{"id":1754,"date":"2026-02-19T18:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/trump-directs-usda-to-boost-production-of-glyphosate\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:01:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:01:31","slug":"trump-directs-usda-to-boost-production-of-glyphosate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/trump-directs-usda-to-boost-production-of-glyphosate\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Directs USDA to Boost Production of Glyphosate"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 19, 2026<\/b> \u2013 President Donald Trump issued an executive order<\/a> late Wednesday directing the Secretary of Agriculture to boost the domestic supply of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, in the name of national security.<\/p>\n

The order emphasizes increasing domestic production of elemental phosphorus, which is created by mining phosphate, to make glyphosate. Bayer currently imports most of its phosphate; its domestic supply comes from a long-running mine<\/a> in Idaho that is nearly tapped out. But in October, Trump\u2019s Bureau of Land Management approved<\/a> the company\u2019s proposal to build a new mine nearby, which will cover more than 1,800 acres of public and private land.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear exactly what Wednesday\u2019s executive order will mean for Bayer, but it essentially promises federal support for expanding glyphosate production.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the most widely used crop protection tools in United States agriculture, glyphosate-based herbicides are a cornerstone of this Nation\u2019s agricultural productivity and rural economy, allowing United States farmers and ranchers to maintain high yields and low production costs,\u201d Trump said in the order.<\/p>\n

The directive was met with dismay among prominent supporters of Secretary of Health and Human Services\u2019 Robert F. Kennedy Jr\u2019s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA). On X, toxicologist Alexandra Mu\u00f1oz called it<\/a> \u201coutrageous and unacceptable\u201d and anti-glyphosate advocate Kelly Ryerson said<\/a> glyphosate is the pesticide \u201cMAHA cares about most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy told<\/a> The New York Times <\/i>he supported the president\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The order, signed Wednesday night, comes at a fraught moment in the debate over the most widely used weedkiller in history.<\/p>\n

This week, Bayer proposed<\/a> a $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits<\/a> in which individuals claim using its product gave them non-Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma. The company has worked<\/a> to change state and federal laws to prevent future lawsuits. House Republicans included an immunity clause in a draft farm bill<\/a> last week, and the Trump administration has sided with Bayer in a case<\/a> the Supreme Court will hear in April.<\/p>\n

The new order directs the Agriculture Secretary to consult with the Secretary of War to determine the materials, services, and facilities needed nationwide \u201cto ensure a continued and adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also waives the liability of companies complying with the order and says that the Secretary of Agriculture will ensure \u201cthat any order, rule, or regulation issued under this section does not place the corporate viability of any domestic producer of elemental phosphorus or glyphosate-based herbicides at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) put out a statement calling the order a \u201cvital step forward\u201d in ensuring glyphosate remains available to farmers. But environmental groups and MAHA supporters expressed anger<\/a>, and some said<\/a> the order showed the Trump administration is not serious about improving Americans\u2019 health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone still wondered whether \u2018Make America Healthy Again\u2019 was a genuine commitment to protecting public health or a scam concocted by President Trump and RFK Jr. to rally health-conscious voters in 2024, today\u2019s decision answers that question,\u201d Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said in a statement. (Link to this post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Trump Directs USDA to Boost Production of Glyphosate<\/a> appeared first on Civil Eats<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 19, 2026 \u2013 President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Wednesday directing the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}