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MAHA Commission targets childhood health crisis... By executive order, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission was launched to advise President Donald Trump on solutions to the nation’s childhood chronic disease crisis. Chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as key members, the commission’s call to action is clear: “Make Our Children Healthy Again.”
The commission said, “Despite outspending peer nations by more than double per capita on healthcare, the United States ranks last in life expectancy among high-income countries — and suffers higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. It listed four drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease in the United States.
- Poor Diet: The American diet has shifted dramatically toward ultra-processed foods (UPFs), leading to nutrient depletion, increased caloric intake and exposure to harmful additives.
- Aggregation of Environmental Chemicals: Children are exposed to an increasing number of synthetic chemicals, some of which have been linked to developmental issues and chronic disease.
- Lack of Physical Activity and Chronic Stress: American children are experiencing unprecedented levels of inactivity, screen use, sleep deprivation and chronic stress.
- Overmedicalization: There is a trend of overprescribing medications to children, often driven by conflicts of interest in medical research, regulation and practice.
UPFs and Federal Policy Under Fire
The commission takes particular aim at UPFs and the government’s dietary guidelines, criticizing both for neglecting health consequences. It notes: “Nearly 70% of an American child’s calories come from ultra-processed grains, sugars and fats.” While these foods offer convenience and cost savings, the commission argues that decades of policy failures have allowed them to dominate children’s diets, to the detriment of their health.
Rebuilding Health Through Agriculture
The solution, the report asserts, lies in centering healthcare around whole foods produced by American farmers. The commission advocates for:
- Redirecting government food programs to prioritize health, not just calories.
- Expanding crop insurance for specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
- Refocusing SNAP benefits and improving school lunches.
- Correcting market imbalances, where a handful of corporations dominate food production, while small farmers get squeezed.
Kennedy said he expects the upcoming revision of the national dietary guidelines to emphasize whole foods and caution against packaged, processed items.
Agricultural Chemicals: A Cautious Approach
While the MAHA report addressed concerns about common pesticides like glyphosate and atrazine, it stopped short of classifying them as unsafe. Instead, it called for a balanced regulatory approach:
Importantly, the MAHA Commission said it will “work with farmers to ensure that United States food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world... ensuring not just the survival, but the prosperity, of American Farmers.... Scientific processes set forth by Congress must involve thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for adequate protection, alternatives and cost of production. Precipitous changes in agricultural practices could have an adverse impact on American agriculture and the domestic and global food supply. The federal government will continue to regularly review the safety of these important crop protection tools.”
What’s Next: August Strategy Due
The commission is now tasked with drafting a full national strategy by August. Rollins, balancing her dual role as USDA Secretary and MAHA commissioner, faces the complex challenge of supporting farmers while implementing public health reforms.
“We must ensure not just the survival, but the prosperity of American farmers,” the report states. The commission discussion on ag chemicals should soothe ag industry concerns, but UPFs will make some in the sector nervous.
The debate over the future of America’s food and health systems is just beginning.
Drought footprint, intensity shrink, especially in spring wheat areas... As of May 20, the Drought Monitor showed 52% of the U.S. was covered by abnormal dryness/drought, down three percentage points from the previous week. USDA estimated D1-D4 drought conditions covered 21% of the U.S. winter wheat crop (down two points), 22% of corn area (unchanged), 16% of soybeans (down one point), 29% of spring wheat (down nine points) and 8% of cotton production areas (unchanged).
Across major corn, soybean, wheat and cotton states, dryness/drought covered 53% of Iowa (no D3 or D4), 54% of Illinois (no D3 or D4), 37% of Indiana (no D3 or D4), 81% of Minnesota (no D3 or D4), 100% of Nebraska (13% D3, no D4), 88% of South Dakota (virtually no D3, no D4), 58% of North Dakota (2% D3, no D4), 81% of Kansas (no D3 or D4), 79% of Colorado (5% D3, no D4), 52% of Texas (23% D3 or D4), 16% of Oklahoma (no D3 or D4), 2% of Tennessee (no D3 or D4), 43% of Wisconsin (no D3 or D4) and 27% of Michigan (no D3 or D4). No measurable dryness/drought was reported for Ohio, Kentucky or Arkansas.
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Lower feedlot inventory, placements expected in Cattle on Feed Report... Analysts polled by Reuters expect USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report Friday afternoon to show the May 1 feedlot inventory declined 1.5% from year-ago to 11.381 million head. A focal point will remain placements, which are expected to have declined 3.2% from year-ago levels. Placements at 1.603 million head would represent the smallest total for April since 2020. Marketings are anticipated to have declined 3.3% in April since packers slowed slaughter runs amid struggles to source supplies and poor margins.
Key provisions in House reconciliation bill... The legislation includes $3.8 trillion in tax cuts and cuts in growth of Medicaid and SNAP coupled with the phase out of some clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act and increases for reference prices in Title I of the farm bill.
- Nearly $1 trillion in cuts from the growth in Medicaid and food stamps
- Work requirements for Medicaid starting at the end of 2026
- Boosts farm bill Title I safety net reference prices
- Positive changes to crop insurance
- Raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion
- Spending $150 billion on defense programs
- Limiting judges’ power to hold the Trump administration in contempt
- Phasing out some Biden-era energy tax credits sooner than planned
- Increasing the state and local tax deduction
- Making trillions of dollars of income tax breaks permanent
- Allocating $45 billion to build new immigration detention facilities
- Allowing certain taxpayers to deduct income from tips on tax returns
Of note: The changes included phasing out some renewable energy provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) sooner than the original bill had scheduled. There were no changes, however, to the Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z) in the final package.
As we noted in “First Thing Today,” the bill will likely see significant revisions in the Senate version, especially to tax provisions. If altered, the House would need to pass the revised version with its razor-thin three-seat GOP majority — and against a louder Democratic campaign.
Senate blocks California plan to end gas-powered vehicle sales... The Senate voted to bar California’s landmark plan to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035 that has been adopted by 11 other states representing a third of the U.S. auto market. The vote sends to President Donald Trump the measure to repeal a waiver granted by EPA under former President Joe Biden in December, allowing California to mandate at least 80% EVs by 2035.