Heritage Action is a conservative think tank known for criticizing programs at the USDA. The Hagstrom Report says the group applauds White House budget proposals released this week. However, the group did say it was disappointed the proposals didn’t include structural changes to Medicare and Social Security. Heritage Action CEO Michael Needham calls budget proposals “visionary documents,” saying that the Trump proposal would put taxpayers first by directing their dollars toward the most effective programs. “It’s the type of document our president promised on the campaign trail,” he says, “including some serious, structural reforms to our nation’s entitlement system.” He added that the failure to address Social Security and Medicare would make it difficult for the nation to address its ever-growing debt. “The Trump budget presents an opportunity for Republicans to unite around fiscally responsible reform for food stamps, disability insurance, and the Earned Income Tax Credit,” Needham says.

The deep cuts to the nation’s agricultural support programs proposed by President Donald Trump have put Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in an awkward position with both lawmakers and farm groups. Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says a good example of this is the plan to cut funding for trade promotion programs and to eliminate more than 230 jobs geared toward boosting U.S. exports. These proposed cuts follow a promise from the secretary that the administration would focus on expanding foreign market access to help farmers. The plan also proposes to cut $193 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the next decade. However, that idea runs completely opposite of comments that Perdue made about SNAP before the House Agriculture Committee that said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In a budget hearing with reporters on Tuesday, Politico says Perdue didn’t speak much, passing off the telephone to acting USDA Deputy Secretary and Budget Director Michael Young. During the briefing, Young was quick to point out that USDA and the secretary had little to no part in putting together the budget proposal.

ChemChina and Sinochem are planning a merger next year. Several senior bankers in Asia say the merger would create the biggest chemicals group in the world with $100 billion in revenues. The merger would come after ChemChina’s $43 billion merger with Syngenta. A Financial Times Dot Com article says China has 1.4 billion people to feed, so the country is looking for more control of technology in seeds, herbicides, and pesticides. The Chinese government is pushing for more control of technology despite widespread domestic opposition to genetically modified crops. Bankers across Asia told the Financial Times that the move is politically driven and intended to make sure that ChemChina has the financial strength to absorb Syngenta. The heavily indebted chemicals conglomerate will have achieved China’s largest overseas purchase when the Syngenta deal is complete. While bridge financing has been in place for the Syngenta deal for over a year, ChemChina has revealed very little about its financing plans other than a mix of loans, equity, and support.

Candidate Donald Trump vowed to get rid of the Environmental Protection Agency in virtually every way, leaving only tidbits of what it once was. A Washington Post article says his budget proposal aims to follow through on that campaign promise. The proposed budget from the White House hits the EPA with a 31 percent budget cut, down to $5.65 billion. The plan eliminates several regional programs, including those that restore the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Puget Sound. It slashes funding for the Superfund Cleanup Program, which helps restore some of the most polluted sites in the nation. Despite the cut to the Superfund, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt lists the program as one of his biggest priorities. Pruitt said the president’s budget respects the American taxpayer. “This budget supports EPA’s highest priorities with federal funding for priority work in infrastructure, air and water quality,” Pruitt says, “and it ensures the safety of chemicals in the marketplace.” The proposal does maintain funding for high priority infrastructure investments like grants and low-cost funding for projects that improve drinking water quality and wastewater treatment.

Several major Ag organizations and lawmakers representing farm states reacted negatively to the president’s budget proposals. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says agriculture has done more than its fair share to help reduce the deficit over the years. “The Administration’s budget proposal fails to recognize agriculture’s current financial challenges or its historical contribution to deficit reduction,” Duvall says. The National Farmers Union called the president’s budget proposal an assault on the farm safety net and rural communities. “It’s deeply disappointing that the president would propose such cuts, especially in the midst of a farm crisis that has families who’ve lost 50 percent of their farm income over the past few years,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. U.S. Wheat Associates is disappointed that the budget proposal eliminates funding for the USDA’s Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program. “Without funding for these vital programs,” says USW President Alan Tracy, “we would not be able to continue the training necessary to promote our product and our competitors would swoop in and overtake American producers in foreign markets.” He adds that the effect on wheat prices would be obvious.

A Reuters report says President Trump’s budget proposal contains $46.54 billion in cuts to government funding in the Ag sector, with those cuts spread out over ten years. The biggest proposed cut is $38 billion dollars from farm support programs. Those cuts include new limits on federal subsidies for crop insurance premiums and a cap on potential commodity program payments. The president proposes a 36 percent cut in the federally subsidized crop insurance program. That’s a larger cut than what the Obama Administration proposed and was ultimately rejected by farm state lawmakers. Crop insurance cuts would yield the largest savings, including $16.2 billion by limiting the government’s share of premiums. It would also save $11.9 billion by eliminating the harvest-price option. The proposed budget cuts would actually eliminate the Rural Development Program, which provides zero-interest loans to rural utilities and support to rural businesses. It would also reduce government costs for federal inspectors at meat plants in two years by adding $600 million in user fees for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The United States stands to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the trade agreement. New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay told Radio New Zealand the U.S., and other non-TPP countries, will benefit from the changes to the sharing of pharmaceutical information. However, no added benefits extend to agriculture, which TPP was thought to increase U.S. agricultural export sales by $4 billion. McClay of New Zealand was meeting with his counterpart in Japan this week to discuss whether the current text of the TPP should remain in place, or if changes to the agreement should be made. In a news release, Japan and New Zealand officials said the nations “remain committed to maintaining the unity among the TPP nations and “early entry into force” of the agreement. The two countries also confirmed a continued cooperation in concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an Asia-Pacific trade deal under negotiation that excludes the United States but includes China.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the head of the Agriculture Department’s rural development efforts would be confirmed by the Senate, as included in his USDA reorganization proposal. He made the remarks during a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the state of the rural economy Wednesday. Perdue, who announced the reorganization plan last week, said the head of the rural development mission area under his plan would be an assistant secretary confirmed by the Senate. But, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says the change must be approved by Congress. A spokesperson with the Coalition told the Hagstrom Report that what Perdue said “cannot be true,” unless USDA proposes legislation to Congress to create the new assistant secretary position. By law, USDA is limited to three assistant secretaries, according to the Coalition.