October 16, 2025
Farmers Union Asking for Relief for Family Farms and Ranches
The National Farmers Union recently sent letters to President Trump and Congressional leaders urging immediate action to provide economic relief to family farmers and ranchers facing deteriorating economic conditions. NFU emphasized that aid should reach the family farm operations that need it most. The group also asked for parallel efforts to rebuild fair markets and curb corporate consolidation in agriculture. “Family farmers and ranchers face severe economic challenges and a deepening crisis if they don’t receive assistance,” said NFU President Rob Larew. Larew emphasized that aid payments must be directed to family agricultural operations and balanced among regions and crops. The payments must be paired with efforts to investigate monopolies in the agriculture industry and their resulting impacts on the farm economy. Resources must also be dedicated to developing new and enhanced domestic markets for American crops while enhancing existing markets, including markets at the local and regional level.
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Applications Open for NCBA Stewardship Awards
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is accepting nominations for the 2026 Environmental Stewardship Awards. Established in 1991, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program recognizes outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of cattle producers across the country. “Since its inception 35 years ago, this prestigious program has recognized 235 cattle operations for their stewardship efforts,” said NCBA President Buck Wehrbein (WHERE-byne). “We look forward to finding the next deserving stewards and sharing their stories.” Any individual, group, or organization is eligible to nominate one individual or business raising or feeding cattle. While individuals may not nominate themselves, they should be involved in the preparation of the application. Along with a typed application, one nomination letter, and three letters of recommendation highlighting the nominee’s leadership in conservation are required. Nominees don’t have to be NCBA members, but should support the organization’s objectives. For more information or to download the nomination packet, go to environmentalstewardship.org.
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Trump Threatens to End Chinese Cooking Oil Purchases
President Donald Trump injected fresh tensions into the relationship between China and the U.S. by stating that he might stop trade in cooking oil with the Southeast Asian nation. Bloomberg said the U.S. President described the potential move as retaliation against China for its refusal to buy American soybeans, calling it an “economically hostile act” that’s purposefully causing U.S. soybean farmers great difficulty. Trump said the U.S. is considering terminating Chinese cooking oil imports because America can easily produce cooking oil itself. “We don’t need to purchase it from China,” Trump posted on social media. The comments came after the President and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer expressed confidence that friction would ease. Reuters said that the U.S. was the top market for Chinese cooking oil, importing a record 1.27 million metric tons in 2024, worth approximately $1.1 billion. U.S. imports plunged this year, totaling 290,700 tons from January through August.
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Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act Reintroduced in Congress
Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rick Crawford (R-AR) have reintroduced the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act that will protect U.S. national security by prohibiting foreign adversaries from purchasing or controlling American agricultural land and businesses. “Food security is national security, and I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation that will stand up against our foreign adversaries as they attempt to control our agriculture industry,” Stefanik said. “The U.S. cannot allow ownership bids of assets by communist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea to undermine the efforts of our farmers, who work hard to feed and fuel our communities.” The PASS Act will ensure that the USDA is involved in reviewing foreign acquisitions of American agricultural land and businesses, and blacklists America’s foreign adversaries from controlling U.S. agricultural land. “U.S. agriculture is a critical industry with real and significant impacts on our national security,” Representative Crawford added.
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FFA Members Selected to Serve as #SpeakAgPioneers
A group of 13 FFA members has been selected to serve as young leaders for agriculture through the National FFA #SpeakAg Pioneers program. The 2025-2026 cohort of #SpeakAg Pioneers will promote agricultural advocacy and literacy to other members and the public by hosting workshops and creating content for social media. The #SpeakAg Pioneers will attend the upcoming 98th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis from October 29 through November 1. They will also participate in other local and national events to interact with policymakers and advocate for agriculture on behalf of more than one million FFA members in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. “Teaching students communications and advocacy through agricultural education empowers them to share their stories, champion their communities, and speak up for the future of agriculture,” said Celya (SEEL-ya) Glowacki (glo-WACK-ee) with the National FFA. “The skills help them prepare to make an impact.”
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Over $600,000 Awarded to Rural Emergency Responders
Emergency response departments are a vital part of life in rural America when there are problems. Departments from Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin received over $600,000 to fund much-needed equipment and technology upgrades. Through its Fund for Rural America, Compeer Financial awarded 160 Emergency Response Equipment Grants to help volunteer fire, rescue, and ambulance departments improve their operational efficiency, safety, and response times. Rural volunteer emergency response departments are struggling with multiple challenges while serving their communities due to fewer volunteer first responders, outdated personal protective equipment, increases in service requests, and rising costs for essential equipment. “For first responders to give their best, they need to be equipped with the proper tools,” said Karen Schieler, manager of giving at Compeer Financial. “We recognize the challenges volunteer emergency response departments face with funding, and we hope these grants help them continue to take care of critical situations in rural America.”
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