Donald Trump
Zinke becomes Interior chief, says he will be a Teddy Roosevelt-style land manager
EPA begins work immediately to replace WOTUS
As promised by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, the administration immediately began work to replace the Waters of the United States rule that was a target of President Trump's campaign. On the same day that Trump signed an executive order to roll back WOTUS, Pruitt signed a Federal Register notice of "intention to review and rescind or revise" WOTUS.
Ethanol group gets the cold shoulder
The largest of the ethanol trade groups, the Renewable Fuels Association, is out in the cold for supporting a change in the program that gives biofuels a share of the U.S. gasoline market. Fuels America, an agribusiness coalition "committed to protecting America's Renewable Fuels Standard," severed ties with RFA, while the second-largest ethanol group, Growth Energy, said the RFA was doing the dirty work of the oil industry.
Trump asks Congress for merit-based immigration system
President Trump called for a new, merit-based immigration system limited to people who can support themselves, saying it would raise U.S. wages and boost the U.S. economy. The National Farmers Union said Trump's outline "neglects the unique and important work that immigrant laborers provide for our nation's food system and rural economies."
Trump initiates lengthy process to override clean-water rule
Hours before his first speech to Congress, President Trump started the government machinery running to carry out his campaign promise to eliminate the EPA's Waters of the United States rule, a process that could take months or even years. All the same, farm groups applauded the presidential slap on the hand of what they call federal over-reach.
Digging for Trump’s food policy in the White House kitchen garden
First Lady Melania Trump announced recently that she will maintain the kitchen garden that was a hallmark of Michelle Obama. The New York Times says chefs and others interested in food "are still waiting for more definitive signs of how the Trumps will feed themselves and their guests, and whether they will set — as previous administrations have — a culinary example for the nation."
Aide to North Carolina senator becomes White House agriculture adviser
Ray Starling, who grew up on a farm in North Carolina and worked as chief of staff for Sen. Thom Tillis, will serve as White House adviser on agriculture, trade and food assistance, said the National Economic Council. The National Pork Producers Council, a farm group, called the appointment "a clear signal of (President Trump's) commitment to reverse unnecessary regulations inhibiting pork producers and all U.S. farmers."
Hot issues could put the chill on farm bill fever
The Senate Agriculture Committee holds its first farm bill hearing today in Kansas, 19 months before expiration of current law. Congress has not enacted a farm bill on time since 1990, so an early start seems prudent — the committee held its kickoff in Washington last week. Yet, it's too early to push to the side other issues that could dominate 2017.
Salmon groups urge Trump’s EPA to protect fish against climate change
Pacific Northwest fishing and conservation groups have filed suit against the EPA for not doing more to protect wild sockeye salmon from rising water temperatures due in large part to climate change. The lawsuit is considered to be the first against President Trump's EPA.
Immigrant farmworkers in Central Valley ‘terrified’ of future
In today’s uncertain climate for immigrants, undocumented workers in the farm communities of California’s Central Valley are terrified of what may come next, says Jesus Martinez of the immigrant rights group, CIVIC. “There’s a generalized fear about how the anti-immigrant policies can impact them, to the extent that even permanent residents are fearful about how their status might be revoked without any justification,” Martinez told FERN’s Ag Insider.
All EPA activities will be tethered to law, says new chief Pruitt
The new EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who sued the agency 14 times while a state attorney general, told employees they will be "tethered to the statute" when writing regulations or enforcing them, with no allowance for shortcuts or stretches of authority. During a 12-minute speech to staffers during his first day on the job, Pruitt said EPA will avoid "abuses that occur sometimes," such as "using the guidance process to do regulation" and "regulation in litigation."
Trump tells ethanol conference ‘renewable fuels are essential’
As a candidate, Donald Trump supported corn ethanol and, one month after taking office, he reiterated his view, telling the National Ethanol Conference, "renewable fuels are essential to America's energy strategy." The industry is under perennial attack by the oil industry and by some environmental groups, that want to reduce or eliminate the federal mandate to use biofuels.
Trump signs repeal of Obama’s stream-protection rule
Completing a two-week legislative sprint by Republicans, President Trump signed a resolution that repeals a stream-protection rule issued by the Obama administration to restrict pollution near streams and require more restoration of riparian land.
Sonny Perdue ‘having the time of his life’ waiting for USDA vote
President Trump's nominee for agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue of Georgia, is "having the time of his life" in meeting senators ahead of his confirmation hearing, said a transition official. The paperwork on his nomination, including the results of an ongoing background check, could be in the hands of the Senate Agriculture Committee in early March, the official estimated.
‘A day without immigrants’ protests hit several cities
Protests highlighting "A day without immigrants" are planned in several cities across the United States on Thursday in a show of opposition to Trump administration immigration policies. A flier advocating the protest, which harken back to demonstrations in 2006, calls on immigrants to stay out of work, close their businesses, avoid buying gas, and not attend class nor send their children to school.
Japanese-American farmers remember WWII incarceration camps
In FERN’s latest story, with KQED’s California Report, reporter Lisa Morehouse returned with some of the survivors of Japanese-American internment camps and their relatives to the Lake Tule camp in Northern California, where 15,000 Japanese-Americans, many of them farmers, were forced to grow food for the U.S. government. Understandably, many Japanese-Americans were deeply troubled by President Trump’s announcements of a refugee ban and suggestion of a Muslim registry.
Melania Trump says she’ll keep the White House kitchen garden
First Lady Melania Trump, who toured Japanese-inspired gardens in Florida with the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, intends to keep the kitchen garden planted by Michelle Obama in 2009. An adviser told CNN, "As a mother and as the First Lady of this country, Mrs. Trump is committed to the preservation and continuation of the White House Gardens, specifically the First Lady's Kitchen Garden and the Rose Garden."
White House hires opponent of free school lunch
For those trying to read the political tea leaves, there's a connection between a new hire at the White House and congressional action on public nutrition programs. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, hired as chief of staff Renee Hudson, who held the same job with Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita, said the Washington Post. An advocate of school choice, Rokita was sponsor of the 2016 child nutrition bill that would have slashed a program allowing free meals for all students at schools in poor neighborhoods.
Trump and Vance oppose funding bill that includes farm aid
President-elect Donald Trump called for a “streamlined spending bill” that also increases the federal debt ceiling on Wednesday as a replacement for the three-month government funding bill that congressional leaders produced the preceding day. That bill included $10 billion to offset a decline in farm income and $21 billion in disaster relief for agriculture.