With MAHA in mind, USDA allots $700 million for regenerative farming pilot program

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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is earmarking $700 million to aid farmers wanting to pursue” regenerative” practices, which typically include a reduction in chemical inputs, government officials said on Wednesday.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a press conference that the money was part of the Trump administration’s commitment to “prioritizing the health of our country.”

“We all know we’re at a point where we must do something to correct the chronic health problems that Americans face,” Rollins said. The “farmer first” pilot program will specifically support regenerative agriculture with a goal of “protecting and improving the health of our soil”.

The program will “make our farms more productive, our land healthier and our water cleaner,” Rollins said.

The USDA move comes amid pressure from grass-roots groups aligned with the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, which includes health and environmental advocates pushing for reductions in pesticide use in agriculture. The use of chemical inputs, such as weed killer and insecticides and fertilizers have been shown to harm human health as well as contribute to water and air pollution and soil degradation.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who heads the Make America Healthy Again Commission set up by the Trump administration, said in the press conference that the program “fulfills a promise” made in a September MAHA commission report to make it easier for farmers to break a dependence on chemical inputs to grow their crops.

The program provides farmers with “good incentives to do well by doing good for themselves, for our children and for the country,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has long derided the use of pesticides in farming and called for sweeping changes in the US food system, praised Rollins for the action.

Pressure from MAHA

Since his appointment earlier this year, Kennedy has seen some success in addressing harmful food additives, including pushing several major food companies to remove synthetic food dyes from their products. But he has struggled to gain traction for the MAHA movement’s call for tighter regulations on pesticides, which are linked to a range of diseases and health problems.

MAHA leaders have been outraged over the Trump administration’s support for Bayer, the maker of Roundup herbicides in its effort to stop lawsuits filed by farmers and others who say they developed cancer due to their use of the pesticides.

The Trump administration has made several other moves in the last several months supportive of the pesticide and chemical industries, and the agricultural industry was allowed to weigh in on the MAHA commission’s September report, removing criticism of pesticides in a draft report.

MAHA’s grassroots leadership have called for the removal of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin because of the EPA’s permissive approach to pesticides. In a meeting this week with Zeldin, MAHA leaders demanded new limits be placed on certain pesticides, including glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer’s agricultural weed killers.

Neither Rollins nor Kennedy even used the word pesticides in Wednesday’s announcement, though Kennedy did cite the “health of farmers” and farmer concerns about risks to the health of their children from “too many chemicals on the land.”

But Kennedy said that he and others were in discussion with Zeldin about chemical concerns and are ‘”very, very confident of his commitment to make sure to reduce toxic exposures to the American people.”

“Historic” move

Rick Clark, a fifth-generation farmer in Indiana who transitioned his farm to regenerative practice and is co-founder of the education and advocacy group American Regeneration, called the move “historic.”

“This regenerative program is exactly what the farming community needs,” he said in an interview. “This provides choices for farmers that are looking for ways to change and reduce inputs.”

Proponents of regenerative practices see them as a range of tactics that include not tilling the land, using “cover crops” to increase soil organic matter and limit pest outbreaks, and incorporating livestock and animal manure into soil improvement efforts.

Using all the regenerative practices can eventually eliminate the need for chemicals or sharply reduce the need. The practice overall can mitigate harmful climate change, reduce water pollution, and make foods more nutritious as farmers focus on improving the health of soil, water, and ecosystems, supporters say.