, a dairy farmer and a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau board of directors..

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U.S.-India Trade Talks Continue

The U.S. and India are stepping up talks to resolve their trade tensions, with two separate teams of officials meeting in New Delhi this week, according to a Bloomberg report. The Indian team began talks Tuesday morning with the visiting U.S. trade delegation led by Brendan Lynch, assistant trade representative for South and Central Asia, a person familiar with the matter said in New Delhi, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The meeting between the trade teams is expected to decide the future course of India-U.S. negotiations, India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. The two sides are seeking to resolve their differences after the U.S. slapped India with a 50% tariff last month — the highest in Asia — to penalize the country for its trade barriers and Russian oil purchases.

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Maximize Soybean Yields: Harvesting This Week Could Be Key

The crop is drying down rapidly, given the weather conditions across much of the country. Agronomists are concerned farmers will combine fields too late and advise starting at 13% moisture or even higher. So if you’re wondering whether you need to harvest soybeans soon, the answer is yes – maybe even this week – according to Farm Journal Field Agronomists Ken Ferrie and Missy Bauer. The weather pattern that has set in across much of the Midwest is resulting in a rapid drydown of soybean crops, advancing moisture losses in the beans (seeds) faster than what many farmers might be anticipating. The U.S. Drought Monitor released last Thursday, Sept. 11, reports nearly one-fourth (22%) of all soybean acres are experiencing some level of extreme dryness or drought. Because drydown is going quickly, Ferrie and Bauer are concerned growers are going to wind up harvesting soybeans with less moisture than desired, and that could be a huge negative for yield outcomes. 

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Lowballed by Eminent Domain, ND Farmers Appeal Landmark Case to Supreme Court

The North Dakota government is forcing producers to pick between two poisons: Accept below-market offers for property or drown in legal costs. According to Farm Journal, Leonard Hoffmann was offered roughly half the market rate for gas pipeline access across his pastureland, backed by the threat of eminent domain. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in court to contest the offer, but despite winning, Hoffmann received a financial hammer blow: pay all legal costs. In a staggering ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declared Hoffmann must foot the bill to challenge below-market land offers—even though he won on the issue related to the use of other pipeline easement transactions as comparable sales. He proved his case that he is entitled to recover fees, but according to the Eighth Circuit, if a landowner dares to challenge a government-backed gas giant, the landowner loses either at the get-go or the finish line. Huffmann, is taking his case directly to the Supreme Court of the United States, represented by the Institute for Justice. ***********************************************************************************
Midwest Expecting to See Stormy Weather

The National Weather Service today reported that across the mid-section of the country rounds of heavy rain associated with clusters of thunderstorms can be expected today into Wednesday in large sections of the central to northern Plains in response to a mid- to upper-level system pushing out of the northern Rockies. From Wednesday into Thursday, a low-pressure system is forecast to become more consolidated over the north-central U.S. Showers and thunderstorms will increase in coverage especially on Wednesday across the central to northern Plains, with these showers and thunderstorms continuing into Thursday as the system will be moving slowly. “These rains will bring relief to areas of western Nebraska and southern South Dakota that are experiencing abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions,” said the NWS. Temperatures across the lower 48 states will be above average temperatures over the next few days in the last full week of summer.

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