US Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Sector NAICS 11

Dec 16, 2025 - $12 Billion in Aid to Farmers

• Long-awaited assistance for America’s struggling farmers, delayed by the government shutdown, arrived in December, The New York Times reports. At a White House event with farmers, President Trump unveiled a $12 billion rescue package with most of the relief funds coming from the USDA’s Farmer Bridge Assistance program. According to the Agriculture Department, the money will go to producers of corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, rice, wheat, and other row crops, with payments to farmers to be made by the end of February. The Trump administration will initially distribute $11 billion and is reserving another $1 billion to support growers of fruits and vegetables as needed, according to NYT. Still, the total payout to farmers could be far less than their recent losses caused by Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China, which caused China to retaliate by boycotting US farm products, most notably soybeans.
• US production of red meat fell again in 2025, according to the December Livestock Slaughter Report from the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS). Year-to-date through the end of October, cattle slaughter declined 6.7% to 24.9 million head, marking the third consecutive year of decline, with the reduction in head slaughtered more than twice the magnitude of last year’s decrease. Volume losses in 2025 have been led by steers and heifers, down 4.7% and 7%, respectively. Declines in beef cow and bull slaughter have also been significant, with beef cow slaughter down 18.2% year over year to just below 2 million head, while bulls are down 10%. Record low cattle herd inventories and declining slaughter rates are driving up the price of beef, which is nearly 33% higher than in 2020, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

• Bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce the risk of wildfires on US forest lands passed a Senate committee in October, the Washington State Standard reports. The Fix Our Forests Act, introduced in the Senate in April and passed by the House, would promote prescribed burns, expand the state-federal Good Neighbor Authority program, increase collaboration among fire agencies, and improve reforestation efforts after fires. It also makes some rule changes that could impact how areas designated as high fire danger are managed and how projects in those areas proceed. The bill is backed by the timber industry and some environmental organizations, including the Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society. Forest Service data shows that hazardous fuels reduction work across its lands was down 38% this year compared with the same period during the previous four calendar years. Federal cuts and a firefighter shortage are delaying mitigation efforts.
• According to a new report from NOAA Fisheries, there were 95 large whale entanglement cases documented in 2024, an increase from 2023 and higher than the historical average. 2024’s entanglement count is above the average annual number of confirmed entanglements over the previous 17 years, which was 71.4. The National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2024, released in September, finds that entanglements in fishing gear or marine debris represent an ongoing threat to the welfare and recovery of many whale species, including species that are endangered and approaching extinction (e.g., North Atlantic right whales). Entanglements involving threatened or endangered species can have significant negative impacts on the population as a whole. NOAA's Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan has required some fishermen to use gear, like weaker ropes, that lower the risk of entanglement.