HHS, USDA announce regenerative ag executive order 

In a sign of the importance President Trump attaches to the Make America Healthy Again movement, the Health and Human Services Department and the Agriculture Department both announced late Thursday that Trump signed an executive order titled “Advancing Regenerative Agriculture and Strengthening American Farm Resilience.”

The announcements came the same day Trump hosted farmers at a White House dinner.  

In a news release, HHS said that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was the MAHA presidential candidate before endorsing Trump, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had joined Trump in the Oval Office “alongside four of the nation’s leading regenerative farmers to discuss how regenerative agriculture can improve soil health, enhance farm resilience, increase profitability, strengthen rural prosperity and help Make America Healthy Again.” 

“Making America Healthy Again begins with understanding that health starts long before someone enters a doctor’s office,” said Kennedy.

“It starts with the food we eat and the way it is produced. Today’s executive order reflects President Trump’s commitment to working alongside America’s farmers to strengthen our food system while advancing research that will deepen our understanding of how agricultural practices, nutrition, environmental exposures, and human health are connected. America cannot Make America Healthy Again without America’s farmers.”

HHS also released an issue brief titled “Regenerative Agriculture and Population Health: Examining How Regenerative Agriculture Can Support Healthier Food Systems and Better Health Outcomes.”

In the USDA announcement, Rollins also announced a final Regenerative Feedstock Rule, which she said “will help farmers voluntarily capture new value from regenerative agricultural practices through biofuel markets.”

She also noted that USDA is releasing an updated USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator to help producers quantify regenerative practices such as cover crops, and improved nutrient management, and conservation tillage — including no-till and reduced tillage. Producers can use the resulting reports when marketing eligible feedstocks to participating biofuel producers.

Additional information about the Regenerative Feedstock Rule and the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator will be available at USDA.gov once posted to the Federal Register. 

“Today’s USDA’s Regenerative Feedstock Rule put farmers, not Washington bureaucrats, in the driver’s seat,” Rollins said in a news release. 

“Instead of mandates, we’re creating market opportunities. Farmers who choose to implement regenerative practices will have new opportunities to earn premium prices, lower their input costs, improve soil health, and strengthen the long-term profitability of their operations,” Rollins said.

“This is exactly what President Trump’s America First agenda looks like: empowering farmers and ranchers, supporting rural communities, driving lower input costs, improving farmer profitability, advancing regenerative agriculture, and helping Make America Healthy Again.”

REACTION

Biofuels groups welcomed the announcements. 

American Soybean Association President Scott Metzger said the rule “will unlock a new premium soybean market by empowering farmers to produce value-added biofuel feedstocks using on-farm conservation practices.”

Metzger added, “for the first time ever, the USDA Regenerative Feedstock Rule will ensure that the 45Z biofuel tax credit will not only benefit biofuel producers, but the farmers who produce homegrown regenerative biofuel feedstocks.”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said, “USDA’s rule begins to provide a mechanism that finally quantifies and recognizes the environmental benefits of cultivation practices that are already widely in use.”

“While we are still analyzing the final guidelines and FD-CIC tool, it appears several important changes have been made. We look forward to continuing our work with USDA, as well as DOE and Treasury, to ensure farmers and biofuel producers have access to flexible, market-based solutions for integrating the benefits of lower-carbon feedstocks into their supply chains.”

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said, “we are one step closer to ensuring farmers are recognized for their innovation and regenerative farm practices in the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. Linking this rule to 45Z is critical for delivering more value to farmers, many of whom are already using regenerative practices.”