The Federal State for Agriculture
October 1, 2025 As the agricultural industry heads into fall, many ag retailers and their grower-customers typically turn their eyes towards what legislative activity is taking place in the nation’s capital. Or lack thereof, according to several industry watchers.
To sort out exactly what the state of agriculture is in Washington, DC, a pair of speakers at the annual Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) meeting in early September attempted to explain today’s legislative docket to interested attendees.
Val Dolcini
“I’m here to give you a 35,000-foot-view of where Washington is today, when it comes to agriculture and more,” said Val Dolcini, Head of Public Affairs, North America for Syngenta.
Another speaker, Harrison Pittman, Director at the National Agriculture Law Center, pointed out that historically, the agriculture industry has been very ingrained into the workings of the federal government.
“For the past 100 years or so, agriculture has really integrated itself into all of the federal government,” said Pittman. “From USDA to the Farm Service Agency to USAID, agriculture has a seat at the table at many committees in DC.”
Now, however, this place setting is being increasingly threatened. “Today, we are experiencing one of the most significant transformations in that structure in history,” he said.
As for why this transformation for agriculture on Capitol Hill is taking place, Syngenta’s Dolcini had an answer.
“I call this ‘The Age of Disruption,’ and not necessarily because President Donald Trump himself is a disruptor,” he said. “This is a moment in our national history where there’s a historic loss of faith and trust in our institutions – whether those be Congress, our schools, our churches, and especially corporate America. Americans have lost a lot of the trust they formally had in institutions.”
Coupled with this distrust, Dolcini pointed to the way many newer politicians and leaders have approached the way they legislate.
“Silicon Valley tech pros all had a philosophy they followed – move fast and break things,” he said. “This meant they always operated outside the norms. That’s a good way to describe what we’ve seen in Washington the past 200 days or so.”
A prime example of this in action recently involves tariffs. “Tariffs affect our industry directly,” said Dolcini. “But they are an essential part of the Trump Administration trade policies. But 96% of consumers of ag products live outside the U.S., so this is hurting U.S. farmers.”
The numbers bear this out. According to the American Soybean Association (ASA), China is typically the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans in the world. In 2024, the country purchased almost 25 million metric tons of U.S.-grown soybeans – approximately 14% of the nation’s total harvest.
In 2025, however, ASA says China has booked zero U.S. soybeans for import. Instead, the country is purchasing cheaper soybeans from South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina.
According to Dolcini, there have been some legislative efforts to help U.S. agriculture weather this storm. In fact, the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” contains $66 billion in funds to help growers make up some of their revenue shortfalls.
“However, the money for won’t be available until October 2026,” he said.
For those hoping that a new Farm Bill might provide some help in this area, Dolcini isn’t optimistic.
“When you look at some of the provisions in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ these are typically things that are in new Farm Bills,” he said. “But Congress has had a real problem in the past decade or so passing farm legislation. And I only see that worsening frankly.”
As Dolcini explained to attendees, new Farm Bill passage since the 1960s has relied upon a coalition that championed both Democrat-leaning issues (such as food stamps and conversation) with Republican-leaning ones (such as farmer supports and crop insurance).
“That coalition has really broken down,” he said. “And with the extremely partisan divide now in Congress, it doesn’t seem like a Farm Bill will be passed this year – and maybe not in the future as well.”
Harrison Pittman
According to the National Agriculture Law Center’s Pittman, another potential money concern for ag retailers and their grower-customers is the recent pullbacks in already Congressionally-approved funding by the president’s office.
“That’s one of my big long-term worries for agriculture – money that’s already been appropriated by Congress but being held back,” he said. “If this president can withhold funds at their discretion on terminal contracts of approved funds, then any future president can do so, too.”
This has the potential to really mess with a grower’s ability to obtain loans in the future, worried Pittman.
“I put myself in the shoes of a producer trying to get a loan,” he said. “There’s not a loan in agriculture today where the lender doesn’t take an interest in any securities involved with that loan such as crop insurance or farm credit payments. But if any president can withhold these funds – and this is a concept that becomes enshrined in our understanding of Constitutional law – this likely means that there will be general counsels at the bank that say ‘hey, we have to change our risk procedures because this government approved money might not be there.’ That could prevent the farmer from getting the loan.”
Subscribe Today For
