As a nonpartisan, farmer-led watchdog, Farm Action exists to make sure the government serves the public—not corporate interests. In 2025, that meant challenging powerful corporations, demanding accountability from policymakers, and lifting up the voices of farmers, workers, and the rural communities who feed us.
Here are 10 ways we demanded accountability for a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system in 2025.
1. Driving Federal Action on Right to Repair
After years of pressure from Farm Action and our partners, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against John Deere over its restrictions on farm machinery repair. This is a major step toward restoring farmers’ freedom to fix their own equipment instead of being held hostage by corporate repair monopolies.
2. Forcing Scrutiny of Corporate Egg Price Gouging
After Farm Action called for federal action, the Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an antitrust investigation into excessive corporate profits and potential market manipulation in the egg industry.
Building on research and media outreach we began in 2023—and a Washington Post deep dive feature this year—we exposed how corporate power and consolidation drive higher prices for consumers while squeezing farmers. This critical win reflects Farm Action’s model of turning rigorous research into real accountability and measurable results.
3. Holding Meatpackers Accountable for High Beef Prices
We elevated nationwide concerns about President Trump’s proposal to quadruple beef imports from Argentina, underscoring the risks this posed for ranchers and consumers alike. We made clear that high beef prices aren’t the fault of U.S. ranchers, but the result of meatpacking and retail consolidation.
Our efforts reached a wide audience on social media and in nationwide news stories—including CNN and Reuters—amplifying the call for accountability in the meatpacking industry. That pressure helped spur new scrutiny—prompting the administration to direct DOJ to investigate anticompetitive behavior among major meatpackers and later issue an executive order aimed at price fixing across the food supply chain.
4. Advancing Farmer-Led Reforms Through the MAHA Initiative
To help guide the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) effort, we released Policy Recommendations to the MAHA Commission, outlining farmer-led, bipartisan solutions to align food and agriculture policy with public health. We also helped mobilize a coalition of 120 farmers and MAHA leaders calling for investment in regenerative agriculture—and welcomed USDA and HHS’s December announcement directing hundreds of millions of dollars toward that work to support farmer profitability, lower input costs, and build a healthier, more resilient food system.
5. Shaping the Narrative on Soybeans, Bailouts, and Specialty Crops
Our viral blog, China Stopped Buying U.S. Soybeans. The Real Problem Started Decades Ago, became our most-read article to date, and sparked major coverage in outlets like USA Today and on agricultural talk shows like Agriculture of America, helping the public understand how decades of export-driven commodity policy created today’s volatility.
When USDA later announced a $12 billion farmer aid package, outlets including Fortune and USA Today returned to the same core point: relief is welcome, but structural reform is urgent—especially to support all farmers, including the reported $1 billion for specialty crop growers.
6. Fighting to Defeat the EATS Act and Support Prop 12
Our national campaign elevating independent hog farmers’ support for Prop 12 launched in Washington, D.C., with mobile billboards, airport and train station signage, digital ads, and postcards to Congress. The effort drew broad media attention, gave farm families a platform to explain why this matters, and equipped the public with facts to counter corporate myths about Prop 12.
Farmer voices are continuing to shift the debate in Washington: House Republicans, House Democrats, and Senate Democrats are now pushing back against corporate attempts to overturn Prop 12, showing that bipartisan momentum to defend the law is growing stronger every day.
7. Shining a Light on Checkoff Corruption
Our report, Investigation Reveals USDA’s Failure to Prevent Checkoff Program Abuse, exposed how mandatory farmer-funded checkoff programs have been misused. We found that USDA failed to meet key oversight responsibilities, allowing fraud and abuse within the programs to go unchecked, with no evidence that the agency had reviewed or approved funds that were used illegally.
By presenting our findings clearly and accessibly, we turned a complex, often overlooked issue into a story that resonates with both farmers and consumers, inspiring calls for accountability and reform.
8. Urging the Restoration of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL)
We submitted a public comment to the U.S. Trade Representative and testified at a public hearing, urging the reinstatement of MCOOL for beef and pork during the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement review.
We also launched an advocacy effort mobilizing supporters to submit their own comments calling for MCOOL’s return. These efforts elevated the importance of transparent food labeling for U.S. farmers and consumers, earning coverage in national outlets like Agri-Pulse and Civil Eats.
9. Sounding the Alarm on Rising Input Costs
Throughout 2025, we warned policymakers and the public about rising input costs—a crisis squeezing farmers and driving up prices across the entire food supply chain. Following this work, USDA and DOJ announced a joint effort to scrutinize these escalating expenses.
Our reports and research over the years have helped reveal how consolidation in our food and farm system fuels these price spikes, underscoring the urgent need for fairer, more competitive markets.
10. Turning Research Into Action Through Our Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub
At the start of 2025, Farm Action drew on research from our Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub—which details the rampant consolidation across our food and agriculture system—to provide a backbone for our political partner, Farm Action Fund’s, policy agenda: Ending the Monopoly Takeover of American Agriculture: Policy Recommendations for the 119th Congress, and State Advocacy Guide: Fighting Corporate Control of American Agriculture.
The Data Hub has become an essential resource for policymakers, candidates, reporters, and the general public. It has even been used at the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference and featured in investigative reporting, including Investigate Midwest, which used our data to illustrate Walmart’s growing control of the U.S. beef supply chain. With more than 2,600 media hits this year, our data-driven insights are shaping the national conversation and driving meaningful action to confront corporate control in food and agriculture.
This Is What a Farmer-Led Watchdog Looks Like
Every win we celebrated in 2025 reflects our mission to hold corporations and government accountable, build unlikely alliances to confront outsized corporate power, and center farmers, workers, and rural communities in the fight for a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system.
Want to learn more? Check out our full list of public comments, letters advocating for farmers and consumers, blogs, press releases, and media coverage highlights.
Support Our Work In 2026
Our work is made possible by supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to help fund our fight for a fairer food system in 2026 and beyond.
