For Agriculture, Dealing with MAHA Continues
September 23, 2026 This year’s Supreme Court decision regarding glyphosate was welcome news for the industry’s future. In a 7-2 ruling back in June, the high court ruled that federal warning labels on glyphosate were sufficient for the product and that additional state labeling warnings — which were key to many of the lawsuit findings — weren’t required.
Ag breathed a sigh of relief as Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters voiced their displeasure. MAHA groups, such as Moms Across America, acted and called on Congress to take steps to overturn this ruling.
Less than one month following the Supreme Court decision, House Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced legislation that would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to preserve state failure-to-warn claims that are consistent with federal pesticide misbranding standards and prevent manufacturers from using EPA registration or label approval as a complete defense against those claims.
According to Daren Coppock, CEO and President at the Agricultural Retailers Association, this chain of events shows just how much influence the MAHA movement continues to have over the U.S. government.
“I’ve been asked if MAHA is a blip or something longer term,” says Coppock. “I think it’s here to stay and our industry will have to keep dealing with it.”
In essence, part of this ability to influence government policy comes from the funding sources for MAHA groups. Although most of these sponsors are small, some prominent financial institutions support them. These include the Eisner Foundation and Fidelity Investments, which contributed almost $500,000 in grants to Moms Across America in recent years according to public records.
To successfully fight back against well-funded MAHA supporters, Coppock says the entire agricultural industry needs to keep speaking up on its own behalf.
“[We must] stay grounded in the science, engage policymakers directly, and make the case clearly and consistently that America’s pesticide regulatory system exists to protect both people and the agricultural supply chain that feeds them,” he says.
Lorren Walker, President and CEO at EliasWalker, echoes this view.
“This administration responds to pressure,” said Walker, speaking at the 2026 Tech Hub LIVE Conference in July. “Ag retailers and their grower-customers need to get involved and speak up if they want to accomplish anything.”
I couldn’t agree more. If anything is obvious these past few years, staying silent is not a practical policy in today’s political environment. Speaking up is the only way to keep our industry’s opponents at bay.
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