Donald Trump
Ag trade is vital, says Farm Bureau leader a day before Trump speech
Farmers are among President Trump's staunchest supporters, and they have a response to his threats to scrap NAFTA and rewrite other trade agreements: "Without those global markets, our already-depressed farm economy would go down even more," said Zippy Duvall, leader of the largest U.S. farm group. "Trade should not be a dirty word," Duvall told the estimated 7,000 attendees at American Farm Bureau Federation convention, where Trump is scheduled to speak this afternoon.
U.S. sees ‘much work to do’ on revising trade pact with South Korea
Negotiators are "engaged on their priority areas of interest" for revisions of the U.S.-South Korean free-trade agreement, but the U.S. trade representative's office says there is "much work to do before we can reach an agreement that serves the economic interests of the American people." South Korea is the sixth-largest market for U.S. farm exports; the Trump administration has focused on industrial products such as automobiles.
Interior agency will ‘maximize water deliveries’ to Southern California
State officials are expected to fight the Trump administration’s proposal to “maximize water deliveries” through the Central Valley Project to Southern California, including farmers in the Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the nation, says the Sacramento Bee.
In shadow of NAFTA talks, a campaign for corn grown in Mexico
Mexico is the largest customer for U.S. corn exports, and with negotiations under way for a new NAFTA there is "a grassroots and political push" in Mexico for larger domestic farm production, says Cronkite News. The initiative is partly a response to President Trump's anti-NAFTA and anti-Mexico statements and partly a desire for more self-reliance.
Trump says tax bill mostly ‘wiped out’ the estate tax
During a half-hour “bill passage event” that resembled a pep rally for the Republican-written and -passed tax bill, President Trump said farmers and small-business owners will benefit because “for the most part, [the] estate tax is wiped out.”
Trump to be first president to speak at Farm Bureau meeting in 26 years
Breaking a quarter-century gap, President Trump will be the first U.S. chief executive since George H.W. Bush to address the annual convention of the nation’s largest farm organization, the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Urban–rural polarization grows in Virginia election
Rural Virginia has trended Republican in the past two decades, and the statewide election this week underlined its political divergence from the state’s metropolitan areas, said the Daily Yonder.
Farm country fears loss of NAFTA and its benefits
President Trump’s repeated threats to scrap NAFTA are creating uncertainty in the Farm Belt, where ag exports are a key source of income, and may undermine U.S. negotiating power in other parts of the world, said farm group leaders.
2017 among three hottest years on record
According to a UN report, 2017 is on track to be one of the three hottest years on record. The cause, it says, is climate change, which the report implicates in “extraordinary weather,” including extreme hurricanes, floods, and droughts.
Trump slashes size of Utah national monuments, faces court challenges
President Trump signed two proclamations at the Utah state Capitol, cutting the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to less than 40 percent of their original size and opening 2 million acres (3,125 square miles) to "hunting, grazing and responsible economic development." Tribes and environmental groups said they would go to court to block what a think tank called "the largest elimination of protected areas in U.S. history."
Two Ag panelists among most vulnerable House incumbents
Freshman Republican John Faso and veteran Democrat Rick Nolan, both of whom serve on the House Agriculture Committee, are among the 10 most vulnerable House incumbents a year ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, says Roll Call.
Will rural Virginia decide the governor’s election today?
A year ago, rural America voted two-to-one to put Donald Trump in the White House. Rural Virginians are certain to vote heavily for Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie in today’s election, and “the margin ... may affect the statewide result,” says the Daily Yonder.
Reduce two more national monuments, Zinke says in final report
Days after President Trump cut 2 million acres from a pair of national monuments in Utah, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended reductions of two additional monuments, Gold Butte and Cascade-Siskiyou, to allow “traditional use” of federal land.
Utah Representative sets his sights on Endangered Species Act
Rep. Rob Bishop, a fierce opponent of the Endangered Species Act, recently steered five bills meant to ultimately dismantle the law through the House Natural Resources Committee, which he chairs, says The Washington Post.
Massive federal report blames climate change on humans
In contrast to the Trump administration’s stance, a 600-page report by government researchers concludes it's "extremely likely" that human activities are the "dominant cause" of climate change.
Dems question Trump’s authority to shrink national monuments
Two Democratic senators questioned if President Trump has the authority to slash two national monuments in Utah to 40 percent of their current size, and said the USDA did not recommend removing national forest land from them. Trump is expected to announce the new boundaries for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments today during a visit to Salt Lake City.
Clovis keeps White House job, gives up hope of being USDA chief scientist
From the first day of the Trump administration, Sam Clovis was the White House liaison to the USDA. Although he is keeping that job, he is abandoning a divisive bid to be USDA chief scientist. Withdrawal of the nomination highlights the startlingly slow pace of the administration in providing an executive team to help Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue put Trump policies into play.
Stabenow questions Clovis on Russia and his campaign role
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee asked USDA nominee Sam Clovis in a letter why, as a co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign, he encouraged an off-the-record meeting with Russian government officials. The meeting was proposed by foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his repeated contacts with Russians in 2016.