Every food or agriculture company that gets serious about Washington eventually faces the same choice: hire a lobbying firm, or hire a government relations attorney. The two are often marketed as interchangeable, and in a Farm Bill reauthorization cycle or a fast-moving USDA rulemaking, the pressure to just pick someone and start advocating is real.
In August 2025, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force expanded UFLPA high-priority sectors to include agricultural products alongside caustic soda, copper, lithium, and steel. For food and agriculture companies, that single line in a federal notice is a reminder that agricultural trade policy is no longer background noise for the general counsel’s inbox. It is
Agricultural Trade Policy Advocacy: Where Government Relations Meets Trade Law Read More »
A corporate PAC is a separate segregated fund carrying its own FEC obligations. Registration, the restricted class, solicitation language, filing deadlines, and the compliance failures that recur across food and agriculture programs.
Coalition building is the government affairs capability food and agriculture companies most consistently underinvest in. The two coalition types, a seven step build process, and the governance and antitrust rules that hold an alliance together.
Coalition Building in Food and Agriculture Government Affairs: A Practical Guide Read More »
Federal food procurement runs through USDA commodity purchases, Department of Defense contracts, and school nutrition programs. What each program buys, how suppliers qualify, and which FAR rules apply once a contract is awarded.
Regulatory intelligence is the systematic monitoring that flags a federal rule 12 to 36 months before it is proposed. Where the early signals appear, which sources to track, and what to do when a threat surfaces.
Congressional oversight of the food industry has intensified. Whether the trigger is a high-profile recall, a food safety outbreak, a supply chain failure, or a policy dispute with a federal agency, food companies increasingly face committee inquiries, document requests, and formal hearing summons. Your regulatory affairs team knows how to manage FDA inspections and USDA
Your company engages with federal policymakers, employs government relations professionals, and operates what appears to be a standard advocacy program. Yet one inadvertent lobbying disclosure error, unregistered foreign agent activity, or gift rule violation triggers investigations that expose your organization to civil penalties, criminal prosecution, and permanent reputational damage. I know this because government affairs
Government Affairs Compliance Risks: LDA, FARA & Gift Rule Violations Read More »
The following was published in Agri-Pulse on March 20, 2025. Within the backdrop of Congressional budget reconciliation, there will be no easy decisions for an eventual savings target imposed on the Ag Committees to hit (a target they didn’t ask to receive). When considering how they’ll hit their required cost-cutting number, among the range of
A SNAP Cost-share Would Cost States Double Read More »
