March 17, 2026

Contents

• What We’re Watching
• Notable News
• This Week’s Legislation
• Upcoming Hearings
• Contact the Team

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Farm Bill

At the House Republican’s annual retreat last week, Members focused on top priorities for the party and this administration ahead of the midterm elections in November. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) indicated a number of priorities, including full passage of the farm bill as important items to try and push across the floor. Meanwhile in the Senate, Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) expressed support for marking up a Senate farm bill after completion of the House markup; however, the most immediate priority for the Chairman is getting additional economic aid for farmers.  

Senate Agriculture Hearing on Domestic Consumption of Ag Products

The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing titled “Increasing Domestic Consumption of U.S.-Grown Agricultural Products,” and featured witnesses from across the agricultural industry, including: Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association, Nathan Reed, Chair of the National Cotton Council, Matt Perdue, President of the North Dakota Farmers Union, Jed Bower, President of the National Corn Growers Association, and Scott Metzger, President of the American Soybean Association. Hearing questions and testimonies focused on the state of the farm economy (including higher input costs, tariffs, and foreign conflict), workforce concerns, biofuels and E15 opportunities, and increasing consumption of specialty crops through federal nutrition programs.  

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) Sends Letter to House on Reconciliation

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) wrote a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) outlining cost offsets for a potential second reconciliation package. Notably, one of the suggested options is a provision to “require reporting of all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) errors, increasing the liability payments against states with chronically high overpayment rates.” The Congressional Budget Office indicated this could save $80 million over 10 years. Though there are discussions about a second reconciliation package, no formal instructions have been given to Committees to identify areas for cuts or investments.  

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) Writes Letter to USDA on Specialty Crop Aid

Last week, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging the inclusion of nursery, mushroom, and floriculture crops in the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers (ASCF) Program. The letter raises concerns about how indoor and ornamental growers are facing the same challenges as other specialty crop growers and criticizes USDA for excluding them from eligibility under the ASCF program. The letter also requests modification to the ASCF Program to include these industries, and to restructure the program to base payments on a grower’s aggregate sales or revenue, to be more streamlined for specialty crop growers. The full letter can be found here.  

Administration

SNAP Recipients File Lawsuit Against USDA SNAP Waivers 

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court in Washington challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding the legality of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) waivers. They are suing to halt the waivers in five states — Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia — the five plaintiffs who receive SNAP benefits argue that the Trump administration violated laws authorizing SNAP and governing changes in policies and cites how these waivers will affect dietary needs of the plaintiffs. The injunction also argues that the USDA enforcement guidance will increase the likelihood that retailers will be involuntarily rejected from the program. For more information, read the press release from the group filing the suit. The preliminary document can be found here.  

CBP Working on New Tariff Refund Portal

The Court of International Trade (CIT), which had originally ordered the U.S. government to refund nearly $170 billion in International Emergency and Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, is allowing for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection a “structured pause.”  CBP has shared that it is developing the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) portal which will “streamline and consolidate refunds and interest payments on an importer basis.” CBP is targeting mid-to-late April 2026 to launch the new CAPE system. 

USTR Kicks Off New Sec. 301 Investigations

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched two new Section 301 investigations post the Supreme Court decision on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs. The first investigation centers on structural excess capacity and overproduction in manufacturing sectors that USTR claims burden U.S. commerce and displace domestic jobs. USTR also initiated investigations of 60 economies to determine whether acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. More Section 301 investigations are expected to be announced. 

U.S. and Ecuador Sign Reciprocal Trade Agreement

On March 13, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officially announced the signing of the United States–Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. Similar to other ART agreements, it includes new terms to expand preferential market access, while also lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers such as establishing an automatic renewal process for import licenses. According to the USTR fact sheet, Ecuador has committed to provide preferential treatment for more than 90 percent of its agricultural schedule for U.S. goods, including tariff elimination for soybeans, fresh and processed fruit, alcoholic beverages, and tree and ground nuts, as well as for certain dairy, beef, pork, and poultry products. In addition, Ecuador will no longer apply the Andean Price Band System to agricultural goods imported from the United States. 

USDA Announces LAMP Funding Awards

USDA announced that the agency will be providing $26.8 million in grants through the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to assist local and regional food entities with developing, coordinating, and expanding producer to consumer marketing and food systems. Of the total funding, $11.1 million will go towards 43 projects under the Farmers Market Promotional Program (FMPP), $11.1 million will go towards 37 projects under the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), and $4.7 million will go towards Regional Food Systems Partnerships (RFSP). The full announcement and awardees can be found here.  

SDRP & DMC Technical Corrections Issued

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) are making technical corrections to the regulations for the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) and the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. The rule corrects SDRP Stage 2 eligibility provisions for sugar beet producers and certain producers insured under Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage policies, as well as provisions related to the calculation of quality loss percentages under Stage 1 and Stage 2. For DMC, the rule addresses eligibility of dairy operations that have stopped producing and marketing milk before or during the annual coverage election period. The correction was published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2026.

Notable News 

• One Farmer, One File ushers in a new era of service at USDA | Opinion – Des Moines Register
• Her Lab Worked to Future-Proof Fruits and Vegetables – New York Times
• Hunger in Plain Sight – Insights by Murmuration
• Food prices could rise as Iran conflict disrupts fertilizer supply chain – CNBC
• Inside the GOP meeting to save the House – Axios
• USDA faces lawsuit challenging state SNAP waivers – Grocery Dive
• Trump Targets Industrial Subsidies and Forced Labor in Tariff Probes – Wall Street Journal 

This Week’s Legislation

• Reps. Robin Kelly (D-IL) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) introduced the Fueling Optimal Outcomes through Diet (FOOD) for Health Act, which would direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to Food is Medicine programs that prioritize local foods and regional diversity. 
• Reps. April McClain Delaney (D-MD) and Eugene Vindman (D-VA) introduced two bills, the Agricultural Conservation Mentorship Act and the Higher Education Challenge Grant Modernization Act, which would both aim to invest in the agricultural conservation workforce. 
• Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Terri Sewell (D-AL) introduced the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act to address Alabama’s rural wastewater crisis through the USDA Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program.
• Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) introduced legislation to extend and increase authorized funding for the USDA Policy Research Centers program.
• Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Agricultural Management Assistance Act to reauthorize and improve the Partnership for Risk Management Education and the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) programs. 

Upcoming Hearings

Tuesday, March 17 

• 10:00 AM: The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing titled “Pier Pressure: Regulation and Competition in Maritime Shipping”
• 10:00 AM: The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade will hold a hearing titled “Advancing America’s Interests at the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference.”
• 10:15 AM: The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing on Unleashing America’s Mineral Potential: The Critical Mineral Commodity Supply Chain.
• 10:30 AM: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human, Services, Education will hold an oversight hearing on the National Institutes of Health. 

Wednesday, March 18 

• 10:00 AM: The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on six bills: H.R. 3286, H.R. 4290, H.R. 4716, H.R. 5555, H.R. 6062 and H.R. 7031.
• 10:00 AM: The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party will hold a hearing titled “From the Science Lab to the Medicine Cabinet: How China is Cornering the Market on Our Medicines.”
• 10:00 AM: The Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water will hold a hearing “Examining the Challenges and Opportunities with Implementing the Endangered Species Act.”
• 10:00 AM: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a markup of H.R. 5688, Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act (Dalilah’s Law). 

Thursday, March 19  

• 9:30 AM ET: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting to Consider the Nomination of the Honorable Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security  

Contact the Team

Feel free to contact Michael Torrey, Tara Smith, Cassandra Kuball, Barbara Patterson, Katie Naessens, Julie McClure, Nona McCoy, Danielle Nelson, Ashley Smith, Olivia Lucanie, Caroline Sowinski, Eden Lambert, Tracy Boyle, or Grace Walker with any questions or comments.

Food and agricultural organizations that need the right results in Washington, D.C. can trust Torrey Advisory Group to put its relationships, reputation, and expertise to work on your issue. Since 2005, the firm has successfully provided legislative and regulatory guidance, issues management, and association management services to a wide variety of clients. Learn more about us at torreydc.com.