Fast-paced, challenging year for legislative, regulatory policies

WASHINGTON — Working with a new administration during 2025 has been fast-paced and challenging for those dealing with regulatory and legislative policies.

“The shift in terms of stamina and hustle from the previous four years were at a different pace,” said Ryan Yates, managing director for government affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“The challenges that President Trump and his administration are tackling today look very different than where they were eight years ago and we are working with a brand-new team,” said Yates during “The Road Ahead,” the American Dairy Coalition’s annual business meeting webinar.

“The margins we find in Congress create a political dynamic where it is challenging to get anything done and anything that does get done needs to be largely in a bipartisan way with the exception of perhaps the budget reconciliation,” the managing director said.

“Congress took advantage of the budget reconciliation process and passed what Trump dubbed the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ — and, for agriculture, I could not ask for a more successful bill that is going to provide dividends for years to come,” he said.

Without the passage of this bill, Yates said, there was a significant tax cliff in front of farmers.

“The impact our small businesses would have faced with the rollbacks from the JOBS Act, had the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ not passed, would have been devastating,” the managing director said.

“Not only did it re-up many of the important provisions including the death tax, stepped-up basis, lowering tax rates and 199A deductions, but many of these were also made permanent,” he said. “That is a gift that will provide long-term dividends for agribusinesses, farmers and ranchers.”

For regulatory issues, Yates said, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working on the “waters of the United States” rule.

“The EPA has moved forward a WOTUS proposal that will provide some long-term certainty for agriculture,” he said. “That’s a big win and we’re hoping to see EPA finalize that in the months ahead.”

Labor continues to be a problem for some dairymen and one solution could be changes to the H-2A visa program.

“Dairy needs year-around labor, so we need some significant statutory changes so we can improve labor availability and costs for the dairy industry,” Yates said.

“Every farm that I have been on across the country in the last several years, labor continues to be a top priority,” he said. “Finding a path forward on labor and immigration continues to have significant hurdles to find common ground, but our Farm Bureau board has given us clear direction that finding labor solutions is a top priority.”

Looking forward, Yates talked about trade deals and work by the administration to elevate the issue of trade.

“The president has been very clear that he wants fair deals for American businessmen and businesswomen and tariffs are the choice that he is using,” the managing director said.

“Ultimately, if we can secure deals, increase market access and decrease tariffs, I think we are going to find ourselves in a much more competitive standpoint from an American perspective,” he said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the U.S. secretary of health and human services, has a unique look at health, wellness and nutrition, Yates said.

“He has been very committed to addressing childhood health and nutrition issues,” the managing director said.

“We have spent countless hours trying to educate folks who perhaps don’t truly understand how American agriculture and the food system works,” he said. “So, I think we are much better off today than perhaps we were six months ago.”

In January, Yates is expecting dietary guidelines to be released.

“That will help consumers make positive choices for healthy, nutritious American grown food, including dairy products,” he said. “Working in agriculture we love to eat and feed people and health and wellness is an important component in our ability to be successful in agriculture.”

Low commodity prices and high input prices are resulting in an upside-down farm economy for many farmers.

“Our goal is to chase policies that don’t just deal with the short–term impacts,” Yates said.

“If we can look at ways to decrease the impacts of inflation and lower costs from equipment to labor to fertilizer, seed and chemistries, then as commodity prices go up, hopefully we can right the economy in a way that provides some long-term resilience,” the managing director said.

“But this is going to take long-term policy wins and an increased demand for American-grown products domestically and abroad,” he said.

“China is the elephant in the room, but I think it is important to recognize that President Trump is a strong negotiator and I think he will do everything in his power to negotiate a good deal,” Yates said.

“China will buy until they don’t,” he said. “They are in a position now where they are not buying, so separating the policy from the theater is important.”

Sometimes trade negotiations take time.

“We want to create opportunities to move goods when China stops purchasing and make up for that on the global market which can be a challenge,” Yates said.

“That’s why it is so important to look at what Ambassador Jamieson Greer is doing at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the conversations they are having with Southeast Asian countries and negotiations with Canada and Mexico,” he said.

“They are trying to secure long-term resiliency and at the same time having conversations on E15 and biofuels to shore-up domestic demand for American agricultural products,” Yates said.

“All of these will play out over time, but hopefully they will provide new markets that will be lasting,” he said. “I am optimistic, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”