Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the USDA will be announcing an aid program for row-crop farmers but cannot do it until the government shutdown ends.

The USDA posted its “shutdown plan” early Wednesday detailing how staffing, payments and programs at the massive agency will be affected and what operations will grind to a halt until a budget agreement can be reached in Congress. 

Rollins announced Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice signed a memorandum of understanding, “that represents a joint commitment by both agencies to protect American farmers and ranchers” from unacceptable increases in  feed, fertilizer, fuel, seed, equipment and other “essential goods.”

During the annual meeting of the National Assn. of State Departments of Agriculture, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke J. Lindberg said the administration is still focused on expanding market access, enforcing trade commitment and “boosting rural prosperity.. 

Soil health, precision farming and regenerative agriculture could play a major role in the MAHA movement to improve the health of Americans.

But the "Making Children Healthy Again" report does direct the EPA, USDA and other federal agencies to clear the way for increased adoption of conservation agriculture as a means to reform the nation's food system through reduced regulations, increased program funding and new partnerships with the private sector.

A letter sent by the National Corn Grower Assn. (NCGA) to three federal department heads earlier this month spells out the financial challenges many farmers are facing this year and why unraveling trade uncertainties should be a priority.

The massive agency is proposing to close one of its largest buildings and move the employees from Washington to five hub centers in the U.S.