Policy Update - September

All eyes are on agriculture as food and fuel prices steer conversations about the midterms. USDA and HHS are acting to take control of the narrative, and the prices, with grants announced this fall. USDA is providing $7.5 million in grant funding to expand cold storage and supply chain capacity through infrastructure to store, handle, and move fresh foods through the charitable food system. USDA and HHS announced Harvest to Hallways, a joint venture investing in child nutrition programs: USDA will provide $70 million for school cafeteria infrastructure and $25 million to increase local purchasing of fresh food for school meals; HHS will provide $30 million in research investment on improving school nutrition. 

Farmlink is also closely watching USDA’s surplus food purchases, which use tariff revenue to buy US-grown agricultural surplus for food banks. At any given point, USDA has $1-1.5 billion available for these purchases; as of April of this year, requests had come in to purchase over $2 billion worth of surplus. While the program cannot capture all surplus product in the US, we pay close attention to what is purchased, which gives us an idea of what types of food will be flowing into food banks, invaluable context for Farmlink’s food movement team as they match surplus with communities fighting hunger. This summer, we’re seeing millions of dollars’ worth of groundfish, catfish, citrus, frozen and canned fruit, and nuts purchased.

Even with these federal efforts, recent executive branch actions may contribute to rising food prices. After talks melted down in August, the US escalated its trade war with Canada, placing 50% tariffs on nearly $30 billion worth of Canadian goods. Unlike previous tariffs, which excluded products covered by the USMCA free trade agreement, these make no such exceptions. Canada quickly announced counter-tariffs ranging from 15 to 50% on nearly $30 billion worth of American goods, targeting steel, dairy, agricultural equipment, paper, and electronics. With many agricultural products moving back and forth between the US and Canada during production, and Canadian counter-tariffs targeting dairy farmers, American agriculture is bracing for significant impacts. There’s even been rare pushback from Republicans representing farming states.

South of Ottawa, in Washington, D.C., if you blinked, you might have missed the House in session. They returned on August 31st to pass the Senate’s legislation to fund the government at current levels through December 11th, which was signed into law on September 2nd. This clears legislators’ desk space for a packed agenda between them and November 3rd, including a key defense bill, the Farm Bill, new government spending bills, and data center policy. Alas, the House left early this week. Republican leadership said this early exit lets members campaign ahead of a tough midterm. 

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s three-month absence removed Republicans’ majority in the Agriculture Committee, keeping them from passing the Farm Bill without Democratic support. To get it, Republicans offered a one-year delay to SNAP cost-sharing, where states with higher payment error rates have to start paying for a portion of benefits in October 2027. Democrats did not accept, pushing for the two-year delay that governors and state governments across the aisle have requested. The Farm Bill failed its initial vote, and Republican senators simply waited for McConnell to return. Once he did, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill along party lines with the one-year delay to cost-sharing Republicans originally offered. The full Senate now needs to pass the Farm Bill, but there will most likely not be time to do so until after the midterms.

Even with the committee hurdle behind us, the lack of tangible Congressional action to support farmers and lower food prices may show up on your ballot. The midterms are less than fifty days away, and agriculture policy is showing up in more ways than one. When farmers face a perfect storm of tariffs, foreign conflict, and frequent natural disasters that raise the cost of growing food, it translates into the price tags we see in grocery stores. With most people voting with, and based on, their wallets, policymakers are under pressure to address the skyrocketing cost of living centered around food and fuel. 

We’ll be tracking these issues closely as the midterms approach, not just as they inform federal policy, but as increased food and fuel costs make rescuing food more expensive while demand grows. Thank you for joining us here, on the ground, and everywhere Farmlink shows up for our communities, every day.