US Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Sector NAICS 11

Oct 16, 2025 - Farm Bailout on Hold

• The government shutdown is delaying aid President Trump promised to US farmers facing the financial pain of his tariffs on China, Politico reports. US soybean farmers, for example, who sell more than half of their crop to China, saw that market disappear this year as China shifted purchasing to other nations in retaliation for Trump’s trade war. Moreover, the multi-billion-dollar bailout package is needed soon so farmers can begin planning for next year’s planting season. But the administration has yet to finalize how much money to include in the first tranche of aid, how to pay for it and how to deploy it, reports Politico. The White House blames Democrats for the shutdown and delay. However, even if the government reopened tomorrow, it would likely take months to get aid to farmers who need it most, according to industry insiders and farm-state senators, Politico reports.
• 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.

• USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in August announced a staffing and reorganization plan for the agency that includes plans to close all nine of the US Forest Service’s regional offices. The affected offices are in Missoula, MT; Lakewood, CO; Albuquerque, NM; Ogden, UT; Vallejo, CA; Portland, OR; Atlanta, GA; Milwaukee, WI; and Juneau, AK. The reorganization plan follows mass terminations of at least 3,400 Forest Service employees in the first quarter of this year, along with 15,364 Forest Service employees taking early retirement at the encouragement of the administration, which it total represents a 50% reduction in the number of employees at the US Forest Service since 2024. Commenting on the reorg plan the Society of American Foresters emphasized that the regional offices are essential to effective forest management and raised concerns that their elimination could have significant negative impacts to the agency’s effectiveness.
• In response to President Trump’s April Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, NOAA Fisheries is calling for public comments to help fulfill the president's vision of making the US the world's dominant seafood leader. NOAA is gathering input on how to improve fisheries management and science, specifically on the following issues: Regulations that govern fishing activities that may be suspended, revised, or rescinded; Challenges specific fisheries are facing and and examples of existing federal fishery regulations that could be modified to enhance US fishing businesses; What types of data, forecasting tools, or information products are most needed by US fishing businesses to adapt effectively to changing economic and/or environmental conditions and maintain access to fishery resources; and how to expand exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing opportunities nationwide. The 45-day public comment period closed on October 14, 2025.