WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — President Donald Trump is directing federal agencies to prioritize regenerative agriculture through a new executive order and related USDA actions.
The president signed an executive order that expedites approval of new pesticide active ingredients. It also directs federal agencies to expedite the development of a framework for cumulative exposure across chemical classes.
The White House says the order is intended to provide farmers and ranchers with the resources needed to keep crops healthy, abundant, and affordable.
At the same time, the USDA finalized a new feedstock rule that will allow farmers to earn more for using regenerative agriculture practices.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the rule will allow producers to receive premium prices when those crops are sold into the biofuels market.
The framework also updates USDA’s Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator to help buyers verify that crops qualify as regenerative agriculture feedstocks.
The USDA rule and the president’s executive order came as President Trump hosted farmers and ranchers for a dinner in the White House Rose Garden.
During the event, the president highlighted recent trade developments, including what he described as upcoming agricultural purchases by Iran.
President Trump said, “But now you have a president that fights for the American farmer, and after years of getting ripped off by other countries on trade, we’ve reduced the agricultural trade deficit just this year by 42 percent, opening markets to American exports, and all over the world we’re opening up markets for the farmers. We have another one, a new market coming up, and that’s called the lovely country of Iran. It’s a beautiful place. Would anybody like to go there? The Islamic Republic of Iran. They’re having a hard time with food, and we’re going to be taking some of their money and we’ll spend it, and we’re going to be buying wheat, soybeans, and corn, a lot of it. And that process is going to be starting pretty soon.”
Last year, the United States exported about $3 million in agricultural products to Iran. Those exports did not include corn, soybeans, or wheat.
The White House dinner featured a menu that included New York strip steak, farm vegetables, and grilled peaches topped with White House honey.
