Trump executive order expands USDA regenerative ag program

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand the reach of the Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program and increase capacity for farmers interested in adopting regenerative farming practices.

In conjunction with the executive order, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a final Regenerative Feedstock Rule that will help farmers voluntarily capture new value from regenerative agricultural practices through biofuel markets.

"Today's USDA's Regenerative Feedstock Rule put farmers, not Washington bureaucrats, in the driver's seat," said Rollins. "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."

The Regenerative Feedstock Rule establishes a framework to connect regenerative agriculture practices to new markets

within the biofuel supply chain for corn, soybeans, sorghum and spring canola.

These standards include:

• Covered biofuel feedstock crops and participating entities throughout the supply chain.

• Field-level quantification of crop-specific carbon intensity.

• Mass balance chain-of-custody standards, including traceability and recordkeeping.

• Auditing and verification requirements.

• Regenerative agriculture practice standards for covered feedstock crops.

The USDA also released an updated USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA FD-CIC) to help producers quantify regenerative practices such as cover crops, 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.

Trump's executive order also directed the Environmental Protection Agency to prioritize registration of alternative crop protection tools, review data on preharvest desiccation uses of herbicides and coordinate with the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services to research the effect of cumulative exposure across chemical classes.