U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized the temporary suspension of certain duties on phosphate fertilizer imported from Morocco, the White House said on Monday, as farmers grapple with shortages due to the Iran war.
Ryan Hanrahan
Ryan Hanrahan is the Farm Policy News editor and social media director for the farmdoc project. He has previously worked in local news, primarily as an agriculture journalist in the American West. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri (B.S. Science & Agricultural Journalism). He can be reached at rrh@illinois.edu.
NY, CT Become First States to Offer Tariff Relief to Farmers
New York farmers can start submitting applications for up to $25,000 in relief from the state as part of a $30 million aid effort aimed at easing the hit to farmers from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday.
Bayer Wins Supreme Court Roundup Case to Limit Lawsuits
The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision on Thursday said Bayer cannot be sued over state-level claims that the company failed to warn of cancer risks from its weedkiller Roundup and its chemical glyphosate.
White House Requests $11 Billion in Farmer Aid
The White House on Wednesday asked Congress to pass a supplemental funding package that includes a request for $11.1 billion for farmers and calls for Congress to pass year-round E15.
Senate Farm Bill Omits E15, Prop 12 and Pesticide Labeling
Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) released a farm bill proposal Tuesday that would make sweeping agriculture policy changes while excluding Democrats’ top demand, teeing up a partisan fight that could scuttle the package.
Iran Could Buy US Ag Products with Frozen Funds, Trump Admin Says
American farmers could see commodity sales to Iran under the negotiations going on between the U.S., Iran and mediators that just wrapped up in Switzerland.
Farm Production Costs to Hit Record Highs in 2027, USDA Says
USDA’s new 2027 cost of production forecast reveals farmers may not see meaningful relief from elevated production costs anytime soon. The projections show total production costs continuing to rise for most major crops, pushing all commodities to record highs — including corn at $952 per acre, soybeans at $701, sorghum at $477 and wheat at $428.
US Could Lose 30 Million Corn Acres without More Biofuels Markets, Study Says
A new report from U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action and its partners predicts the U.S. could lose roughly 30 million corn acres by 2050 if new sources of feed demand are not found and the ethanol blending rate remains at 10%.
USDA to Move Much of FAS, Rural Development out of DC
The USDA plans to relocate “much of” the Foreign Agricultural Service’s Washington D.C.-based workforce to Kansas City, Missouri, and Beltsville, Maryland, as part of its reorganization plan, the agency announced Wednesday.
Fertilizer Prices Drop on US-Iran Peace Deal News
Price indicators for key farm inputs tumbled on Monday following news of the U.S.-Iran preliminary peace deal. The value of urea at New Orleans, a benchmark for North American nitrogen fertilizer, fell about 5% from Friday, or roughly $20, according to Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX. That marks a 53% drop from a high earlier this spring, he says.
H-2A Guest Farmworker Certifications up 17% So Far in 2026
In the first half of the 2026 fiscal year, the Labor Department certified 17% more (H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker) jobs than in the same period the year before.
Grain & Oilseed Prices Fall on Strait of Hormuz Reopening
Grain and vegetable oil futures declined on expectations a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would improve access to vital crop inputs, helping to ease the threat of food inflation brought on by the months-long war in the Middle East.
US Winter Wheat Crop Smallest Since 1965, USDA Says
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday cut its U.S. winter wheat crop outlook by 2% from a month earlier as a harsh drought in the Plains cut its hard red winter wheat production view to the lowest since 1957 and total winter wheat production to the lowest since 1965.
Trump Says US ‘Not Looking to Renew’ USMCA Trade Agreement
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. might not renew its free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and criticized trade deficits with those countries, although he said he was talking with their leaders about the matter.
Urea Prices Return to Pre-Iran War Levels in the U.S.
The Iran war risk premium that swept through crop and fertilizer markets is rapidly evaporating as fears of prolonged supply disruptions fade. Prices for granular urea in New Orleans dropped to $453.50 per short ton, the lowest level since Feb. 6, according to Friday data from Bloomberg Green Markets. That’s down 36% from mid-April.
Screwworm Confirmed in New Mexico for First Time
The USDA confirmed an additional three cases of New World screwworm — including the first outside of Texas, in New Mexico — bringing the total number of detections in the US to five and raising concerns over a broader spread of the parasite.
Canada Bans Texas Livestock Imports After Second Screwworm Case
A second case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm has been confirmed in South Texas, intensifying concerns among agricultural officials and prompting Canada to suspend livestock imports from Texas as authorities mount an aggressive response to prevent the parasite from spreading deeper into the United States.
80% of USDA Food Assistance Workers Say They Won’t Relocate
The National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 226, which represents Food and Nutrition Service employees, says more than 80% of staff who took an internal survey claim they will not relocate to keep their jobs. Another union survey of other USDA employees tapped to relocate found similar results.
New World Screwworm Case Confirmed in U.S.
USDA confirmed the first detection of New World screwworm in the United States in decades after identifying the pest in a 3-week-old calf in South Texas, prompting an aggressive federal and state response aimed at containing the outbreak of the parasitic insect.
China Placing New US Soybean Orders, USDA’s Vaden Says
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said he expects China to honor its pledge to buy more American soybeans this year. Vaden said at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum that China has started placing orders for soybeans that are being planted right now across the U.S.