What areas are lawmakers looking to trim within the budget?

Later today, Congress will begin marking up bills for the budget reconciliation, and there is a lot at stake for the ag sector as both chambers have been tasked with cutting billions of dollars.

The Senate Budget Committee is looking at cutting around $5 billion over the next decade, with a billion of that coming from agriculture. House leaders say they will reject that plan, insisting their own bill addresses each of President Trump’s agenda items.

A recent budget release from the White House shows the House Ag Committee must cut $230 billion over the next ten years. It also calls for $100 billion in new military spending, with $90 billion for border security.

Related Stories
USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance payments could begin this weekend as producers face tight margins, shifting acreage expectations, cattle herd contraction, and growing pressure for a stronger farm safety net.
Delays on year-round E15 keep potential corn demand and fuel savings in limbo.
A stalled World Trade Organization appeals body increases long-term trade policy risk for U.S. agriculture.
Policy awareness is becoming part of everyday risk management.
House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson says the 2026 Farm Bill is bipartisan, with 82% of the bills incorporated into it receiving bipartisan support.
Alan Bjerga of the National Milk Producers Federation discusses the Dairy Margin Coverage program, recent improvements, and what producers need to know ahead of this week’s enrollment deadline.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

What does Splenda have to do with farming? Sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia are plant-based — so they are just not sugar, but are comprised of those other plants also grown on farms.
Where the Food Comes From producer Donna Sanders takes us along on a behind-the-scenes look at filming the show’s newest episode, “Clemson Blue,” where university cheesemakers reveal how they put the “blue” in their award-winning blue cheese.
It is in there, the mold — those rich blue veins in creamy blue cheese that make you either love it or loathe it — but how does it get there? This bonus scene from “Clemson Dairy,” Season 4, Episode 4 of Where the Food Comes From, explains how and why that happens.