Weekly Update for
December 5

On NAWG’s November podcast we take a deep dive into the EPA’s newly proposed WOTUS rule. Courtney Briggs from the American Farm Bureau Federation joins us to break down what the proposal rule means for wheat growers nationwide. We also check in with NAWG’s new CEO, Sam Kieffer, to hear about his transition into the role and his vision for the organization moving forward. And finally, we wrap up with NAWG Policy Manager Anthony Peña, who brings us highlights from the fall board meeting in Austin, Texas, and updates us on NAWG’s remaining policy priorities for the year.

Last week, NAWG was joined by NAMA staff in meeting with White House officials over key issues facing our nation’s wheat growers. Highlights of the meeting included sharing insights from the field, discussing challenges impacting farmers, and exploring ways to support a strong and sustainable wheat industry.

Registration and hotel booking are now open for the 2026 NAWG/USW/NWF Winter Meeting, taking place Monday, January 26 through Thursday, January 29, 2026, in Washington, DC at The Westin Washington, DC Downtown hotel. We would encourage all attendees to arrive before the Operations and Planning Committee meeting at 1 PM on Monday, January 26. The Board of Directors will conclude at noon on Thursday, January 29, so please plan your return trip accordingly. The DCA airport is approximately a 20-minute drive from the hotel. The deadline to register and book your hotel room is January 2. Register and book your accommodation below.

The Trump administration is backing Bayer’s bid for Supreme Court review of whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) pre-empts pesticide lawsuits filed in state courts. Bayer alleges FIFRA should prevent such actions, and the U.S. solicitor general agreed, saying that “EPA’s approval of Roundup labels without a cancer warning, combined with an EPA regulation that prohibits petitioner Bayer from adding such a warning without agency approval,” pre-empts the failure-to-warn claim brought by plaintiff John Durnell, a Missouri man who won $1.25 million in a verdict upheld by the Missouri Court of Appeals in April. The Solicitor General closed the legal briefing saying “the Supreme Court’s intervention is warranted to give FIFRA’s preemption provision its proper force.”

On December 2, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) released a statement responding to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’s threats to withhold SNAP benefits from states that decline to comply with a recent Trump Administration directive. The order requires states to provide sensitive personal information about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants for use in immigration enforcement operations. “Secretary Rollins continues to spew propaganda, attacking a food assistance program which 42 million Americans rely on to feed their families,” stated Craig. “Rather than address the rising cost of living, the secretary is once again weaponizing hunger by putting political talking points ahead of feeding seniors, children, veterans and Americans with disabilities.”

On November 24, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the USDA’s intent to purchase up $30 million in fresh fruit from American farmers and producers to distribute to food banks and nutrition assistance programs across the country. Purchases will be made through the USDA’s authority under Section 32 of the Agriculture Act of 1935. “President Trump is standing with America’s farmers, especially right now while the farm economy recovers from years of neglect under the last administration. Certain commodities are experiencing a surplus and USDA is ensuring these crops do not go to waste and instead go to Americans in need across the country,” stated Secretary Rollins. “These fresh fruits will reach those in need, boosting healthier options for Americans at food banks across the country, all while benefitting American farmers facing unfair actions from foreign competitors.”

On November 21, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Ben Ray Luján (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, led 30 of their colleagues in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on the USDA’s plan to have all beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reapply for their benefits. In their letter to Rollins the senators wrote, “This reapplication requirement comes after repeated efforts to deny Americans in need of essential nutrition assistance. In addition to unprecedented cuts to SNAP enacted earlier this summer, decisions to disrupt food assistance during the shutdown have created additional uncertainty. We are therefore troubled that the Administration could choose, at this moment, to add additional red tape that creates duplicative and unnecessary barriers to accessing nutrition assistance for families.”

On November 21, leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry celebrated Senate passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, restoring access to whole and reduced-fat milk in school cafeterias and expanding options for nutritious nondairy beverages. The co-sponsored bill received bipartisan support. “Passage of this bipartisan bill moves us closer to ensuring students have access to the nutritious beverages they need for healthy growth. I’m proud of our collaboration to advance this commonsense solution to expand school milk options, encourage increased dairy consumption and support America’s hardworking dairy producers,” Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) stated. “We are advancing bipartisan legislation that will improve children’s access to milk and other healthy beverages through school lunches,” said Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN). “This legislation is good for our kids and it's good for our dairy producers — a win-win.”

On November 20, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02), and House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Ranking Member Jahana Hayes (CT-05) were joined by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-MN), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in introducing the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025. The proposed legislation is designed to reverse cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “President Trump has spent his first year in office repeatedly attacking our nation’s most effective anti-hunger program at a time when his tariffs are contributing to record food prices” Craig stated. “His Big Ugly Bill cut SNAP – a basic needs food assistance program – by $187 billion, taking food away from millions of hungry American seniors, children, people with disabilities and veterans.” Recent data shows that approximately 42 million Americans depend on SNAP.

Congratulations to NAWG and to National Wheat Foundation chairman, Gary Broyles on turning 75 this year! Both have worked tirelessly for the wheat industry, and we are proud to be associated with them. 

Did you know the Home Baking Association has been educating people about baking with wheat flour for over 100 years? This group has been focusing on education and has a vast array of information on their website, www.homebaking.org.  Here you will find resources for educators, and you can use many of their delicious recipes to try a new wheat product during the holidays. Teach your children or grandchildren how to bake during their school break, you can find many delicious recipes appropriate for the age and experience level of your bakers. 

All of the twenty-eight national winners have shipped in their wheat samples which are being tested for grain, flour and end product quality.  Our expert panel will analyze the results and we will determine our top quality winners by mid-January.  On January 21, 10-12 am central time, we will have our Wheat Quality Zoom webinar.  Please plan on attending this educational meeting where we will release the Top Quality Winners from the 2025 contest. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest in 2025.  If you have not already done so, create an account on our website so you can enter in 2026.  www.wheatcontest.org