Trump Administration and Floriculture: Checking in on Budget Proposals and Tariffs
June 5, 2025 Each week, the editorial team at Greenhouse Grower and Meister Media Worldwide will bring you the latest updates from the Trump administration’s policies and their impact on floriculture, from labor to the farm bill to funding for anything from federal loans to research and Extension. We also want to hear from you. What questions do you have about immigration enforcement, tariffs, or other topics? Let us know, and we’ll do our best to get you answers.
Here’s our update for June 5.
An Overview of the Proposed USDA Budget
Politico has summarized the Trump administration’s requested $23 billion for USDA for fiscal 2026, a cut of nearly $7 billion from the current year, according to budget documents released last week.
The proposal follows President Donald Trump’s release earlier this month of his “skinny budget,” which outlined proposals for billions of dollars in cuts to food, forest and conservation programs and increased funding for the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
This more detailed release signals the spending priorities of the White House, which may not be fully embraced by Congress.
Here are some of the details:
- If Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Trump administration get their way, USDA would deeply reduce nearly all of the department’s major initiatives, from the Risk Management Agency to Rural Development to the Forest Service to the Office of Civil Rights.
- The budget request seeks to eliminate programs like the Source Water Protection Program, Dairy Business Innovation initiatives, direct loans for rural single-family housing, conservation technical assistance, and the Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
- The request aims to reduce the Farm Service Agency, which supports farm loans, conservation, and disaster assistance, by $372 million. It would shrink the Natural Resources Conservation Service from $916 million to $112 million. The Forest Service would decrease from $16.8 billion last year to $4 billion, as Rollins looks to transfer wildland fire management appropriations to Interior to create a new U.S. Wildland Fire Service. USDA’s research arm would also take a budget hit.
- The budget request also calls for cutting its SNAP funding allocation by more than half, along with child nutrition programs, as GOP lawmakers are looking to slash SNAP spending by up to $300 billion. And the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children would receive nearly $300 million less than it did last year.
Farmer Groups Urge Trump Administration to Base Pending MAHA Report on Sound Science
The Make America Healthy Again Commission is expected to soon release a report that will have significant bearing on America’s farmers, producers, and ranchers, and the public’s trust in our food system. In anticipation, several ag organizations are imploring the administration to consider the consequences of this MAHA Commission report before it is finalized.
“American agriculture’s strong relationship with President Trump is based on his longstanding commitment to farmers, growers and ranchers. That is why farmers represented by the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, and International Fresh Produce Association are imploring the administration to carefully consider the content and consequences of the forthcoming Make America Healthy Again Commission report before it is finalized.
Learn more at CropLife.com.
Tracking Tariffs
U.S. trade policy is rapidly changing under President Donald Trump. After vowing to implement wide-sweeping duties on the campaign trail, Trump has signed multiple executive orders enacting higher levies and initiated multiple trade reviews over the last few months, building on actions from his first term. Along the way, the administration has frequently moved the goalposts for some tariff threats, spurring confusion among businesses domestic and abroad.
To help companies keep up in this fluctuating environment, SupplyChainDive.com has developed a “tracker” of tariff-related actions taken by the U.S. and its trading partners since the beginning of 2025. Supply Chain Dive will keep updating this table as new information arises.
More Headlines
Greenhouse Grower to Grower Podcast: AFE’s Laura Barth on Research Funding, and How You Can Support American Floral Endowment: In this episode, American Floral Endowment Research Coordinator Laura Barth talks about the impacts of federal funding cuts on horticulture research, and AFE’s upcoming Rise to Support fundraising campaign.
Specialty Crop Sector Speaks up Amid Latest Budget Bill Developments, from GrowingProduce.com.
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