This is Bob Bragg with the Farm News & Views report for the week of May 26th.
The Memorial Day holiday is set aside to recognize the sacrifices that military veterans have made to our Nation, so the following statistics from the 2022 USDA Agriculture’s Census are timely. It indicates that out of 3.4 million agricultural producers in the U.S., approximately 11% of them have served or are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. They operate 17% of all U.S. farms, encompassing over 129 million acres of land, generating $41 billion in agricultural sales. While veterans constitute about 7% of the U.S. adult population, they are more likely to reside in rural areas, with nearly 18% of veterans living in non-metropolitan counties, compared to15% of the general U.S. adult population living in rural areas.
While I’m talking about statistics, recent USDA census data found that more than half of farms in the U.S. are managed with at least one female operator. On many farm and ranch operations, women are likely to oversee the finances, while their male partners handle field work and crop and livestock production. Women also drive decision-making at the state and national levels, with Brooke Rollins serving as USDA Secretary of Agriculture, and in 11 states, women are head of their state departments of agriculture. Colorado state Commissioner of Agriculture is Kate Greenberg, was first appointed in December of 2018. In total, these state female leaders of agricultural departments shape policy for over 405,000 farms and about 245 million acres of farmland, which amounts to about 21% of U.S. farms and 27% of U.S. farmland.
Many farmers, ranchers and agricultural organizations have been concerned about how the Make America Healthy Again Commission report, released last week, might affect their operations, given that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy embraces some controversial views about agriculture. The 68-page document lays out several recommendations relating to crop chemicals that farmers rely on to control weeds that might limit their use in agricultural production.
Glyphosate-resistant crops were first introduced in the United States in soybeans in 1996,and adoption of other glyphosate- resistant crops such as cotton and corn encouraged farmers to change production practices that have pretty much eliminated the use of tillage to control weeds. But herbicide resistant weeds are now a problem for farmers, and there needs to be continued research and innovation to overcome those problems. There is ongoing research about the health effects on farmers and the environment concerning the use of these pesticides, so the Make America Healthy Again Commission report seems to be going over plowed ground, since it points to potential hazards of glyphosate-based Roundup, while stating that a balanced approach is needed for improving pesticide safety in general, and at the same time, meeting the needs of farmers to utilize these types of crop chemicals.
The Commission also contended that there are negative effects of government programs on health, and point to the need to put more natural foods, produced by farms, front and center in the food system because, the report says, 90% of medical costs in the United States are connected to chronic conditions, many of which are tied to people’s diets. The report is calling for the need to emphasize more study of the cumulative effects of pesticide exposure particularly in children. That includes developing better tools to assess how multiple exposures to pesticides affect health over time, while at the same time, launching a national initiative to map how interactions with pesticides, pollutants and endocrine disruptors affect childhood disease risks.
Agricultural organizations have been quick to critique the report. Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation said it was "deeply troubling" for the White House to "endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear" about the U.S. food system. He also stated that "Farmers are identified as 'critical partners,' yet were excluded from development of the report, despite many requests for a seat at the table. The American Soybean Association said it "strongly rebukes" the report for being "brazenly unscientific and damaging to consumer confidence" in America's "safe, reliable" food system. "Should the administration act on the report, which was drafted entirely behind closed doors, it will harm U.S. farmers, increase food costs for consumers, and worsen health outcomes for all Americans," the ASA said in a news release. "ASA calls on President Trump, who has long been a friend of farmers, to step in and correct the commission's deeply misguided report."
According to USDA, herbicide-tolerant soybean acreage in the U.S. reached its highest adoption at 96% in 2024. About 90% of corn acres were planted using herbicide-tolerant varieties last year, while about 93% of cotton acres in 2024 were tolerant to glyphosate and other herbicides.
TV host Alex Trebeck said, “It’s very important to know when to shut up. You should not be afraid of silence.”
