The Daily Dirt — Evening Edition
H-2A wages slashed and upheld by courts, paraquat still spraying US fields, a bipartisan bill to rebuild local food markets, and seven screwworm cases now confirmed.
- The Trump administration's April cuts to H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rates — as much as $5 per hour in some states — were upheld by courts; New York dairy workers are organizing at the state level, pushing a Farm Workers' Fair Labor Practices Act that federal policy can't touch.
- Paraquat, an herbicide linked to Parkinson's disease and childhood leukemia, remains legal in the US despite bans in the EU and more than 60 countries; EWG and advocates pushed New York's legislature to pass a state ban before it adjourned in early June, and a federal fight continues.
- Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act on June 18, aimed at restoring the regional food business centers and local market infrastructure that USDA cut in 2024–25 — the programs that connected small farms to institutional buyers and local markets.
- Utility-scale data centers and solar farms are accelerating their footprint on Midwest agricultural land — offering above-market leases that debt-stressed farm families often can't refuse — and Farm Progress's June 20 roundup flagged this as a standard agenda item alongside commodity program enrollment.
- USDA confirmed seven New World Screwworm cases in the US as of June 11, the first domestic detections since the 1960s; Senate Democrats are formally pressing USDA for stronger action and transparency, and livestock producers are urged to inspect all animals daily.
- USDA's Food and Nutrition Administration entered the week without a deputy under secretary following a June 17 leadership departure, a vacancy advocates warn could compromise oversight of 16 federal food and nutrition programs heading into the fall enrollment cycle.
Good evening from the Save US Farms Desk.
Sunday’s afternoon and evening window brought a full yield: a wage fight that moved from federal courts to Albany dairy barns, a pesticide banned everywhere but here still spraying US fields, a bipartisan bill to rebuild the local food infrastructure USDA gutted, and a livestock parasite case count that cattle country is still absorbing. Here’s the rundown.
Wages, courts, and the New York dairy fight
The Trump administration’s April cuts to the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate stood up in court — federal judges upheld the reductions, which slashed the wage floor by as much as $5 per hour in some states. Dairy workers in New York aren’t waiting for a federal fix. On June 15, farmworkers and advocates rallied in support of state legislation that would extend labor protections more broadly — a campaign that operates entirely outside federal H-2A rules and is harder to cut from Washington. Full analysis: H-2A wage cuts and what comes next.
Paraquat: still legal, still spraying
EWG advocates pushed hard in early June for New York’s legislature to pass a paraquat ban before adjourning. As of today, paraquat — a herbicide banned in the EU and more than 60 countries and linked to Parkinson’s disease and childhood leukemia — remains legal in the United States, where it’s still widely applied. The fight in Albany and in Congress continues. Full story: paraquat, Parkinson’s, and the fight to ban it.
A bipartisan bill to rebuild local food
Civil Eats reported June 18 that Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act with bipartisan support — aimed at restoring the regional food business centers and local market infrastructure that USDA cut in 2024–25. The cuts landed hardest on small diversified farms that can’t access commodity pipelines. Full analysis: after USDA’s local food cuts, Congress pushes back.
Land leaving agriculture
Farm Progress’s June 20 agribusiness roundup flagged data centers and solar farms as a featured agenda item alongside commodity program enrollment decisions — the sign that energy and tech infrastructure’s appetite for agricultural land has become standard fare in farm country, not a novelty. Full analysis: AI data centers and solar farms eating the Midwest’s best land.
Screwworm: seven cases and counting
Seven confirmed New World Screwworm cases in the US as of June 11 — Senate Democrats are formally pressing USDA for stronger action and transparency. USDA APHIS urges daily livestock inspection and immediate reporting of any suspected infestation. Full breakdown: the screwworm is back, and cattle country is bracing.
What to watch this week
Whether the screwworm case count climbs above seven. Whether the American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act gets traction in the Senate Agriculture Committee ahead of the farm bill markup. Whether the USDA Food and Nutrition Administration vacancy gets filled before the fall program cycle. And whether any H-2A wage-cut litigation produces a different result at the appellate level.
— Save US Farms Desk