Weekly Update for
January 22

America’s wheat growers are facing one of the most severe farm economic downturns in decades, and Congress needs to hear directly from producers right now. After three consecutive years of negative margins, persistently high input costs, low commodity prices, and tightening credit conditions are pushing many farm operations to a breaking point. While USDA’s Farmer Bridge Assistance program provided important short-term relief, it was not enough to stabilize the farm economy or ensure growers can move forward with confidence into the next planting season. Congress is actively considering FY 2026 appropriations and other legislative vehicles, and decisions made in the coming weeks will determine whether additional, meaningful economic assistance is delivered to farmers. This is a critical moment for wheat growers to speak up. NAWG has launched an urgent Action Alert asking Members of Congress to prioritize additional, timely economic assistance that builds on existing efforts and provides real stability for farm families. Please take a few minutes today to visit NAWG’s action page and contact your U.S. Representative and Senators. Sharing your personal experience as a wheat grower makes a powerful difference. Even if your Members of Congress have been supportive in the past, continued outreach from farmers is essential to ensure this issue remains a top priority. Thank you for taking action and for your continued engagement on behalf of America’s wheat growers. 

This week, Congress is moving toward finalizing a package of federal funding bills that excludes additional farm aid and provisions allowing year-round use of E15 biofuel, despite strong advocacy from farm groups and some lawmakers. Agricultural leaders had pushed for swift action to provide economic relief as farmers face ongoing financial pressures, but those priorities were not included in the current appropriations text. The omission has disappointed segments of the agriculture community that had hoped broader funding negotiations would deliver targeted assistance. With the appropriations deadline approaching, lawmakers may need to pursue separate legislation or supplemental funding to address farm sector needs, even as debates over related policy priorities continue.

On January 21st, the Environmental Protection Agency is working to ensure that crop protection chemicals don’t impair endangered crops by improving habitat maps and mitigation options. Deputy Assistant in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Kyle Kunkler stated to members of the American Farm Bureau, “If it doesn’t work for you all on the farm, then we have some significant rethinking to do, but increasingly, I’m cautiously optimistic”. Growers can mitigate the impact of pesticide applications that could cause “unintended consequences to other types of nearby species”, said Kunkler. EPA has released final herbicide, rodenticide, and insecticide strategies that will have positive outcomes on growers while minimizing application impacts.  

On January 22, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with senior committee member John Hoeven (R-ND), led a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging the department to reinstate additional crop insurance coverage for acres prevented from being planted. “Eliminating the option for producers to purchase additional buy-up coverage for prevented planting is troubling, especially at a time when our farmers need access to all risk management tools available to them,” the senators wrote. When weather conditions prevent timely planting, buy-up coverage provides critical protection for producers of covered commodities in all 50 states. USDA’s decision to end prevented-planting buy-up coverage has raised concerns among growers nationwide. In addition to Boozman, Klobuchar, and Hoeven, the letter was also signed by Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Justice (R-WV), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Tina Smith (D-MN). Read the full letter below.

The Trump administration's tariffs on equipment are making it harder for farmers to update their livestock facilities and equipment. Ben Peterson, a third-generation farmer from Montana, recounts how hard it has been for farmers to keep up with rising costs. From the increase in the cost of fertilizer to the increase in the cost of feed, farmers across the country are struggling to maintain operations.  

On January 22, House Republicans denied a deal to establish a new rural energy council focused on the oversight of E15 biofuel. This was intended to resolve internal GOP disagreements; however, this has introduced intense backlash from corn growers. This event follows disagreements among House Republican leaders and lawmakers from the Midwest who support the expansion of E15.

Brian Walker didn’t start in a corner office—he started six weeks out of high school as a “sample jockey” in a flour mill, learning the business from union millers, lab mentors, and long days when the mill ran. More than 45 years later, his career spans Seaboard, Cargill, Ardent Mills, and Miller Milling—and he’s seen the milling industry transform through consolidation, shifting competition, and changing norms around sharing crop-quality information. In this episode, Brian connects the dots from farm to flour to finished bread: how high-speed bakeries increased stress on dough performance, how ingredient/tool changes (like moving away from potassium bromate and toward enzymes) affected quality, why varieties and disease resistance became even more critical, and how “extended shelf life” reshaped the bread supply chain (and consumer expectations). He closes with practical career advice: work hard, get involved, and show up—because wheat is a people business. 

The National Wheat Foundation has named the winners for this year’s Wheat Yield Contest. Out of 28 national winners, 12 Top-Quality Award winners were announced on January 21, 2026, from across ten states. “One of our priorities at the National Wheat Foundation is to prove that high-ceilinged wheat can also be high-quality wheat and to encourage all wheat growers to strive for both,” said Brian Walker, a National Wheat Foundation director and retired flour milling quality executive and consultant. Participants were required to submit a sample from a 10-pound sample of the grain, and once samples were received, they were analyzed for grain, milling and end-use qualities. Once each sample were analyzed by the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon and Great Plains Analytical Laboratory in Kansas City, Missouri, they were tested for flour characteristics. The last step in the testing process included baking goods such as sponge cake and sugar cookies including the samples submitted. Congratulations to all the winners in this year’s Wheat Yield Contest and thank you to the participants for submitting samples of your grain!  

You are invited to attend the National Wheat Foundation’s annual Wheat 101 reception on January 28 from 5:00–7:00 pm in the Kennedy Caucus Room (SR-325). Now in its tenth year, Wheat 101 brings together Members of Congress, staff, and leaders from across the wheat value chain to highlight wheat’s vital role in the U.S. economy and food supply. As the third most important U.S. crop by revenue, acreage, and production, wheat connects seed breeders, growers, millers, bakers, and grocers in a single, powerful industry. Attendees will learn how wheat moves from seed to loaf of bread, including insights into domestic production, sales, and export processes. Register below.