Blog

News from the federal space regarding agriculture and rural communities keeps coming, and we’re here to give you the highlights with a lens on what it means for states, farmers, our environment, and rural communities. The CROP team continues to track federal and state developments and their implications. If you have any questions or need support about any of the issues below please reach out to [email protected] 

See other CROP HOT Takes from: January 28 | February 3rd | February 19th | April 14th

SNAP and WIC Set to Lapse Leaving Families Without Food:

• SNAP and WIC funding are set to expire on November 1st, potentially marking the first-ever lapse in benefits for families due to a government shutdown. Congressional Democrats and anti-hunger advocates argue that USDA must use roughly $5 billion in contingency reserves to keep aid flowing, citing past precedent and federal law. The Trump administration, however, contends that those backup funds are already depleted and that only Congress can authorize new spending—framing the impasse as a test of fiscal responsibility rather than a refusal to feed families.
• What can state legislators do? States can provide stopgap funding that would ensure that WIC programs can continue to operate through the shutdown.

Paraquat Report Exposes Trade & Policy Failures:

• A new report from Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network, Coming Clean, and Alianza Nacional de Campesinas—Designed to Kill: Who Profits from Paraquat?—documents the U.S. role in sustaining dependence on this toxic herbicide. Despite being banned in its countries of origin, Paraquat continues to harm farmworkers and rural communities here, tied to a fossil-fuel-heavy supply chain.
• What can state legislators do? Are farmers in your district interested in using less toxic practices but afraid of losing yields? Point them to The Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial 40-Year Report, especially the section “Matching Yields, Higher Profits” (pages 18-20).

PFAS Contamination Issues Balloon:

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” contaminate food, water, and even recreational waters, with risk varying by region. California recently announced a statewide PFAS ban which was then vetoed by Governor Newsom, but the EPA is reportedly moving to weaken federal rules limiting PFAS in drinking water.

• New maps by KRQE show how you can be exposed to PFAS through food, water, even swimming in lakes – new maps show how risk from ‘forever chemicals’ varies. 
  • You can use the Michigan-based PFAS Risk Map to assess your risk as well. 
• MAHA Report Capitulates to Big Ag, PFAS Polluters. Food & Water Watch
  • The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Report has been criticized for bowing to Big Ag and polluter interests especially on PFAS, leaving communities exposed.
• EPA Approves Four New Pesticides That Qualify as PFAS. Civil Eats
  • The EPA has approved four new pesticides that qualify as PFAS: a Syngenta nematode pesticide for crops like Romaine lettuce and soybeans, a Syngenta field-crop insecticide used as a seed treatment, a BASF herbicide for oranges, apples, peanuts, and other crops, and a Bayer herbicide for corn and soybeans. However, a Bayer spokesperson stated that its herbicide, diflufenican, is “not a PFAS substance” according to the EPA. Experts warn these approvals increase chemical exposure for farmworkers and rural communities, while long-term health and environmental impacts remain largely unknown.
• Industries Answer Trump’s Call for State PFAS Laws Causing Harm. Bloomberg Law
  • The Justice Department issued a request soliciting information on state laws that are harmful to supply chains and the industry and received over 200 responses, many from manufacturing trade groups. Industry groups want to rein in state PFAS restrictions, claiming the growing patchwork of laws is “unworkable.” Critics say this is a coordinated effort to weaken state-level protections and shield polluters from accountability as states step up to fill the federal regulatory void on PFAS.
• What can state legislators do? To work on PFAS state policy check out our PFAS resource toolkit for state legislators. 
  • Connect with communities impacted by toxic chemicals, PFAS, and pesticide exposure or consider hosting a listening session. Contact Kenneth at [email protected] for resources on hosting your own rural listening session.

EPA Eases Rules on Insecticides:

• The EPA has recently rolled back regulatory “burdens” on farmers using insecticides—a move framed as support for farm productivity, but which also raises concerns about environmental and public health impacts. The EPA released a revised plan acknowledging that pesticides can harm endangered species but loosened some earlier restrictions to give “more flexibility” to pesticide users.
• Environmental groups offered mixed reactions: some praised the agency for retaining key protections, while others criticized it for caving to industry pressure with one former USDA scientist warning that weakening safeguards “will result in more sick farming families, greater biodiversity loss, increased water pollution, and degraded soils,” benefiting only “large foreign-owned corporations that have parasitized our farmers for too long.”

Industry Groups Continue to Push Dangerous Ag Preemption at Federal Level:

• California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork from pigs kept in gestation crates, is under renewed political pressure from industry lobbyists who have tried for years to get federal ag preemption passed (previously these efforts were under the EATS Act). However, thanks to the efforts of a national coalition of advocates and farmers, industry efforts remain unsuccessful. Recently 200 farmers from 30 states descended on DC to advocate for Prop 12.  These producers say that undoing the law now would be “destabilizing” as many have already invested in humane systems, converted to crate-free barns, and even seen improved productivity and animal welfare in their farms. 
• What can state legislators do? Talk with your local farmers about how California’s Prop 12 is impacting their farms. Check in with local producers and stakeholders on humane farming practices and their impacts and help build a narrative counter to that of the agribusiness lobby. If you have information about farmers who would like to speak out about their experience and who are against repealing Prop 12, we would like to amplify their voices. Reach out to us so we can figure out the best approach.