Trump Admin Touts Farm Conservation, Says No Pesticide Crackdown

By Ryan Hanrahan

Politico’s Marc Heller reported earlier this week that “the loss of topsoil on American farms is threatening the country’s food supply and demands a new commitment to conservation, Trump administration officials said Tuesday.”

“At a policy roundtable at the Capitol, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted farm conservation as a key part of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement and pointed to the recently enacted tax cut and spending law as a big step in keeping the country’s best farmland from eroding away,” Heller reported.

“‘Our farms today are in crisis,’ Kennedy said, pointing to challenges from extreme weather to rising operational costs hitting farmers. Farms typically lose money seven out of every 10 years, he said — and farm economists say conservation practices often suffer when farmers are pinched,” Heller reported. “Cutting back on conservation would spell trouble for agriculture — and in turn Americans’ health — Kennedy said, as agronomists fear the country could lose much of its productive topsoil in the coming decades to flood, drought and practices that kill off microbes that make the ground favorable for crops.”

Agri-Pulse’s Lydia Johnson reported that “Kennedy focused on the loss of topsoil, noting that it is currently being depleted quicker than it can replace itself. He said topsoil could be eliminated entirely within 50 years.”

“‘We have farming practices now that are unsustainable. They’ve been dictated by, in many ways, by federal policies and we need to transition,’ Kennedy said,” according to Johnson’s reporting. “‘But we need to transition without mandates, without coercion. We need to give off ramps to farmers,’ he added, ‘so that they can transition to biodynamic agriculture, to regenerative agriculture, and do it in a way that is going to maintain the vibrancy of their farms and robust economies in rural communities across our country.’”

Trump Administration Says No Crackdown on Pesticides

Johnson reported that “(MAHA advocate and roundtable host Senator Roger) Marshall said seven of the 10 speakers at the event mentioned the importance of using pesticides and fertilizers in modern agriculture production systems.”

“‘His goal and my goal would be to use no pesticides,’ Marshall said, referring to his and Kennedy’s vision for agriculture production,” Johnson reported. “‘But until we get there, until you give us the technology. He [Kennedy] understands that a farmer has to make a living.’”

Politico’s Grace Yarrow and Rachel Shin reported the day before the MAHA roundtable that “Trump administration officials say the White House has no plans to crack down on pesticides in farming, despite a report led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that called crop protection chemicals a danger to people’s health.”

“Agriculture industry lobbyists have been pushing back in meetings with White House officials against the Make America Healthy Again report, which linked pesticides to cancer and other diseases and slammed the chemical industry’s influence on toxicology studies,” Yarrow and Shin reported. “A plan for acting on that report, due in August, will not include new policy around pesticide use, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told POLITICO.”

“The White House has conveyed a similar message to farm groups, according to the official and two other people familiar with the conversations, who were also granted anonymity to discuss details,” Yarrow and Shin reported. “The promise signals the White House’s eagerness to smooth over tensions with farm groups that have traditionally allied with President Donald Trump but felt alienated by Kennedy’s plans to overhaul the nation’s food supply. The MAHA Commission’s decision to issue a report detailing the problems with pesticide use and criticizing the industry has sown widespread distrust among agriculture lobbyists, who argue it gave the impression that U.S. food products are not safe.”

Second MAHA Report Due in August

Johnson reported that “Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan., confirmed the second Make America Healthy Again report will be released Aug. 12. He was the sole member of Congress in attendance at the Tuesday event.”

“Farm groups have scrutinized the Trump administration for the lack of input they were given in the development of the first MAHA report which they say lacked scientific backing, criticized the use of crop protection tools in modern agriculture and clouds consumer confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply,” Johnson reported. “The first report also included numerous erroneous citations.”

“Other administration officials in attendance (at the MAHA roundtable) included Heidi Overton, deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; Turner Bridgforth, senior agriculture adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency; and Kyle Diamantas, deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration,” Johnson reported.

Trump Admin Touts Farm Conservation, Says No Pesticide Crackdown was originally published by Farmdoc.