Policy Updates and Issue News September 2025
Agriculture and Food
Screwworm scare closer than ever
Agriculture producers, wildlife agencies, and pet owners are more concerned than ever after a case of New World screwworm has been confirmed less than 70 miles south of the Texas border in Mexico. The previous northernmost case detection was 370 miles farther south. Cattle, bison, and horse imports from Mexico have remained suspended since midsummer. Screwworm fly larvae feed on live flesh and can lead to serious injury and even death of their host. Last spring, the USDA announced the expansion of numerous interventions with Mexico to control and eradicate the screwworm fly.
Market Aid for Farmers
Secretary of Agriculture Booke Rollins says USDA officials are keeping a close eye on commodity markets to determine if farmers will need help this fall to keep their operations afloat. House Agriculture Committee chairman Glenn Thompson is shopping the idea of including farm payments in the upcoming “skinny” or “farm bill 2.2” this fall. Thompson has suggested that tariff revenues could be used to keep farmers financially stable, but some trade attorneys say that may not be legal. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman is open to similar market support. This is in response to falling prices for farm crops. Commodity prices have remained low, and trade disruptions have chipped away at export markets. China, for example, is the United States’ largest buyer of soybeans but has yet to book any soybeans for shipment from this year’s harvest. In a recent survey by Farm Journal, 46% of the farmers surveyed believe the U.S is on the brink of a farm crisis.
More rural veterinarians
USDA plans to help pay off veterinary school debt for veterinarians in rural areas where shortages are most acute. Numerous studies have pointed out the decline in rural vets over the past several decades. A recent study by the Farm Journal Foundation found that approximately 500 rural counties nationwide are in need of large animal veterinarians. The National Grange has been supporting these efforts for several years.
Producers watching USDA reorganization plans closely
Farmers and ranchers want to be sure the USDA continues to provide the services needed by the agriculture sector. Recent reductions in staffing levels at all agencies within USDA, the relocation of staff to five regional hubs around the country, and the planned closure of its Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland are among their concerns. The Beltsville center has long been considered the cornerstone of US agricultural science. The loss of staff expertise and their years of experience could potentially adversely affect food production if the reorganization fails to live up to expectations.
Conservation
Conservation Reserve Enrollments Announced
The USDA has accepted an additional 1.78 million acres into its Conservation Reserve Program for 2025. The Conservation Reserve Program is the agency’s flagship conservation program, where landowners, farmers, and ranchers voluntarily convert marginal or unproductive cropland into vegetative cover that prevents soil erosion, restores wildlife habitat, and improves water quality.
Health Care
Key cancer bill moves in Congress
In mid-September, National Grange president Chris Hamp wrote to members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, expressing strong support for H.R. 842, the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (MCED). The Act gives Medicare the authority to cover breakthrough early detection technology that can discover any one of a large number of cancers with a simple blood draw. The Ways and Means Committee subsequently unanimously passed the bill. The Health Subcommittee held a hearing where the MCED received strong support from witnesses and subcommittee members. The legislation enjoys 304 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and 62 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and is a high priority for the National Grange.
Hamp goes to bat for kidney patients
National Grange president Chris Hamp wrote Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to urge CMS to restore Phosphate Lowering Therapies (PLTs) to Medicare Part D coverage. This would allow rural patients access to these therapies from their local pharmacy, which may be hours closer than their dialysis center. PLTs are essential to maintaining phosphorus balance and preventing life-threatening complications during dialysis.
Save our air ambulance services
The National Grange joined emergency air medical services providers to voice support for the Protecting Air Ambulance Service for Americans Act. In a letter to bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committees, the groups addressed the dangerously outdated Medicare reimbursement rate for emergency air medical services, which operate as flying ICUs. These services are vital for residents in rural and remote areas. Approximately 40% of air ambulance patients are covered by Medicare. The Medicare reimbursement rate only covers 59% of actual costs of patient transportation. In the last two years, 39 air ambulance bases have closed.
PBM reform will lower drug prices
The National Grange partnered with the National Community Pharmacists Association and 120 additional pharmacy, patient, employer, and small business groups to urge the Senate and House leadership to move legislation for Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform. PBMs are entities that operate between drug manufacturers and patients in a way that keeps prescription drug prices high. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both chambers to delink drug prices from PBM revenues, mandate that savings go to employers, workers, and their families, require transparency, and support pharmacies’ ability to serve patients.
Immigration / AG Workforce
Agriculture is waiting for labor relief
Labor for the agriculture sector is a growing crisis. Several administration officials continue to signal that relief is coming to provide a pathway for agriculture to get the immigrant labor it needs to harvest crops, milk cows, and tend to livestock. Agriculture Secretary Rollins says the White House is actively working on such a plan. President Trump continues to assure farmers that he has their back and will distinguish “criminals” and “murderers” from nonthreatening farm workers who have been working on American farms and ranches for years. In a recent news interview, Border Czar Tom Homan emphasized the importance of the U.S. creating a path forward so that farms and ranches can have a legal and stable workforce. That plan cannot come too soon for producers. In the meantime, the administration recently improved the H-2A seasonal and temporary immigrant program by making it easier to renew those particular ag worker visas.
Telecommunications
Hamp featured in op ed
FirstNet is a nationwide public safety communications network designed by first responders for first responders to allow nationwide connectivity between departments and jurisdictions. Congress must reauthorize the FirstNet program for it to continue. National Grange president Chris Hamp was recently featured in the Spokane Spokesman-Review with an opinion editorial entitled Public Safety Does Not End at the City Limits. In the op-ed, Hamp provided an example of FirstNet utilization during the Bertschi Road Fire, which burned in Klickitat County, a rural area of Washington state. She said FirstNet made a big difference in bringing that fire under control and called on Congress to reauthorize FirstNet as part of the critical infrastructure needed to keep rural residents safe.
Transportation
Improve and modernize rural roads and bridges
Many roads and bridges in rural areas badly need modernization to address outdated designs, weight restrictions, capacity limitations, and safety challenges. The National Grange and 59 other state and national agriculture and agribusiness organizations have expressed support for H.R.4585, the Agricultural and Rural Road Improvement Program Act. In a letter to the leadership of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Highway and Transit Subcommittee, the groups urged action on the bill, which would reprioritize $1.5 billion over five years in existing highway formula funds toward replacing or rehabilitating rural bridges to eliminate posted weight limits, providing for increasing access to farms and agricultural facilities, and improving highway safety.
Updates to seasonal ag CDL needed
Improvements are needed to the Farm-Related Restricted Commercial Driver’s License (Seasonal Ag CDL) according to the National Grange and 69 other agriculture-related groups. The groups referred to legislation (H.R. 4601) introduced by Representative Mann of Kansas and 20 cosponsors in a letter to the leadership of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Under the legislation, implements and vehicles designed for farm use will not be classified as commercial motor vehicles. In addition, Ag CDLs could be renewed online.
Perspectives
“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” ~ Samual Johnson
“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work-and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” ~ Lucille Ball
“I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came, you wouldn’t have been lucky” ~ Oprah Winfrey
“All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” ~ Mark Cuban
“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.” ~ Douglas Macarthur