A new farm bill has passed out of the House Agriculture Committee to be considered by Congress. If successful it will be the first Farm Bill passed since 2018.  Commodity programs, crop insurance and foreign market development  are increased but nutrition programs are not. SNAP cuts from recent legislation were not recovered, yet. Nor have corn growers gotten the expansion in ethanol programs that they sought. California’s proposition 12, requiring specified space for animals if the meat is to be sold in Caliofornia would be ended, as would certain local or state limitations on application of pesticides near public buildings. CA Congressan Mike Thompson has been meeting with farmers to hear their concerns and needs. As the Farm Bill moves to Congress, he shares what farmer’s are saying and how he plans to help.

In this episode of Farm to Table Talk, Rodger interviewed Jeremy and Stacey Hill about their homesteading practices and food preservation techniques. The Hills, who operate Gooseberry Bridge Farm in Missouri, shared their journey from suburban gardening to homesteading a 12-acre farm with dairy cows, goats, pigs, and an extensive vegetable garden. They discussed their use of freeze-drying as a modern preservation method, explaining how it maintains food quality and allows for shelf-stable storage. The couple also described their agritourism business, which offers educational farm visits for families. Throughout the conversation, Jeremy and Stacey emphasized the importance of starting small with food preservation and encouraged listeners to explore local food networks and farmers markets. They share what they’ve learned on the podcast and their new book: The Preservation Garden – How to grow a garden for fermenting, canning, pickling, dehydrating, and freeze drying. www.gooseberrybridge.com

The United States Supreme Court by a vote of 6 to 3 has struck down President Trump’s tariffs, to the relief of most farmers who have experienced severe financial losses and rising costs of farm inputs. The 2025 tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IIEPA) covered nearly all trading partners, but China faced rates exceeding 100 percent. In response, Beijing escalated retaliatory duties on key agricultural imports. Almonds were hit with a 45 percent tariff.  As a result American Agriculture has suffered, especially soybeans in the Corn Belt. In California alone agricultural exports to China collapsed with the total value of 13 major commodities dropping 57 percent, according to research at UC Davis.. California Congressmen Jim Costa, MIke Thompson and John Garamendi met with California farmers the week of the Supreme Court ruling where there were expressions of strong opposition to the Trump imposed trade wars. House Ag Committee member, Congressman Jim Costa explained the implications of the trade issue and the scheduled mark up to the proposed Farm Bill that is getting underway.  Here are Congressman Costa’s opening remarks to the farmers and a follow-up exchange with Congressman Thompson at a farmer meeting at the Yolo County Farm Bureau Office in Woodland California.

For further data and analysis of agricultural issues from tariffs to labor reform subscribe ([email protected]) or download the ARE Update https://giannini.ucop.edu/publications/are-update/

The future of agriculture will utilize the development and application of robotic technology.  Jaisimha Rao explains a robotic machine that uses AI and cameras to distinguish between crops and weeds, then sprays herbicides specifically on weeds. There is potential of humanoid robots in agricultureJ. Their AI system identifies weeds using visual recognition, contrasting it with text-based AI models like ChatGPT. The system involves collecting and annotating weed images by agronomists in India, which are then used to train the AI model. Once trained, the AI can recognize specific weed species and control the dual-tank system to apply the appropriate herbicides in a single pass. All mechanical manufacturing for their robots is conducted in the US, with only cameras being sourced from India. www.niqorobotics.com 

At a time when America’s meat industry faces increasing consolidation, fragile supply chains, and the closure of rural processing facilities, Better For Butchery’s acquisition of the Princeton Kentucky plant represents a rare, forward-looking investment in independent meat infrastructure. Backed by USDA Rural Development financing, the facility will serve as a scalable, high-integrity co-packing and processing hub designed to help farmers, ranchers, and emerging meat brands reach market without sacrificing quality, transparency, or control.  USDA Rural Development played ia critical role n enabling the acquisition. The facility was financed through an MPILP loan backed by the USDA  aimed at strengthening rural economies, expanding domestic meat processing capacity, and supporting independent producers seeking alternatives to large-scale industrial packers. the facility now serves as Better For Butchery’s centralized processing, packaging, cold storage, and fulfillment hub. Purpose-built to support third-party brands, the operation enables consistent quality, reliable scheduling, and national distribution for farmers and food businesses that have historically struggled to access scalable processing. Better For Butchery’s acquisition marks a turning point for the company—from turnaround operator to platform-scale processor—and formally launches its co-packing and third-party processing services for emerging and established food brands committed to ethical sourcing and operational transparency. Chris Roach, CEO of Better Butchery joins Farm To Table TAlk to share what’s possible when public investment and private execution align. “With USDA Rural Development’s support, we’re rebuilding meat infrastructure in a way that works for farmers, workers, and brands alike—right here in rural Kentucky. Our approach is proving that modern, compliant, and values-driven meat processing can be decentralized to establish a new meat economy that is better for farmers, better for animals and better for all of us.” www.BetterForButhery.com  www.porterroad.com

For the first time in 30 years America’s top Agriculture state, California, finally has a member on the Agriculture Committee of the US Senate, Senator Adam Schiff. Speaking to over a thousand farmers at Eco Farm, Senator Schiff called on farmers and consumers to engage and to make their voices heard. Senator Schiff spoke with Farm To Table Talk and addressd over 1,000 farmers at Eco Farm.

There is something good about local farms supporting schools, distributingCSA (Community Supported Agriculture), hosting a market at the farm and selling organic produce at area Farmers Markets. A farming program that delivers goodness in all these ways is aptly named Something Good Organics. Carolyn Givens shares why they do what they do and why the school and local community they supply are glad they do.  Carolyn Givens says they take pride in supporting John Givens Farm’s commitment to cultivating Certified Organic Produce for their community.

Each year, about 32% of the food produced across the world is lost or wasted. Tackling food loss and waste has been on the global agenda for decades, with policymakers citing it as a contributing factor to issues like food insecurity and environmental degradation. Despite this attention, food loss and waste remain a challenge across the world.A new book from researchers at the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) provides an evidence-based framework for addressing food loss and waste as a means to improve access to healthy diets. In “Wasted Potential: Tackling Food Loss and Waste Across Transforming Food Systems,” TCI alumna Jocelyn Boiteau and Director Prabhu Pingali set forth a policy agenda that builds demand for diverse, nutritious foods in order to incentivize food loss and waste reduction while mitigating tradeoffs between food security, environmental sustainability and socioeconomic welfare. In addition to stimulating demand for safe and nutritious foods, they call for investments in value-adding innovations like processing, packaging and cold chain infrastructure, as well as public infrastructure and financial services that improve market access.“Wasted Potential” was published by Springer as part of its Sustainable Development Goals Series. It is available to download through open access.

Farmers across America are beginning to worry that 2026 is bringing a Farm Crisis comparable to the early 1980’s when Willie Nelson launched Farm Aid to draw attention and support to the plight of farmers.  Ray Yeung has been farming for over 40 years in northern California and although recently experiencing really good yields, he sees farming costs exceeding returns and that is simply unsustainable. A farm crisis could  be felt beyond the farms to farm suppliers and consumers.  Viable farms are ncessary, so what is to be done? Yeung always knew he’d be a farmer. His father, Joe Yeung, started farming near Woodland CA after returning rom the Korean War in the 1950s. Ray worked on his dad’s farm for decades before branching out on his own to grow processing tomatoes, pumpkins,  winter squash and other commodities. Yeung sold his heirloom tomatoes at farmers’ markets, and by the early 2000s, the heirloom craze was in full swing. Today, he grows about 20 varieties, including pineapple, pink brandywine, green zebra, and Cherokee purple. (Processing tomatoes are profitable today.)