Donald Trump
Trump chooses EPA critic, an oil ally, to be its next leader
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who filed suit to block the Waters of the United States rule and who challenged the Obama administration on climate change, is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to run the EPA. Before the transition team circulated word of the choice, Jason Miller, communications director for the transition, said Pruitt "led Oklahoma's legal challenges to the EPA, Obamacare, executive actions on illegal immigration, Dodd-Frank and President Obama's repeated attempts to bypass Congress."
Trump appointments promise to reverse Obama’s policies on environment, public lands and labor
President-elect Donald Trump's lineup for agency heads is comprised of people who have deeply opposed the policies of President Obama on social programs, public lands, the environment, labor issues, and veterans affairs, says The New York Times.
DuPont chief exec says Trump victory won’t affect Dow merger
The Justice Department review of the merger of Dow and DuPont is "pretty far down the road" and the arrival of Donald Trump as president is unlikely to affect the transaction, said DuPont chief executive Ed Breen in a Reuters interview. "I don't think it will have any impact," said Breen, who noted the review is being handled by career civil servants.
Like U.S., rural voters are a force for anti-establishment populism in Europe
They may be leftists or right-wing, but anti-establishment populists in Europe "share common ground in their core constituencies, rural voters," says the New York Times. "Just as Donald J. Trump rolled up a big rural vote in his unexpected presidential victory, Europe’s populists are rising by tapping into discontent in the countryside and exploiting rural resentments against urban residents viewed as elites."
Cuba has plenty of fertile farmland, but is far from feeding itself
Cuba imports about 70-80 percent of it food, spending roughly $2 billion annually, but it has enormous potential to produce far more on its own and even export high-value crops to the U.S., due to its incredibly rich soils, says Pedro Sanchez, a renowned tropical soils specialist at the University of Florida.
Iowa Gov. Branstad meets Trump, no ambassador announcement
After meeting President-elect Donald Trump, Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa, a leading farm state, was noncommittal about taking a role in the incoming Republican administration. Branstad has been mentioned as potential U.S. ambassador to China and Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Des Moines on Thursday as part of his "thank you" to voters tour.
Will agriculture be among ‘almost all’ of Trump nominees?
President-elect Donald Trump says "you'll be seeing almost all" of his cabinet nominees this week; he already has tabbed three of the four big posts — Defense, Treasury, Justice and State — and USDA usually is included in the second round of announcements. There were reports that Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad may become U.S. ambassador to China and Cathy Bertini, former head of the World Food Program, may be named head of the USAID.
Put cancer warning on processed meat, consumer group asks USDA
Pointing to a WHO agency finding that processed meat is "carcinogenic to humans," the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned USDA to require a cancer warning label on packages of bacon, ham, hot dogs and other processed red meat and poultry. Michael Jacobson, leader of the consumer group, said chances are slim the incoming Trump administration will agree with the petition, "but at CSPI we're used to taking the long view."
Heitkamp to meet Trump; mentioned for USDA or DOE chief
Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, expected to face a rugged re-election race in 2018, will meet President-elect Donald Trump today in New York amid speculation that the North Dakotan is under consideration to head the Agriculture or Energy departments, said Roll Call. Heitkamp told reporters she was responding to an invitation from Trump and "I don't even known if it's about a job."
Trump victory throws cold water on expanded farm stewardship
The election of Donald Trump means that environmentalists can forget about new, broader rules on land and water stewardship by farmers, said a prominent Republican farm leader. "Those new regulations are not going to happen," said Chuck Conner, who added that the 2018 farm bill would continue the system of incentives for voluntary action against erosion and polluted runoff.
Congress looks at border security, not immigration reform
Republican leaders in Congress say that immigration reform will take a back seat to improved border security on their legislative agenda for 2017, reports Bloomberg. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters, "I don't think anything changes on immigration until we secure the border."
Larger ag exports to China and Mexico, countries under Trump scrutiny
Two countries that account for one-third of U.S. farm exports, China and Mexico, are the main reasons for a slightly higher forecast for ag exports this fiscal year, says USDA. Exports are now estimated at $134 billion, up $1 billion from the August estimate, with sales to China and Mexico up $300 million apiece.
Trump says he wants ‘a better deal’ with Cuba
President-elect Donald Trump says he will stop recent steps toward reconciliation between the U.S. and Cuba unless the island makes "a better deal," says the Los Angeles Times. U.S. farm and food exports to Cuba flow under a 2000 law, separate from the executive orders used by President Obama to normalize relations with Cuba.
Long or short? Waiting season for the agriculture secretary nominee
Presidents-elect tend to nominate their cabinet members before Christmas, giving the Senate the opportunity, almost always exercised in the spirit of comity, to confirm them in time for the Jan. 20 change of administration. The selection of the incoming agriculture secretary typically is announced in the final round — but not always.
Donald Trump has several ways he can outmaneuver greens
If Donald Trump pushes ahead with his promises to dismantle President Obama’s climate-change policies, he’ll face tough fights from environmental groups. But Trump has a few tactics he can use to outmaneuver the opposition, reports The New York Times.
Trump wavers over pulling out of Paris climate deal
Donald Trump now says he has an “open mind” about the Paris Agreement, an international deal to curb greenhouse-gas emissions that was signed by more than 190 countries, including the U.S. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to cancel U.S. involvement in the agreement, calling climate change a hoax.
Will friendship with Pence favor an Indianian for USDA chief?
Indiana farmer Don Villwock says he's a long-time friend of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, reports Agriculture.com, adding that Villwock "wouldn't confirm or deny that he's among those being vetted" for agriculture secretary. A grain farmer from Edwardsport in southwestern Indiana, Villwock was president of the state Farm Bureau for 14 years, ending in January, and was a proponent of free-markets during discussion of U.S. farm and trade policy.
Local landslides rule in a narrowly decided national election
The presidential election was decided by a fraction of a percentage point, but most voters – slightly more than 60 percent – live in politically lopsided counties where President-elect Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton carried the vote by at least 20 points, says the Daily Yonder. "Even bigger is the percentage of rural voters who lived in a landslide county," amounting to three out of every four.
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.