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How the Trump administration's policies will shape the U.S. feed industry
448 Plays7 months ago
As the first year of the Trump administration's second term passes its midpoint, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has navigated a complex landscape of trade negotiations, regulatory changes, and supply chain vulnerabilities while pushing for critical legislative reforms.
AFIA President and CEO Constance Cullman joins the podcast to share how U.S. feed industry stakeholders have upped their engagement with key policymakers. Progress aside, she warns that ongoing staffing cuts at key federal agencies and the administration's tariff strategies present opportunities and risks for feed producers seeking to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers — particularly China's dominance in the vitamin market — while maintaining competitive export positions.
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Transcript
Introduction to Feed Strategy Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
Hi everyone.
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Feed Strategy Podcast.
00:00:11
Speaker
I'm your host, Jackie Remke, Editor-in-Chief of Watts Feed Brands and Feed Strategy.
00:00:17
Speaker
This edition of Feed Strategy Podcast is brought to you by FeedStrategy.com.
00:00:21
Speaker
FeedStrategy.com
Impact of 2025 on US Feed Producers
00:00:23
Speaker
is your source for the latest news and leading edge analysis of the global animal feed industry.
00:00:29
Speaker
Today we're joined by Constance Coleman, President and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association, or AFIA,
00:00:37
Speaker
She's here to share her thoughts on how the first half of 2025 has impacted US feed producers and to discuss the outlook for the remainder of the year.
00:00:46
Speaker
Hi
AFIA's Policy Engagement with New Administration
00:00:47
Speaker
Constance, how are you today?
00:00:48
Speaker
Fantastic.
00:00:50
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me on the podcast, Jackie.
00:00:53
Speaker
Thank you so much for taking the time to be here today.
00:00:56
Speaker
So we'll jump right into it.
00:00:58
Speaker
Looking back to the beginning of the year, can you please share some of the highs and lows that AFIA members have dealt with the new administration?
00:01:08
Speaker
Along with everyone else here in the Washington, D.C.
00:01:10
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area, we were really focusing on what is the Trump administration going to be about in his second term.
00:01:18
Speaker
And so for the first 90 days, we saw a lot of activity happening from the White House, as well as initiatives being established by a new Congress.
00:01:28
Speaker
So the first 90 days, we were really working to make sure that
00:01:32
Speaker
that policy leaders both within Congress and within the Trump administration knew what issues were of concern for the animal food industry.
00:01:43
Speaker
We had a lot of our priorities that needed to be well understood by the administration, particularly as they took a lot of policy initiatives and made a lot of changes that meant they needed to understand how those decisions impacted the animal food industry.
00:02:02
Speaker
So we've talked
Trade Tariffs and Market Access Challenges
00:02:03
Speaker
a lot about what was the role that we played in the economy, what the role was we played in food security, and why we needed to be at the table visiting with them as they made their policies.
00:02:16
Speaker
So I think one of the big highs for the first half of this year was how well the administration and Congress paid attention to what we were sharing with them.
00:02:28
Speaker
And we have a lot of thanks to give to our members.
00:02:32
Speaker
One thing that's changed a lot in the last several years, Jackie, is that our members in the animal food industry recognize the need to be engaged.
00:02:42
Speaker
The thing I think that made me the proudest and that I found to be really reassuring about our role within the U.S. economy was how seriously our business owners and our members took participating in their governments.
00:03:00
Speaker
And so they were actively engaged with their congressional representatives.
00:03:04
Speaker
They visited offices with us.
00:03:06
Speaker
They're meeting with their members back in the district now.
00:03:10
Speaker
So that, I think, is a big high for us is that we really leaned in and we really engaged.
00:03:15
Speaker
Whenever we have new folks come into policy leading roles, it's an opportunity to gain new allies, engage on issues maybe a little bit differently than we had in the past, and find some new avenues and access points among the administration officials and Congress and fitting in with what their priorities might be.
00:03:38
Speaker
One of the big
Staffing Concerns in Government Agencies
00:03:39
Speaker
things that we've all seen are the many executive orders
00:03:43
Speaker
involving trade and the imposition of tariffs as a negotiating strategy by this administration.
00:03:51
Speaker
We really have been diving in deeply, looking at each of those countries and trying to identify how can we gain better market access for animal food products.
00:04:01
Speaker
So really honing in on those non-tariff barriers, those regulatory obstacles, non-tariff reasons to keep products out of the market.
00:04:10
Speaker
We see that a lot with trading partners.
00:04:13
Speaker
So we're really working hard in this opportunity that's been presented recently
00:04:18
Speaker
to negotiate with these trading partners how to reduce some of those non-tariff barriers.
00:04:24
Speaker
And with the changes at the federal government instigated by DOGE and the reductions in staffing that we're seeing, we're also really looking for efficiencies throughout the agencies, but identifying what's most important in each of those agencies to have properly staffed and to make sure our industry has what it needs to do business.
00:04:48
Speaker
One clear example that I'd like to share are the staffing reductions at APHIS, the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.
00:04:56
Speaker
I know that we need to take a look at right-sizing government, but we definitely need to make sure that we have the expertise in those agencies that facilitate us doing business.
00:05:08
Speaker
There's different types of government employees.
00:05:10
Speaker
There's folks who keep businesses from doing things, and there are the people that help businesses do things and enable businesses to do things.
00:05:18
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And in the case of APHIS, we need them to sign off on all of those export certificates.
00:05:23
Speaker
So that's
Importance of Continued Industry Engagement
00:05:24
Speaker
the type of thing we're looking at, and we're making sure that USDA, FDA, the White House,
00:05:31
Speaker
all understand how these changes are impacting the industry and where we need to push back a bit and make sure that we have the proper resources for our companies to do business.
00:05:43
Speaker
Based on the success of AFIA's conversations with the new administration and that engagement that you mentioned from AFIA members, how does that shape your thoughts on what to watch throughout the remainder of the year into 2026?
00:06:00
Speaker
The first two years of administration is when everything gets done.
00:06:04
Speaker
And if you don't get it done in the first two years, the pundits will tell you that you don't get much done in an administration.
00:06:10
Speaker
So we know that the push is going to be really hard for the president to leave the legacy that he wants to leave.
00:06:17
Speaker
And so we are going to be fully engaged through the end of 2026 to make sure that those initiatives reflect and create an environment where succeed.
00:06:30
Speaker
So our focus through the rest of this year and next year is to be at the right place with the right message at the right time.
00:06:38
Speaker
And that's going to really focus heavily on the trade conversations that are going on.
00:06:44
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The tariffs that the president put on many of the countries have incentivized those countries to come to the table and negotiate.
00:06:52
Speaker
We've seen a raft of agreements, handshake agreements that have been announced
00:06:58
Speaker
But the proof is going to be in how those are implemented and the adherence that both parties take to what they agree to in those negotiations.
00:07:07
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And there are more that are ongoing.
00:07:10
Speaker
So we're really going to be making sure that as those conversations happen, that they understand what our needs are in those international discussions, as well as being able to advance some of our needs.
00:07:26
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So that's going to be one of the big areas.
00:07:28
Speaker
Another area that we're going to be looking at, again, is communicating the need to have staff in the right places.
00:07:35
Speaker
In the last several years, we worked hard to get adequate staffing at the Food and Drug Administration Center for Vet Medicine.
00:07:44
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We had seen slowdowns in the approval of many ingredients.
00:07:49
Speaker
animal food ingredients that were going through the Center for Vet Medicine.
00:07:53
Speaker
And so we worked hard to get staffing resources built up there to make sure they had the right size team to review those new products.
00:08:02
Speaker
With some of the cuts, we still see them doing pretty well, but we are concerned about slowdowns in that.
00:08:10
Speaker
And so we are, again, making sure that they understand the difference between
00:08:16
Speaker
those regulators that help companies get out into the market and get products on the market.
00:08:22
Speaker
So that's one of the things we'll be working hard at.
00:08:25
Speaker
And then the other big area through 2026 is going to be making sure that the regulations and the policies that are put out by the administration adhere to a consensus of science adheres to risk-based regulations.
00:08:42
Speaker
and doesn't deviate into policies that are supported by research studies that are outliers, that may not have a robust scientific grounding in those approaches and policies, and that when those policies are determined and decided upon, that agriculture and indeed the animal food industry is at the table.
00:09:06
Speaker
So
Innovative Feed Act for Regulatory Modernization
00:09:07
Speaker
again, right place, right time, the right message, and making sure that we are there
00:09:12
Speaker
at the table when those conversations happen.
00:09:16
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The feed industry has long acknowledged that some regulations, as you mentioned, are outdated and can be costly without really enhancing feed safety.
00:09:26
Speaker
What's the current status of the Innovative Feed Act?
00:09:29
Speaker
So the Innovative Feed Act has currently been introduced in both the House and the Senate.
00:09:34
Speaker
It has strong bipartisan support because it makes sense.
00:09:39
Speaker
Jackie, the Innovative Feed Act simply modernizes our regulatory process to allow us to bring products to the market that do more than affect the taste, nutrition, and aroma of a feed ingredient or an animal food ingredient.
00:09:55
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These products offer a wealth of benefits, whether it may be production efficiency gains, improvements in animal health,
00:10:03
Speaker
better performance from an environmental standpoint, or even improve food safety by reducing things like salmonella shedding.
00:10:12
Speaker
These are really incredible innovations that our competitors are using throughout the world because their regulatory process allows them to be able to be brought to the market and have claims listed on the label.
00:10:27
Speaker
We can't do that here.
00:10:29
Speaker
So we are far behind Europe, South America, Australia, all other parts of the world because we don't have that modern regulatory system.
00:10:38
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The Innovative Feed Act would address that.
00:10:41
Speaker
It would give the Center for Vet Medicine the opportunity to review these products for other claims that are not nutritionally based.
00:10:49
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and allow farmers and ranchers to get these products in their hand.
00:10:53
Speaker
That's why it has bipartisan support.
00:10:56
Speaker
That's why there's no critics, real critics of this bill that is sitting there in Congress.
00:11:02
Speaker
What it is looking for is a way to move through Congress.
00:11:07
Speaker
And that requires both the House and the Senate to move forward on bringing bills up for votes and passing them so that they can get to the president's desk for a signature.
00:11:18
Speaker
That's all we're waiting
Diversifying Supply Sources Beyond China
00:11:19
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for.
00:11:19
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It is something that we are placing a huge priority on.
00:11:24
Speaker
And those proper regulations of these innovative ingredients is really going to allow our feed industry and our customers to remain globally competitive.
00:11:35
Speaker
Earlier in the conversation, you mentioned trade, improving market access, and overcoming some of those non-tariff barriers.
00:11:43
Speaker
Can you please look a little closer at how AFIA is working with the Trump administration to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign suppliers, specifically for critical ingredients such as vitamins and minerals, and how are they doing that while making sure the trade actions don't hurt export markets?
00:12:03
Speaker
Yes.
00:12:04
Speaker
During COVID, we found out a lot about our supply chain and about our ability, the resiliency of that supply chain.
00:12:13
Speaker
And it quickly came to light that one of the things that we were struggling with is predictability and setting ourselves up and the resilience to navigate any sort of disruptions that would occur in the market.
00:12:27
Speaker
And that came and shown a bright spotlight on vitamins and amino acids.
00:12:33
Speaker
When we took a look at where the majority of those were coming from, we realized that the vast majority, over 80% of our vitamins, or just around 80% of our vitamins, are produced in China.
00:12:47
Speaker
And it's not a China problem, it's a sole supplier problem.
00:12:52
Speaker
So when we took a look at what could we do to raise the awareness of that, we started having conversations with the Congress and with the administration.
00:13:03
Speaker
That's why we are supportive of the Securing American Agriculture Act,
00:13:07
Speaker
We're asking USDA to look into where we source products, from where we source products, and to make sure we're not dependent on specific countries.
00:13:17
Speaker
And that will take a look at the entire food chain and agricultural chain.
00:13:22
Speaker
For us, we know vitamins and amino acids, minerals are probably right behind that.
00:13:28
Speaker
We see concentration also of key ingredients in the manufacturing of pesticides and crop protection products.
00:13:35
Speaker
We also see that in the area of antibiotics.
00:13:39
Speaker
And so when you have a particular part of your ingredient list or the products that you need to source to make animal food come from one source, it ought to raise some concern.
00:13:52
Speaker
And indeed, it is raising that concern.
00:13:56
Speaker
So we're really passionate about making sure that there's some awareness that this does have an impact on food security.
00:14:04
Speaker
If something were to happen to disrupt our trade with China, even a small
00:14:10
Speaker
decline in supply of these important ingredients can have a huge impact on animal health and productivity and our ability to secure a safe food supply system.
00:14:22
Speaker
So we're asking for opportunities for us to be able to relocate some manufacturing back to the United States.
00:14:32
Speaker
but also to
Balancing Safety and Regulatory Burden
00:14:34
Speaker
friendly countries, friendshoring is what we call it, or nearshoring, but essentially diversifying where we get so many of our vitamins and amino acids.
00:14:46
Speaker
And I want to point out also, this isn't just vitamins for animal food consumption.
00:14:51
Speaker
This is all vitamins.
00:14:53
Speaker
And so those that are used in human food production as well.
00:14:57
Speaker
And so we find a lot of allies across the supply chain and the food and agricultural system that share similar concerns.
00:15:07
Speaker
The agri-food industry has been pushing for improved and science-based amendments to regulations for quite some time.
00:15:20
Speaker
How do you suggest the feed industry balance that push without giving the impression that it supports weakening safety standards?
00:15:30
Speaker
We live and die by safe supply.
00:15:33
Speaker
Our number one priority is a safe supply.
00:15:36
Speaker
supply of animal food and animal food ingredients.
00:15:41
Speaker
That is our first priority.
00:15:42
Speaker
We want it to be high quality.
00:15:44
Speaker
We want it to be sustainable.
00:15:46
Speaker
We want it to be all of these things, but safe is our first priority.
00:15:50
Speaker
So we have never been opposed to regulations.
00:15:55
Speaker
We do believe that government has a role in oversight to assure that and to assure the public
00:16:01
Speaker
What we're asking for is regulation that is predictable, consistent, fosters increased production,
00:16:11
Speaker
And that is efficient for both the government and for the companies that are seeking approval for their products that they want to bring to market.
00:16:21
Speaker
There's nothing more frustrating for a company than to submit the information it needs with all of the demonstration of the efficacy and the safety of a product.
00:16:32
Speaker
only to have all of a sudden different requirements or a study is conducted in a slightly different way.
00:16:39
Speaker
Things where the goalpost is moving as they're looking to go through the regulatory process.
00:16:45
Speaker
So that's what we're really looking for.
00:16:47
Speaker
We're also looking for regulations that are fit for purpose.
00:16:52
Speaker
regulations that actually accomplish what we're trying to achieve, which are effective and safe products out there to be used within the supply chain.
00:17:03
Speaker
So we are holding ourselves up to increased safety standards and focusing those standards on science-based human health.
00:17:11
Speaker
and animal food production standards, and really being able to make sure that we have some idea of what the needs are, what the requirements are, and that they actually meet the intended purpose.
00:17:25
Speaker
That's what we're looking for.
Advocacy for Science-Based Regulations
00:17:27
Speaker
And I think every consumer should be looking for that as well.
00:17:32
Speaker
So to explore the link between human food and human food production and animal feed,
00:17:40
Speaker
Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched the Make America Healthy Again movement, so aiming to improve public health through different means.
00:17:50
Speaker
Those, of course, impacts the agri-food industry.
00:17:54
Speaker
And since this initiative targets food production, does it threaten to complicate feed production?
00:18:00
Speaker
And which issues would you suggest industry stakeholders keep on their radar?
00:18:06
Speaker
I think that when a lot of these initiatives were first discussed, the intention was to focus on human food.
00:18:14
Speaker
But I think what wasn't clearly understood is that in all of the regulatory statutes and in all of the legislation, food, the word food,
00:18:24
Speaker
applies to both human food and animal food.
00:18:28
Speaker
And so many of the initiatives, as you rightly observed, are really intended towards human food, but are certainly catching the animal food industry up in the topic and the issue.
00:18:40
Speaker
So when we are watching a lot of the conversation in that area, we have laid out two major requests.
00:18:49
Speaker
One is that any work that's done in this area is based on good consensus of science, looking at long-term the scientific evidence and that it be risk-based.
00:19:02
Speaker
That's one of our first requests and criteria.
00:19:06
Speaker
The second one is that the animal food industry and indeed the U.S. agricultural and food industry be at the table for those discussions.
00:19:17
Speaker
We know these industries.
00:19:18
Speaker
We're intimately familiar with how they're regulated, where some of the challenges are, and we need to be at the table for that conversation rather than brought in after a conversation or sitting on the sidelines.
00:19:33
Speaker
So those are our two primary requests.
00:19:36
Speaker
But as the conversation has evolved, we have really focused in on a couple of things.
00:19:42
Speaker
One is definitely
00:19:44
Speaker
grass ingredients as an area of major concern.
00:19:48
Speaker
Grass, generally recognized as safe, is one of the essential regulatory pathways for safe ingredients that address animal well-being,
00:19:59
Speaker
human food safety, and animal food biosecurity.
00:20:02
Speaker
So there are a couple of different pathways under GRASS.
00:20:05
Speaker
There's the notified GRASS, which means you notify the FDA, and then independent conclusions of GRASS, which are conclusions that are drawn by the manufacturers of those different products.
00:20:18
Speaker
Let's take a little stroll down history lane if we can, Jack.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yes, please.
00:20:23
Speaker
Grass is a very confusing pathway for a lot of folks.
00:20:27
Speaker
When we started putting regulations in place back on some of these things, and we can go back to the 1950s.
00:20:33
Speaker
That was before I think either one of us were born.
00:20:37
Speaker
And we know that there were a lot of things that were on the plate, both on the plate for humans and in the feed bowl.
00:20:45
Speaker
of animals that we've been feeding, quite frankly, in many cases for millennia.
00:20:50
Speaker
And so there was a recognition that not everything needed to be reviewed for safety because we knew it was safe.
00:20:57
Speaker
We'd been consuming it.
00:20:58
Speaker
We had been eating these products.
00:21:01
Speaker
So grass was a way to, in a common sense way, acknowledge, hey, we don't need to look at everything.
00:21:08
Speaker
Let's look at ingredients that actually pose a higher risk.
00:21:12
Speaker
of safety or concern for the ultimate consumer, whether that's a human or an animal.
00:21:19
Speaker
And so it allowed us to focus and take a look at the things that really mattered and really posed a real risk.
00:21:27
Speaker
So grass is an incredibly useful tool and it still is a useful tool.
00:21:33
Speaker
So that's why we say, look, if we start looking at every single thing
00:21:39
Speaker
We'll never get to those products that are of real concern and that really deserve to be looked at closely to make sure that it is a safe product to be put onto the market.
00:21:52
Speaker
So I am not saying that nothing should be looked at on grass.
00:21:55
Speaker
I'm certainly open to ways to be able to make sure that folks understand what's in their food, but restricting access to that pathway for animal food ingredients would really increase
00:22:08
Speaker
the burden of the timeline to get products out and the cost of animal-based protein without any real improvements to overall health.
00:22:18
Speaker
So that's one of the reasons that we are taking a look at that.
00:22:21
Speaker
We know that FDA has stated an intention to review certain ingredients that have been safely in use for many years.
00:22:29
Speaker
But their efforts, as I would argue, and as I've said, are best focused on the pre-market approval of animal food ingredients to address animal and human food safety, rather than a post-market review of products that have been out there and have already had proven safety records.
00:22:46
Speaker
Our global competitiveness of our agricultural industry really depends on that.
00:22:51
Speaker
And making sure we don't miss the things that really matter to the ultimate consumer depends upon that as well.
00:22:59
Speaker
Now to switch
AFIA's Strategic Restructuring
00:23:00
Speaker
gears a little bit from the external to the internal, can you tell us a little bit about what's happening within AFIA?
00:23:08
Speaker
I recently saw someone, I was talking with someone recently and they said, change is not something to brace against, but rather something to embrace.
00:23:18
Speaker
And I liked that, Jackie, and it got me thinking, we're in a world of a lot of change right now.
00:23:24
Speaker
And so when we looked at how we could best equip AFIA to be resilient and adapt to a lot of those changes, we decided to take a look at how we were structured.
00:23:36
Speaker
So we've realigned and we've redeployed our internal resources to be able to lean into a lot of these emerging challenges that are coming at the industry today.
00:23:46
Speaker
So this realignment is going to allow us to more rapidly respond with cutting edge tools and information for our members and with our stakeholders.
00:23:56
Speaker
And as I'd like to say, it's really about allowing us to lean in and at the end of the day, be more proactive.
00:24:03
Speaker
We want to be able to quickly respond to things, but we're most excited when we can proactively work on the things that matter to our members.
00:24:12
Speaker
So we've made a few changes.
00:24:13
Speaker
We have a new director of communications, Cornelia Pocu, who just recently started.
00:24:19
Speaker
We're also adding an expert exclusively dedicated to bringing educational programs to our members.
00:24:26
Speaker
So this will be the first time that AFIA has had someone solely focused on making sure that our education program is programming is meeting member needs and is going to be focused on delivering the first class programming across all of our areas of expertise.
00:24:44
Speaker
In September, we're welcoming a new animal nutritionist that's going to be working with Laura Moody with our Institute for Feed Education and Research, and is going to be bringing another expertise to that organization and AFIA to be able to fulfill some of our research needs and focusing on making sure that we have the right information to advance the right policy agenda.
00:25:11
Speaker
And then over
Upcoming Networking and Educational Events
00:25:12
Speaker
the next few months, we're also bringing in an individual who's going to be helping our members become more involved in political activity and engagement and really working to get the voice of our members out there with Congress, with the administration, and with state governments.
00:25:34
Speaker
And to wrap up our conversation, are there any upcoming AFIA events that you'd like our listeners to know about?
00:25:42
Speaker
We're coming up on the most exciting time of the year for AFIA.
00:25:46
Speaker
We have our Liquid Feed Summit.
00:25:48
Speaker
It's going to be in Fort Worth, Texas, September 9th through the 11th.
00:25:51
Speaker
So all things Liquid Feed will be discussed there.
00:25:54
Speaker
And we've got some great educational programming lined up as well as some excellent member networking.
00:26:00
Speaker
From October 14th to November 18th,
00:26:04
Speaker
We're going to be offering our Fundamentals of Feed Manufacturing online courses, and those are really popular.
00:26:10
Speaker
They're really useful and really helpful for our members and their team members within their companies.
00:26:16
Speaker
The Equipment Manufacturing Conference, always a fun conference, is going to be in Rancho Mirage, California.
00:26:23
Speaker
That's happening November 5th through the 7th.
00:26:26
Speaker
And if anyone's ever been to an equipment manufacturers conference, you'll find out there's a lot more conversations about a lot more than just equipment manufacturing.
00:26:35
Speaker
So it's a good conference.
00:26:37
Speaker
And then I think people are going to be really excited about our Preventative Controls Qualified Individuals Refresher Course.
00:26:44
Speaker
So PCQI.
00:26:46
Speaker
This is the first time we're offering a course for those that have already gotten education on PCQI but need a little bit of a refresher.
00:26:54
Speaker
And we're having that December 9th to the 10th in Nashville, Tennessee.
00:26:59
Speaker
But big event of the year is coming up January 27th to the 29th, our IPPE in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:27:08
Speaker
You can join 30,000 of your great friends in the animal food space and join us down in Atlanta for acres and acres of trade show floor.
00:27:19
Speaker
As always, I'm looking forward to IPPE coming up here soon.
00:27:24
Speaker
With that, if you would like more information on some of the topics that we discussed today or other AFIA initiatives, please visit www.afi.org.
00:27:36
Speaker
Thank you again, Constance, and thanks to you for tuning in.
00:27:40
Speaker
Thank you.