Farm bill remains unresolved

The farm bill came up short in the Senate Agriculture Committee. Farm Bill 2.0 failed to get enough votes to move forward. Differences remain over the handling of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Senate Democrats want a 2-year delay for the states to reduce their SNAP error rates, and the Republican majority is focused on a 1-year delay. The Senate is now on its August recess.

Frustration mounts after ag committee vote

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman is frustrated after the farm bill failed to advance. The Arkansas Republican blamed Democrats for blocking the bill over disagreements involving SNAP cost sharing, saying farmers are paying the price. “Right now, if you’re growing something out of the ground, you’re not making a living. There’s no recognition of that at all on the other side,” Boozman said. “We’ll continue pounding on, and my members are going to go home and talk to everybody that will listen about the inequity of this and how we need to get this done.” Boozman wants the farm community to rise “and say enough is enough.”

Three farm bill extensions; will there be four?

AgCountry Farm Credit Services Vice President of Legislative and Public Affairs Andy Martin says lawmakers need to capitalize on the limited legislative calendar to complete a new farm bill. “There’s not very many legislative days left before the election, when election-year politics can come into play,” Martin told Red River Farm Network. “We’ve had three extensions already; we don’t want to go up to four. We’ve had this one step forward, two steps back. Let’s get this thing across the finish line.”

Election will determine farm bill success if delayed until lame duck

Georgia Congressman Austin Scott is the vice chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, right behind Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson in the Republican majority. Scott remains optimistic the farm bill will get across the finish line this year: “The one caveat to that would be Senator (Chuck) Schumer; if the Democrats did win (the majority in the November election), I think that he would pull back and not allow the bill to go forward until they had control of the committee.” Scott said he believes the Republicans will ultimately control the House and the Senate in the next term but admits margins are tight.

Dairy products report released

In the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Dairy Products Report, total cheese production increased 13.1 million pounds from the previous year. American cheese production was up 5.5 million pounds, and other-than-American cheese production increased 7.6 million pounds from the prior year. Butter production rose 16.4 million pounds, and nonfat dry milk production was up 20.5 million pounds. Skim milk powder production declined 25.2 million pounds in the past year, and dry whey production increased 5.5 million pounds year over year.

Export opportunities for dairy products

U.S. Dairy Export Council President and CEO Krysta Harden says Mexico remains the industry’s strongest market, while Central America, the Caribbean and Indonesia offer additional potential. “We have a lot of demand around the world,” Harden said. “I have to mention Mexico first. It’s our strongest market.” Protein demand is also supporting exports, particularly for cheese and whey. Harden says the U.S. is even exporting butterfat to Australia,
traditionally a major dairy-producing country. “We’re just at the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion,” Harden said. “We’ve got great product, we continue to produce, we get more and more efficient, more processing investment, more opportunities for U.S. dairy.” Looking longer-term, Harden sees West Africa as another potential growth market as its population and middle class expand.

Feed industry reviews FDA proposal

The American Feed Industry Association is reviewing proposed Food and Drug Administration changes to the approval process for feed ingredients considered Generally Recognized as Safe, or GRAS. The organization supports efforts to strengthen ingredient oversight while maintaining feed safety and encouraging innovation. AFIA President and CEO Constance Cullman says any changes to the GRAS framework must be backed by adequate FDA staffing and resources to ensure animal food ingredients are reviewed efficiently. The AFIA plans to submit comments to the FDA, saying the proposal could affect future feed ingredient approvals, new technology development and the availability of products for livestock producers.

A membership milestone

The National FFA Organization has reached a new milestone with more than 1.05 million members during the 2025-2026 school year. Membership increased 1.1% from a year ago, with students participating in nearly 9,600 chapters across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Plea entered in A.I. bid rigging case

A South Carolina manager of a bovine artificial insemination firm pleaded guilty today to rigging bids for the purchase of cattle used either for the direct production of semen or for the development of animals for future semen production. In advance of cattle auctions, Herbert Lutz and his co-conspirators agreed which company would win the bid. During the sales, the agreed-upon losing firm would either not bid or would submit an intentionally losing bid before bowing out to permit the agreed-upon winner to prevail. Through the efforts of Lutz and his co-conspirators, Lutz’s employer was able to acquire cattle worth over $1.6 million through rigged sales. Lutz is the first defendant to be charged and plead guilty in this ongoing investigation. These transactions took place between October 2018 and May 2024.

Deere promote Larson

Maggie Larson is John Deere’s new marketing promotion specialist for forage harvesting equipment. Larson has been with John Deere for nearly six years. In 2014, Larson served as the president of Wisconsin FFA.

Lee joins Mid-West Farm Report

Veteran broadcaster Larry Lee is now part of the Mid-West Farm Report team. Lee has been in radio for more than 40 years, working in local news and programming, and for the past decade, he has been exclusively covering agricultural news. Farm Director Pam Jahnke says, “I have worked alongside Larry as a fellow farm broadcaster for years. I am happy he’s part of our team.” Most recently, Lee was with Brownfield Ag News.

Trivia challenge

In 2017, a record 730,000 Holsteins were registered. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what is the most consumed cheese globally? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.

Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two sons, Tony and Sam, and five grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.