Government Shutdown Ends, Farm Bill Programs Extended

(11/13/25) On Nov. 12, President Donald Trump signed into law a measure to end the longest-ever government shutdown after 43 days, providing full funding for the USDA for fiscal 2026, and ending a legal battle over November’s SNAP benefits, reports several news sources. Highlights:

• By getting full-year funding in the legislation, the USDA is effectively insulated from any further shutdowns until the fiscal year ends next Sept. 30, according to Agri-Pulse.
• “Farmers should expect full services to return at local Farm Service Agency offices, including processing for loan applications for farm ownership or home loans that have been frozen since the shutdown began,” writes Chris Clayton at Progressive Farmer.
• Politico reported that millions of low-income Americans should receive full food aid benefits within a day of the bill being signed. Once the government is open, most states will get the funds to distribute benefits “within 24 hours,” the USDA announced.
• Clayton reports that in conservation, the bill reopening the government provides $850 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide technical assistance, despite the administration’s budget proposal to eliminate technical assistance appropriations. The bill decreases funding for urban agricultural offices and programs.

There are currently several opportunities to make your voice heard in D.C. on the importance of supporting local food markets, trade policy, and local control of conservation programs. Check out LSP’s recent action alerts:

• Tell Congress a Farm Bailout is Not the Solution: We Must Invest in America’s Small & Mid-Sized Farmers
• Tell Congress: Support Market Access for Farmers by Funding Local Food Purchasing
• Protect Local Control & Include Farmer Voices for Conservation

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Avian Influenza Surge Tests Minnesota Turkey Industry’s Readiness

(11/11/25) Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza are on the rise in Minnesota, the nation’s largest turkey-producing state, reports Brownfield Radio. Highlights:

• As of Oct. 29, the flu has been detected in seven commercial flocks in Minnesota this fall. This latest outbreak has affected 416,600 birds in the state, according the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
• Because Minnesota is the nation’s largest turkey producer, “We are going to see a disproportionate high percentage of the national caseload here in this state,” Ashley Kohls, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, told Brownfield.

A recent LSP white paper argues that key questions need to be answered about the role industrialized poultry operations play in propagating highly pathogenic avian influenza. “Big Bird. Big Problem: How the Poultry Industry is Turning the Avian Flu Pandemic into a Source of Profit at Taxpayer’s Expense While Decimating Our Farm & Food System” is available here.

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Agriculture’s Nitrogen Legacy

(11/6/25) Economist Aaron Smith writes in Ag Data News about a paper he authored showing that millions of tons of “legacy nitrogen” is stored in subsurface soil and groundwater and will eventually find its way into rivers and streams, sometimes years later. Highlights:

• Smith’s research shows that the nitrogen load in small rivers and streams increases by about 0.4 pounds per year for each additional acre of corn planted within 50 miles upstream. That number is 50 times smaller than what commonly-used mathematical simulation models show.
• “So, did we prove the models wrong? Is growing corn causing much less pollution than what we thought?” writes Smith. “Sadly, the answer appears to be no. The models are good at calculating how much nitrogen a corn plant uses based on its growth, so they have a good idea of how much unused nitrogen is on cornfields. Our study shows that this excess does not enter rivers and streams within the same year.”
• Smith cites another study that showed that in Iowa and Illinois 22 to 62 pounds of nitrogen per-acre, per-year had accumulated below ground in recent decades. This number matches the amount of excess nitrogen on cornfields computed by the mathematical models.

Check out LSP’s blog, “Nitrate’s Season of Reckoning.” 

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Two Small Changes That May Transform Agriculture

(11/6/25) Aarhus University reports on a study that provides insights into how cereal plants could be modified in a way that they create their own nitrogen, thus vastly reducing the need for commercial fertilizer. Highlights:

• Legumes, such as peas, beans, and clover, invite special bacteria into their roots. Here, the bacteria convert nitrogen from the air and pass it on to the plant. This cooperation is called symbiosis, and it is the reason why legumes can grow without artificial fertilizer.
• The researchers from Aarhus University have identified the small changes in the plants’ receptors that cause them to switch-off the immune system and allow a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
• If the modification can be transferred to other crops, eventually it may be possible to breed cereal plants such as wheat, maize, or rice with the ability to fix nitrogen themselves, say the researchers.

Check out LSP’s Myth Buster: “Nitrogen Fertilizer & High Yields are Inextricably Linked.”

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Trump Says He’ll Investigate Meat Monopolies, Despite Rollback of Biden-Era Actions

(11/11/25) President Donald Trump said last week that his administration will investigate the country’s largest “foreign-owned” meat companies to determine if they are engaged in “collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation” that is driving up meat prices for consumers and hurting farmers and ranchers, reports Civil Eats. Highlights:

• Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division is partnering with the USDA. In September, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the USDA and the DOJ are looking into whether consolidation is causing high costs for farm inputs, but this is the first time the administration has publicly pointed fingers at meatpackers.
• Beef prices in grocery stores hit record highs this year due to a drought-driven reduction in the number of cattle raised. That also led to a welcome boost in prices paid to cattle producers, who reacted with fury to a recent administration plan to lower retail prices by importing Argentine beef.
• While President Joe Biden made cracking down on meatpacker monopolies a core focus of his agricultural policy, the Trump administration has worked to undo many of the actions Biden took that were popular among farm groups. Over the last few months, Trump withdrew Biden’s initial executive order targeting food system consolidation, and the USDA ended a program launched to help states fight monopolies in agriculture. Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission also cleared JBS, the largest foreign-owned meat company in the U.S. and the biggest donor to Trump’s inauguration, for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

LSP members recently met with Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s Attorney General, to discuss the need for addressing monopolies and consolidation in agriculture via antitrust law enforcement. Details on that meeting, including information on a website and hotline where potential antitrust violations can be reported, are available here.

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General Mills Accelerates Kernza Market for U.S. Organic Farmers with New Cascadian Farm Cereals

(11/10/25) Business Wire reports that General Mills is planning on quadrupling its use of the perennial grain Kernza. Highlights:

• General Mills has been researching Kernza since 2014 in partnership with the Land Institute and the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative, and Cascadian Farm began incorporating Kernza into its products in 2019.
• Cascadian Farm is incorporating 1% Kernza into four of its top-selling flake cereals: Honey Oat Crunch, Honey Oat Crunch with Almonds, Raisin Bran, and Hearty Morning Fiber.

LSP worked with Greener Pastures, KernzaCAP, the Forever Green Initiative, and Green Lands Blue Waters to develop a series of practical how-to videos related to planting and harvesting Kernza, as well as how to make it a “dual use” crop by grazing it and harvesting it as a forage. Those videos and LSP podcasts related to Kernza production are available here. Are you a crop producer interested in integrating small grains into your rotation as a way to build resiliency in the face of increasingly extreme weather, volatile markets, and a sometimes-overwhelming workload? This winter, LSP, in collaboration with U of M Extension, is offering a “Rotating into Resiliency” winter workshop series. Details are here.

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Minnesota Farm to School Program Nourishes Students & Strengthens Local Food Economy

(10/17/25) The Packer describes how Minnesota’s farm to school grant program has benefited one school district in southeastern Minnesota. Highlights:

• An event at Winona Area Public Schools highlighted the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation (AGRI) Farm to School and Early Care Grant program. The grants help schools serve Minnesota-grown foods while opening up new markets for the state’s farmers.
• The school used AGRI Urban Ag Grant funds to help purchase hydroponic towers for growing lettuce and is a recipient of AGRI Farm to School Grant funds to reimburse it for local food purchases.
• The school’s nutrition director said sourcing from many smaller producers to serve the district is a logistical challenge and is mitigated by working with her local Farmers Market Food Hub in Red Wing, Minn.

LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast recently featured interviews with food service directors at two rural schools who are integrating locally produced foods into their cafeterias. Check the podcasts out here and here.

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