Jan. 30, 2025 The Midwest Center For Investigative Reporting
Two weeks in: How President Donald Trump is already reshaping the agriculture industry
President Donald Trump’s second term is 11 days old, and in that time, he’s signed a flurry of executive orders, pushed forward cabinet nominees and moved to toughen immigration enforcement. The president is having an immediate impact on the nation’s agriculture system.
Investigate Midwest’s team of journalists have been reporting on Trump’s early days and I’d like to draw your attention to three stories in particular.
First, Sky Chadde reported on the Senate confirmation hearing of Brooke Rollins, Trump’s nominee for agriculture secretary. Asked about the president’s desire to deport thousands of undocumented farm workers, Rollins called those concerns “hypothetical.” She downplayed reports that show about 40% of America’s 2 million farmworkers are not authorized to work in the country.
Mónica Cordero’s story examines the panic in Iowa’s agriculture communities over Trump’s deportation threats. The new administration has said deportation actions should be expected in large Democratic-controlled cities, including New York City, Chicago (which have started) and Denver. However, there’s also concern in many of America’s rural communities, especially as some Republican governors have pledged to help Trump with his deportation efforts.
Finally, another story by Mónica takes a closer look at how Trump might change the Environmental Protection Agency and its impact on regulations related to meatpacking plant pollution, fertilizer chemicals and a wide range of other agriculture-related environmental standards.
— Ben Felder, editor in chief
One of President Donald Trump’s first-term achievements was a major tax cut, which he signed into law in 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act largely benefited the wealthiest families in the U.S.
But farm households also saw their tax rates decrease.
That means many farms will see their tax liability increase when the tax cuts expire at the end of the year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture research.
Congress could extend the tax cuts through legislation, and Trump has said he wants more changes to the tax code.
If the tax cuts do expire, which is scheduled for midnight on Dec. 31, 2025, farm households of varying sizes would be affected in different ways.
View the graphics here.
ICYMI: 18 years and counting: EPA still has no method for measuring CAFO air pollution
By Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
As the EPA still lacks standardized methods for measuring air pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, the implications extend beyond environmental oversight to the health and well-being of rural communities.
The inability to accurately measure pollutants like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide has left these areas vulnerable, with no clear accountability for air quality impacts. While this analysis was originally published in April 2023, the issues it explores remain highly relevant today, especially as concerns grow over potential regulatory rollbacks under President Trump’s second term.
The push for Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency signals a shift towards easing regulations on water protections, agricultural emissions, and industrial pollution.
Read more.
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Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public as a watchdog over influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
