White House releases President’s Budget Request

On Friday, April 3, the White House released the long-awaited President’s Budget Request (PBR) for fiscal year 2027. This budget is used by the executive branch to direct congressional funding levels for federal government for the coming fiscal year. Please see the following readout from the PBR for agencies as they impact the agriculture industry:

The Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) represents a decrease of 19% over FY26 enacted levels. Total discretionary funding is $20.7 billion as opposed to current funding of $27 billion. A few key highlights include:

• The Farm Service Agency would face a $550 million reduction, resulting in the loss of 486 federal staff years and the elimination of 1,346 county office positions. In addition, the budget proposes substantial cuts Natural Resources Conservation Service, Conservation Operations by $792 million and eliminates 3,287 staff years.

• Research programs would face significant reductions, including a $655 million cut to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The budget proposes eliminating Hatch Act funding, which provides formula funds to land grant universities. In addition, the Agricultural Research Service would be reduced by $155 million, with plans to close four locations—Boston, Massachusetts; Burlington, Vermont; Newark, Delaware; and Urbana, Illinois —while relocating most research activities to other sites.

• Overall funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is reduced but the budget does include a $4.5 million increase for New World Screwworm.

• In the wake of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shuttering, commodity organizations coordinated efforts to shift the Food for Peace program to USDA. Although USDA assumed authority from the State Department at year’s end, the budget proposal calls for the program’s elimination. The budget similarly eliminates the McGovern Dole program.

See the President’s Budget Request here. See USDA Budget Summary here.

Trump nominates Luke Lindberg to head UN World Food Programme

On Wednesday, April 8, President Trump announced his nomination of current U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Affairs (TFAA) Luke Lindberg to the be the next Executive Director of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP). This nomination comes after WFP’s current director, Cindy McCain, announced in February she was stepping down due to health reasons. As Under Secretary, Lindberg was responsible for overseeing the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program and Food for Progress program and has worked to restructure the Food for Peace program that was recently transferred from the U.S. Agency for International Development to USDA. In the coming days and months, USDA will look to President Trump and the Administration to appoint a new Under Secretary to replace Lindberg’s role at under the TFAA mission area. For more information, you can find the U.S. Department of State statement of support for Lindberg’s nomination here.

USDA launches new guidance portal for stakeholders

On Tuesday, April 7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the establishment of the USDA Guidance Portal. USDA intends for this to be an interactive tool and database that contains guidance issued by the Department of and its agencies. In statements from Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden following the announcement, he stated the Department will continually update the portal and individual agency websites to ensure its data reflects current operations across the 29 agencies and staff offices impacted. You can access the new USDA Guidance Portal here.