The President’s Commerce Secretary was in the hot seat this week, talking American manufacturing with a Senate subcommittee.
Kansas Senator Jerry Moran questioned Lutnick over a program that helps smaller U.S. manufacturers. The department is not requesting money for that program next year. Lutnick says it is not forgotten, but rather being reworked.
“Programs that were set up by the Department of Commerce decades ago, to assist in technology for manufacturing, tend to be outdated. The new technology is AI-driven, automated, and I think we need to reexamine and retool a whole variety of these programs so that we are able to provide the best technological assistance rather than just continuing our program that’s decades and decades old.”
The Hollins Manufacturing Extension Partnership was started back in 1988. It is a public-private partnership that was designed as a cost-share program. Leaders say the program helped manufacturers get $15 billion in sales last year.
The report shows that, despite production challenges, dairy farmers are producing more milk with fewer resources per gallon across the industry.
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More than 1,100 residents and farmers have signed a letter urging Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins to step in, saying the proposal threatens irrigation supplies and long-term farm viability in the region.
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Higher yields are cushioning lower acreage, but reduced production could support firmer potato prices into 2026.
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Canada’s new voluntary Grocery Sector Code of Conduct will take effect on Jan. 1, a goodwill effort to promote fairness and transparency between retailers and support farms that sell directly to stores.
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Small, locally focused wineries are finding resilience through direct sales and regional loyalty rather than scale alone.
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Pork producers warn that proposed definitions of “ultra-processed” food in guidelines from the “Make America Healthy Again” plan could negatively impact industry-standard bacon, sausage, and feed practices.
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