I’ve never accused the MAHA movement of being naïve or unsophisticated. The messaging and media strategies are effective and potent — think attractive influencers with professionally curated content. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the ringmaster. He’s a skillful litigator with decades of experience spewing disinformation, much of which is directed at agriculture.
But as the Department of Health and Human Service’s Secretary, RFK Jr’s focus is mostly on dismantling public health. He’s wielded a sledgehammer to completely replace the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with friendly faces, weakened vaccine schedules, gutted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and wasted money “finding” that Tylenol is the cause of autism.
Comparatively, agriculture has avoided the same treatment. The industry was mentioned in both MAHA reports, and included some themes that we’re all used to, including that farmers use too many pesticides and that’s really bad. But we haven’t had the same heavy-handed changes seen in public health. I have no doubt this is due in large part to farmers’ outrage following the first report’s release that perhaps slowed the momentum on RFK Jr.’s agenda.
But if you think farmers were out of the crosshairs, recently Kennedy, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Dr. “Snakeoil” Oz trotted out in front of the cameras to make a joint announcement –the USDA is embracing regenerative agriculture!
Insert collective eyeroll here.
The trio of charlatans rolled out a $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program through the USDA promising to lower production costs, improve soil health, and advance the Make America Healthy Again agenda.
According to the USDA, the program allows producers to bundle multiple regenerative practices into a single application instead of navigating a patchwork of conservation programs. The USDA says that a streamlined approach will reduce red tape and give farmers more flexibility to address soil, water, and nutrient issues across the whole operation. The USDA also plans to allocate $400 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and $300 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program for fiscal year 2026.
It also emphasizes that the program is “producer-first” and outcome-based, allowing farmers to choose practices that fit their land rather than forcing one-size-fits-all solutions.
One notable feature is the creation of a Chief’s Regenerative Agriculture Advisory Council, which will include producers and stakeholders meeting quarterly. The USDA is also leaning on public-private partnerships to stretch federal dollars further.
On paper, it doesn’t sound so bad. Farmers are obsessed with soil health, so this pilot program has serious potential. I fully support the USDA working to expand access to conservation practices that can benefit farmers by increasing yields, profits, and long-term potential of operations. And it’s great to cut government red tape that causes delays and slows down progress.
Yet I’m incredibly skeptical. Regenerative has turned into more of a trendy buzzword than an actual, scientific approach to agriculture. The Nature Conservancy has even said that it has documented more than 200 individual definitions of “regenerative agriculture,” which which suggests just how haphazardly and opportunistically the term is applied. We’ve seen marketing companies and the MAHA movement embrace the term right as skepticism over the USDA’s organic certification grew and the furor over non-GMO dwindled.
In a classic — and predictable — sleight of hand, the latter terms were out, regenerative was the answer to everything that ails us.
And then there’s the underlying theme of reducing reliance on fertilizers and pesticides. Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to find ways to accomplish that. But RFK Jr.’s insistence that pesticides are bad or a threat to our collective health is disingenuous and more of the same from his playbook.
The other ick factor is having Oz and RFK Jr. show up to the USDA’s major announcement. Rollins might fully believe in this venture and have all the good intentions, but the two clowns standing with her added a shade she didn’t need. RFK Jr. doesn’t know a thing about farming and didn’t need to take the pulpit, but he sure does have to placate the MAHA base who is drooling for bigger changes.
Will it work? We’ll find out.
Amanda Zaluckyj blogs under the name The Farmer’s Daughter USA. Her goal is to promote farmers and tackle the misinformation swirling around the U.S. food industry.
