New Agricultural Priorities

As our national elections close, a new Republican administration is taking over with different priorities, so expect some major changes in agricultural policies. The current administration’s priority was on climate smart agricultural policies that helped reduce greenhouse gasses. Expectations are that new agricultural priorities will center on expanding agricultural markets by increasing tariffs, increasing sustainability and/or soil health initiatives, and improving healthy food. 

Foreign tariffs on USA agricultural goods average 62%, which reduces USA farm commodity market share. China tariffs reduce our sale of USA commodities by 75% while European tariffs reduce sales by 42%. In a free market place, the USA would have much higher export sales for agricultural commodities. While details are short, expect more trading negotiations because rural communities were the backbone to our incoming president’s election. 

Europe has a long history of imposing high tariffs to protect their farmers. This goes back to World War 11, when food was short, so they have always wanted to keep their farmers in business. However, European farmers enjoy substantially higher commodities prices than USA farmers, and it is well past time for USA farmers to get at least some of their agricultural market share back. Short-term, farm prices may be choppy, but long-term agricultural prices are expected to improve. 

Another priority will be agricultural sustainability and improving soil health. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr (RFK, Jr) helped with the election and is expected to pay a big role in formulating new policy. RFK, Jr has concerns about healthy food, and is also concerned about the environment and sustainability. Key words are sustainability and soil health. Expect more programs emphasizing no-till, cover crops, improving crop resiliency, reducing soil erosion, improving water quality, reduced use of pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides), and promotion of organic production or at least minimizing certain pesticides. “Harmful” pesticides might include products that hurt not only bees, wildlife and the environment; but also, products that are associated with human health issues. 

These will definitely be challenging issues to address. The question is: Will the new administration outright ban certain products or use incentives to stop using these products? That is unknown. Details are short at this time. New regulations take time to implement and usually they are phased in so that market disruptions are minimized. At the very least, expect increased scrutiny from USEPA on certain agricultural chemicals. RFK, Jr mentioned several chemicals that are banned in the European Union and here are those chemicals. 

At the top of the list is Roundup (glyphosate) which is used extensively in the USA to kill weeds. Over 250 million pounds of glyphosate is applied annually. Roundup is a major chelator of micro-nutrients and is associated with increasing numerous human illnesses (Autism, Parkinson, Crohn’s, gluten intolerance, reproduction issues). Expect more scrutiny and at some point, a phase out of glyphosate as new products are developed. Glyphosate has been around since the 1980’s, and most pesticides last about 30 years. Many weeds are becoming weed resistance to glyphosate. At the very least, expect more incentives and reduced regulations to speed up research into newer safer products. 

Many organophosphate insecticide chemicals are banned in Europe. Chopyrifos (Tempo) is an insecticide used to control insects and worms and was banned due to reproductive concerns in humans. Dimethoate (Tempo, Demon) is another insecticide for controlling insects and mites with the same issue. All the neonicotinoids (Cruiser, Poncho, Groucho) are common insecticides used as seed treatments. The main issue is that neonicotinoids are deadly to bees and are related chemically to nicotine in tobacco. Another insecticide is Oxamyl (Assail, Avaunt) is a nematode insecticide. Most of these chemicals were banned due to human reproduction issues. 

On fungicides, chlorothaloate (Daconil, Reliant) are broad spectrum fungicides but are also used in wood treatment. Mancozeb (Bonide) is another fungicide banned in Europe due to issues with declining bee populations. Other fungicides that may have increased scrutiny include cyproconazole (Alto X, Quadris Xtra) used in soybeans and wood preservatives and ipconazole (Banner Max, etc.) used as seed treatments. Again, it is unknown how quickly any action might occur, but at least expect more restrictions and reductions for use of some of these chemicals. 

Other agricultural policy shifts may include relaxing air restrictions on the use of drones in agriculture. Expect less restrictions on mandatory buying of EV trucks and automobiles. Some railroad restrictions and regulations may be lifted which may improve the cost of transporting grain. Some USEPA regulations are expected to be revised, the Paris Climate Agreement may be withdrawn again, and expect less restrictions on drilling for oil and fuel. Each new administration brings new changes and these are some issues to consider.