The Farmers on the Rise program was established in 2021 to honor beginning farmers with three to 10 years of experience from diverse ag communities. Recipients are selected based on their efforts in agriculture, financial character, leadership and community involvement, and environmental stewardship. To learn more about the program, visit https://www.horizonfc.com/rise.

Congressional Bill H.R. 5371 signed into law

On Nov. 12, 2025, President Trump signed into law H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, which makes continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes.

The Senate passed the bill on a 60-40 vote to send it on to the House for approval and President Trump’s signature to reopen the government and end a 41-day government shutdown.

H.R. 5371 extends programs under the 2018 Farm Bill  to Sept. 30, 2026. Key inclusions for agriculture include:

• $1.2 billion for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to address animal diseases, including New World screwworm and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
• $1.2 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS); and
• $211 million for the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

$107.5 billion is appropriated for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

USDA announces opening of sterile fly dispersal facility in Tampico, Mexico

On Nov. 13 the USDA announced the next milestone in the fight against New World screwworm (NWS) — the opening of a sterile fly dispersal facility in Tampico, Mexico. The facility will allow USDA to disperse sterile flies aerially across northeastern Mexico, including in Nuevo León.

“The opening of the Tampico sterile fly dispersal facility is another incredibly important tool in our arsenal to stop the spread of screwworm,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “The facility will ensure flexibility and responsiveness in northern Mexico, giving us a greater ability to drop sterile flies and continue to push the pest south.”

Rollins said the week prior she had a productive meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her counterpart in Mexico, Secretary Julio Berdegue, on the joint response to screwworm.

“We are boosting our efforts and completing a joint review of our screwworm operations in Mexico to ensure our protocols are being followed,” she said. “As we enter the winter months, we continue to prioritize the response in Mexico and the rest of our five-pronged plan to protect U.S. livestock and the livelihoods of American farmers and ranchers.”

There are two methods of dispersing sterile insects — aerial dispersal and ground release chambers. Aerial operations are preferred because they allow for dispersal at a steady rate through a large area and because sterile insects may be dispersed in areas that are unreachable from the ground. Ground release chambers are used when there’s a need to quickly deploy sterile insects outside of the dispersal facility range.

USDA continues to disperse 100 million sterile flies per week in Mexico, but until now, aerial operations have been limited to southern Mexico, necessitating the use of ground release chambers in more northern areas of the country.

Although Mexico continues to confirm new cases of NWS, the overwhelming majority of these remain in the far southern part of the country, with no significant northward expansion during the past several months. Should that change, the Tampico facility will allow USDA to immediately tackle any cases that occur elsewhere in Mexico.

The two northernmost detections (approximately 70 and 170 miles from the U.S. border, respectively) occurred in Nuevo León, on Sept. 20 and Oct. 5, in young cattle transported from Chiapas, Mexico. Neither of case is still active, and there have been no additional detections of NWS flies in traps or cases in animals in Nuevo León. USDA continues to disperse sterile insects in Nuevo León, and will now transition from ground release chambers to aerial dispersal in those areas.

USDA produces sterile flies for dispersal at the COPEG facility in Panama. USDA is also investing $21 million to support Mexico’s renovation of an existing fruit fly facility in Metapa, which will double NWS production capacity once complete. With ongoing support from APHIS technical experts, Mexico anticipates this sterile fly production to begin as soon as summer 2026.

To expand our domestic response capacity, USDA began construction on a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, that is projected to begin operating in early 2026. APHIS is also expediting design and construction of a sterile fly production facility in southern Texas, with a targeted maximum capacity of 300 million sterile flies per week.

Second stage of crop disaster assistance for farmers opened

Three days after the government reopened, the Trump administration and Ag Secretary Rollins moved to reopen more than 2,000 county FSA offices so farmers could continue to access USDA services during harvest. On Nov. 17, USDA announced it would release billions in disaster assistance for those recovering from natural disasters across the country.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is delivering more than $16 billion in total congressionally approved Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) assistance. This is on top of more than $9.3 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) assistance and more than $705 million in Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) assistance.

Stage Two of SDRP covers eligible crop, tree, bush and vine losses that were not covered under Stage One program provisions, including non-indemnified (shallow loss), uncovered and quality losses. For Stage Two program details, including fact sheets, click here.

The first stage, announced in July, remains available to producers who received an indemnity under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for eligible crop losses due to qualifying 2023 and 2024 natural disaster events. FSA county offices began accepting SDRP Stage Two applications Nov. 24. Producers have until April 30, 2026, to apply for both Stage One and Stage Two assistance. FSA is establishing block grants with Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine and Massachusetts that cover crop losses; therefore, producers with losses on land physically located in these states are not eligible for SDRP program payments.

The Milk Loss Program provides up to $1.65 million in payments to eligible dairy operations for milk that was dumped or removed without compensation from the commercial milk market because of a qualifying natural disaster event in 2023 and/or 2024.

Producers who suffered losses of eligible harvested commodities while stored in on-farm structures in 2023 and/or 2024 due to a qualifying natural disaster event may be eligible for assistance through the On-Farm Stored Commodity Loss Program, which provides for up to $5 million to affected producers.

The enrollment period to apply for milk and on-farm stored commodity losses is Nov. 24, 2025-Jan. 23, 2026. Information and fact sheets for both programs are available online.

NCBA supports legislation to expand local beef sales

On Nov. 6, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced continued support for the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT Act of 2025), which was introduced as S. 3099. This legislation introduced by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) would increase marketing opportunities for smaller meat processors and give consumers more options to buy local beef.

“The cattle business benefits greatly from expanding marketing opportunities, and the DIRECT Act opens the door to the growing number of cattle producers who seek to grow their market across state lines,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “The increased market exposure for those cattlemen and women who are selling beef direct to consumers adds value and provides tremendous benefit for our farmers and ranchers.”

The DIRECT Act of 2025 would allow state-inspected meat processors to sell beef across state lines, in limited quantities and through e-commerce, direct to consumers. The bill also protects food safety by ensuring a paper trail exists for tracing and containing potential food safety issues. Many of these direct-to-consumer marketing methods have rapidly increased in popularity during the last several years, and consumers have recognized the convenience of buying local beef online.

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Nov. 4.

CattleCon 2026 offers enticements to next generation of producers

College students and recent graduates are encouraged to attend CattleCon 2026 in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 3-5, to prepare for careers in the cattle industry.

Attendees can visit participating “Career Crawl” companies at the NCBA Trade Show on Thursday, Nov. 5, to explore internships, job openings and career opportunities while engaging in meaningful conversations with ag professionals. The first 250 FFA members and 250 4-H members to register will receive complimentary one-day Thursday registration, courtesy of Culver’s and Nationwide.

Collegiates are invited to join American National CattleWomen for an educational session dedicated to shaping the future of the cattle and beef industries. During the Emerging Leaders event on Thursday morning, attendees can connect with industry leaders, gain valuable insights and explore exciting career and networking opportunities.

Education is a cornerstone of CattleCon and, in 2026, all registration options include Cattlemen’s College sessions and demonstrations. In addition, while roaming the NCBA Trade Show attendees can stop in the Learning Lounge to enjoy informal, face-to-face talks and listen to Cattle Chats, which will feature beef industry educational sessions.

National Block and Bridle will host its annual convention in conjunction with CattleCon 2026. Block and Bridle members will be able to attend select CattleCon activities.

To receive free one-day Thursday registration, FFA members must use the code FFACULVERS, and 4-H members, 4HNW. In addition, children 12 and under receive free one-day admission with a paid guardian. A variety of other registration options are also available, and all include Cattlemen’s College education sessions and demonstrations. For more information and to register and reserve housing, visit https://convention.ncba.org.

NCBA secures new WOTUS proposed rule that protects family farmers and ranchers

On Nov. 17 NCBA announced support for the new proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The revised WOTUS rule comes after decades of advocacy by NCBA and state affiliate partners to remove confusing and burdensome regulations on cattle farmers and ranchers.

“Waters of the U.S. has been a longstanding and frustrating issue for family farmers and ranchers. Every few years, the definition of a ‘water of the U.S.’ has changed. Often, this meant that small water features like prairie potholes or dry ditches suddenly fell under federal regulation,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “NCBA has spent years fighting to protect cattle producers from excessive red tape. We went to the EPA, advocated on Capitol Hill, and even took this issue all the way up to the Supreme Court to protect our members from federal overreach. We appreciate the EPA finally fixing previous WOTUS rules and supporting America’s family farmers and ranchers.”

The revised WOTUS rule ensures that only large bodies of water and their main tributaries fall under federal jurisdiction.

Past WOTUS rules placed small, isolated water features under federal regulation. Prairie potholes, playa lakes and even ditches that only carried water after large storms became regulated as if they were a large lake, river or ocean.

In addition to congressional advocacy and technical comments to the EPA, NCBA also stood up for cattle producers’ rights in court. The organization filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Sackett v. EPA and received a major victory in 2023 that rolled back previous overreaching WOTUS rules. NCBA also initiated numerous lawsuits under the Obama and Biden administrations to prevent harmful rules from affecting cattle producers.

Since the Trump administration entered office at the start of 2025, NCBA has been working with newly appointed EPA officials to craft a new WOTUS rule that ends the uncertainty caused by previous regulations.

“Today’s WOTUS announcement finally acknowledges that the federal government should work to protect lakes, rivers and oceans, rather than regulating ditches and ponds on family farms and ranches,” said NCBA Chief Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart. “NCBA is pleased to see the EPA stand up for cattle producers, and we look forward to providing input on this proposed rule.”

NCBA and its state affiliate partners will submit comments to the agency on the rule, which will be considered before the rule is finalized.

Editor’s note: “News & Notes” is compiled from information provided by industry and government sources.

Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 17, No. 12-A