webodec3ARCHIVEPreview
Open in TheBrain

Bridgforth, Turner Sr Adv

---

glyphosate

---

turner bridgforth email to nancy

6-17-25-Bayer-Meeting-Administrator-Brief

thenewlede.org

https://www.thenewlede.org › wp-content › uploads › 2026 › 03 › 6-17-25-Bayer-Meeting-Administrator-Brief.pdf

6.17.25 Bayer Meeting: Administrator Brief - thenewlede.org

Mar 6, 2026Thanks: Bayer will provide a small thanks for updating the glyphosate web page and work on MAHA. Bayer Attendees: Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG Stephanie Lynn Murphy, VP Crop Science & Corporate Government Affairs Erick Lutt, Federal Affairs Director EPA Attendees: Nancy Beck (OCSPP)

publichealthpolicyjournal.com

https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com › bayer-leverages-ties-to-trumps-washington-to-protect-pesticide-empire

Bayer Leverages Ties to Trump's Washington to Protect Pesticide Empire

Nancy Beck, principal deputy assistant administrator at OCSPP, was a senior director at the ACC — a lobby group representing Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont and other chemical manufacturers — from 2012 to 2017.

---

---

cbd

For Immediate Release, March 12, 2026

contact:

Nathan Donley, (971) 717-6406, ndonley@biologicaldiversity.org

New Documents: Trump EPA Administrator Met With Pesticide CEO During Push to Shield Company From Lawsuits

WASHINGTON— Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and other top officials met with Bayer’s CEO to discuss “legal/judicial issues” months before the Justice Department weighed in at the Supreme Court on the chemical company’s behalf, according to a memo and visitor logs obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity.

In December the Trump Justice Department supported Bayer’s request to the Supreme Court to consider its appeal in Monsanto v. Durnell for a shield against liability for the health harms linked to pesticides. In January the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal.

The memo and proposed agenda for a June 17, 2025 meeting said Bayer’s CEO also planned to thank the EPA for “its work on MAHA” and “updating the glyphosate web page,” in apparent reference to the agency withdrawing its previous support for California’s cancer warning on glyphosate labels.

“These documents show the unfettered access one of most powerful pesticide corporations in the world has to EPA’s top officials and it raises serious questions about just how far Trump’s political operatives within the EPA and the DOJ were willing to go to bat for Bayer,” said Nathan Donley, the Center’s environmental health science director. “It’s disgusting that the EPA administrator is so accessible to the pesticide industry. He almost certainly wouldn’t give the time of day to the thousands of Americans suffering from cancers linked to glyphosate and other EPA-approved pesticides.”

According to the memo, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, at the June meeting Bayer CEO Bill Anderson, EPA Administrator Zeldin, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the chemicals office Nancy Beck, and General Counsel for the EPA Sean Donahue were set to discuss “legal/judicial issues” involving the Supreme Court. The proposed meeting agenda covered:

The “glyphosate web page” update is likely a reference to the EPA’s decision in May 2025 to withdraw its 2022 letter stating that California was authorized to require language on pesticide labels for products containing glyphosate warning of cancer risk so long as the label also stated that the EPA did not agree with that conclusion.

An internet archive search revealed that the only change to the EPA’s glyphosate webpage during that time period was the letter withdrawal, and metadata from the withdrawal letter indicated it was updated on May 9, 2025 by staff that work under Beck at the EPA chemicals office.

Withdrawing that letter likely played a part in the Department of Justice’s decision to reverse its 2022 position that states can add warning labels on pesticides beyond what the EPA requires under federal law. The letter withdrawal was specifically cited in the Solicitor General’s brief arguing for the Supreme Court to consider Bayer’s case.

The following timeline indicates the June 17 meeting at EPA headquarters came at an important juncture leading up to the Supreme Court’s January decision to hear the glyphosate case:

“The Department of Justice has completely trashed its proud tradition of independence and apolitical pursuit of justice,” said Donley. “It’s a very sad day in America when our own DOJ is actively working to deny Americans their day in court.”

---

revolv door

Turner Bridgforth - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator (April 2025-), Senior Agriculture Adviser - Biography | LegiStorm

*Activities and notes: Concentrations in marketing and economics

Employment History

Senior Agriculture Adviser

Government and Industry Affairs Manager

Senior Policy Adviser

Legislative Assistant

Legislative Assistant

Gregory Ibach (Greg)

Policy Adviser/Special Assistant to the Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs

Deputy Director, Intergovernmental Affairs

Deputy White House Liaison

Lobbying and Foreign Representation

Listed as lobbyist by registrants:
Lobbied on behalf of:

Privately Financed Travel

4 trips taken between 2020 - 2021 costing $3,190

See map of trips

Trip Destinations:
Trip Sponsors:

» see more

---

new rep The New Republic

For an uncomfortably long time on Monday, two lawmakers shouted at one another about climate change in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the Trump administration’s proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. One was EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The other was 83-year-old Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut. The spat did what Zeldin seemingly hoped it would: generate a viral moment for his boss and his boss’s base. It also helpfully distracted attention away from the ostensible purpose of the hearing: to discuss why Zeldin and the Trump administration want to cut in half the budget of the agency charged with protecting the country’s air and water.

It makes sense that Zeldin was eager to evade substantive questions about an EPA tenure spent giving generous giveaways to polluters, dismantling independent research, and hemorrhaging staff. He also didn’t talk too much about the White House’s plan to slash the EPA’s budget down to just $4.2 billion. Zeldin’s record, that is, has already earned the ire of Make American Healthy Again activists. This is an especially volatile week to court more of it. The Supreme Court and Congress are both hearing arguments this week about glyphosate—the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, produced by the German chemicals giant Bayer AG. Several scientific studies have linked glyphosate to cancer, and it’s accordingly one of the MAHA movement’s least favorite substances.

No doubt Zeldin would rather be seen going toe-to-toe with an octogenarian than being confronted with the fact that his agency got a personal thank-you from Bayer for its work on glyphosate. Unfortunately for Zeldin, that confrontation was captured on camera too.

It would be easy for that to get lost in the news this week, or even in the flurry of glyphosate-related news. The Supreme Court is hearing oral argument in a case that could grant Bayer blanket immunity from being sued over glyphosate, and let the company off the hook for tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of lawsuits that claim Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The House is also due to take up this year’s Farm Bill, which currently includes a provision that would likewise bar states and courts from penalizing or holding “liable any entity for failing to comply with requirements that would require labeling or packaging that is in addition to or different from the labeling or packaging approved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

:{:{Glyphosate has become an understandable cause célèbre for MAHA, and its advocates are rallying in Washington this week. For months now, they’ve been railing against Zeldin and other Republicans for awarding top positions and regulatory concessions to some of the country’s biggest polluters. At the end of March, some three dozen MAHA leaders sent a tensely worded letter to Zeldin chastising the EPA for continuing to “approve, expand, and normalize chemical exposures that directly undermine that goal, driven by the chemical industry lobbyists who occupy senior leadership positions at the agency.”}:

The group went on to state several specific demands to enact a “real MAHA agenda” at the EPA, largely focused on controlling harmful pesticides and microplastics. Even if MAHA’s beliefs and electoral potency remain up for debate, Republicans are certainly responsive to their concerns. This week’s dispute over glyphosate could spark the biggest showdown yet in an emerging MAGA-MAHA split.}:

The Trump administration has enthusiastically supported Bayer’s case not just for legal immunity but to produce and distribute even more glyphosate and phosphorous—two Bayer-made products. Trump signed an executive order in February invoking the Korean War–era Defense Production Act to deem their manufacturing “critical to the national defense.” The order also protects companies that make glyphosate and phosphorus from lawsuits related to materials or products produced in accordance with the act, i.e., glyphosate and phosphorous. Trump’s Justice Department has enthusiastically supported Bayer in its case before the Supreme Court—and received a crucial assist from Zeldin’s EPA.

Asked about this issue on Tuesday afternoon, Zeldin was considerably more subdued than he was when bickering with DeLauro. In her line of questioning, toward the end of the hearing, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drilled Zeldin over his agency’s communications with Bayer.

“Administrator Zeldin,” she asked, “have you ever participated in a meeting with Bayer where you discussed the legal or litigation issues that the company was facing?” Zeldin stated that he had only had a “brief meet and greet, and that topic did not come up.”

Again, Ocasio-Cortez asked whether the EPA had discussed the issue with Bayer. Zeldin doubled down. “I’m telling you 100 percent absolutely. Maybe there was some brainstorming that was done beforehand of potential topics, but that topic was not brought up.”

:{:{She then presented an internal EPA email from last June, obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity via the Freedom of Information Act. The email shows Zeldin’s senior adviser for agriculture and rural affairs—Henry Turner Bridgforth—discussing his conversation with Bayer in advance of the company’s June 17 meeting with senior agency officials. “After talking with Bayer’s team,” Bridgforth tells some of Zeldin’s top aides, including EPA general counsel Sean Donahue, “they are going to bring up some legal/judicial issues.”}:

Among the list of “Discussion Topics” included in Bridgforth’s subsequent memo was “Glyphosate: Bayer will want an update on EPA reg review, as well as give some updates of their own.” Another discussion item is “Supreme Court Action: Bayer will give an update to the Administrator on where they stand in litigation and labeling options.” The final discussion included in the memo is “Thanks: Bayer will provide a small thanks for updating the glyphosate web page and work on MAHA.”}:

The Center for Biological Diversity noted back in March, the EPA only updated its glyphosate web page once during that time, in May 2025. The change reflected the agency’s decision to withdraw its 2022 letter stating that California could require language on pesticide labels for products containing glyphosate—warning of cancer risk—so long as those labels also stated that the EPA did not agree with that conclusion. The Biden administration’s stance revised a Trump 1.0-era crackdown targeting California’s decision to label glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” in line with the findings of the World Health Organization’s International Agency on the Research for Cancer, or IARC.

:{:{As Ocasio-Cortez pointed out while questioning Zeldin, Bayer’s argument to the Supreme Court relies heavily on the fact that—because these sorts of state-level warnings are now prohibited—the federal government’s assessment that Roundup is safe should insulate it from lawsuits over its failure to disclose that product’s cancer risk.}:

Essentially, Bayer is arguing that glyphosate is legally safe because the EPA said it was in 2020. And because disclosures about those risks no longer exist, Bayer argues that it can’t be sued for having failed to disclose cancer risks under state laws nullified by the EPA. Trump’s solicitor general filed a brief last December supporting Bayer’s position that federal law preempts states from adding warnings on pesticide labels beyond those established by the EPA. The solicitor general filed another in March further stating its support for that position. That second brief is supported by EPA general counsel Sean Donahue, who Bridgforth requested to attend the meeting with Bayer.}:

In response to Ocasio-Cortez’s questioning, Zeldin stumbled over a few words about an ongoing EPA assessment of glyphosate before being asked to respond in writing. The EPA has until October 1 to complete its review of glyphosate, which theoretically could conclude that it causes cancer. By that time, as Bayer is certainly aware, Congress already may have passed the Farm Bill’s protections for glyphosate and SCOTUS may have decided to grant Bayer blanket legal immunity.

If gripes about glyphosate were coming just from environmentalists (or cancer patients), then Zeldin might have an easier time brushing them off. But Republicans seem genuinely alarmed by the prospect that the MAHA base that was on their side when it came to vaccines could turn against the party’s deregulatory agenda. MAHA leaders’ letter to Zeldin from March spelled out several demands, largely focused on controlling harmful pesticides and microplastics: conducting an emergency review of pesticides banned elsewhere, closing loopholes for pesticides registration, shutting the “revolving door” between the EPA and polluting industries, protecting people from microplastics in drinking water, and enacting “a moratorium on permitting for new plastic production facilities and expansions of existing facilities.”

To meet these demands would undoubtedly enrage petrochemical companies and lobbyists that have been loyal Republican donors. In the 2024 election cycle, nearly 70 percent of campaign contributions from the American Chemistry Council, an industry lobby group, went to Republicans. Counting only contributions to political action committees, or PACs, that cycle, the split is even more dramatic: 77 percent of the ACC’s PAC donations went to Republican-aligned PACs.

This tension has yielded some awkward posturing from Zeldin and other officials eager to keep both MAHA and polluters happy. The EPA, for instance, recently broadcast plans to allegedly “unmake” plastic waste by supporting questionable technology known as “advanced recycling,” which uses chemicals to break down certain types of plastics. Typically, that happens through a process called pyrolysis. Petrochemical producers and lobby groups have advertised these expensive, polluting methods as preferable alternatives to policies that might actually force them to limit the production of plastics—a vanishingly small percentage of which (less than 10 percent) has ever been recycled. As ProPublica has reported, no more than 10 percent of plastics produced using pyrolysis are actually recycled.

Such oil-intensive processes have been found to release carcinogens, such as benzene and dioxins, into the atmosphere. Advanced recycling facilities have traditionally been regulated as incinerators under the Clean Air Act. Undergirding the EPA’s promotion of advanced recycling is a change long pushed by the American Chemistry Council that would instead regulate advanced recycling facilities as “manufacturing.” The change would mean that those facilities would have to account for fewer pollutants. And as the Natural Resources Defense Council’s John Walke told ABC News, the process by which the EPA is going about this could amount to an “immediate deregulation” of these facilities, “leaving a gap where no federal emissions standards would apply.”

Earlier this month, Zeldin and Kennedy announced “landmark, coordinated actions to address microplastics contamination.” In reality, they placed microplastics on a list of substances (the Contaminate Candidate List) that might eventually be considered contaminants, and then might at some point be regulated. Often, however, substances that end up on this list are never regulated. “This is the first step in a process that almost always leads to not regulating,” Suzanne Novak—a senior attorney and director of drinking water advocacy at Earthjustice—told Inside Climate News.

The alliance between MAHA types and the GOP has always been strange. Why did MAHA think its priorities could be defended by a party that has never exactly been shy about its loyalty to the corporate polluters? Whether or not MAHA supporters break up with the party—and whether or not those votes actually end up mattering—Lee Zeldin’s EPA has given them plenty to be angry about.

Kate Aronoff

Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic. She is the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet—and How We Fight Back and co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. Kate is also a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and serves in Dissent’s editorial board.

Read More:

Climate, Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency, MAHA, Glyphosate, Supreme Court

---

lotta white guys in blue blazers

agretailers 8w

ARA kicked off our Winter Board meeting with Turner Bridgforth, the Senior Advisor for Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the EPA, coming by to meet with ARA members. ARA is grateful for the opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the agricultural retail sector and the agency!

---

AOC

XO LEGAL IMMUNITY FOR BAYER, MTG DISCUSS CT?

JULY 7 2025 VISITOR LOGS FEB 18 TRUMP XO

FOIA SR ADVISOR OF RURAL AGRIC AFFAIRS SCOTUS

UPDATE EPA WWW

RFK2 SAID ASK YOU

EPA WITHDRAW CA WARNING --> SCOTUS

Come with me as I catch the Head of the EPA in a Corruption Trap on Glyphosate - YouTube

TRANS: Ocasio-Cortez Presses EPA Administrator Zeldin on Trump’s Decision to Allow Bayer to Poison Americans for Profit | Representative Ocasio-Cortez

---

GUK

EPA chief met with Bayer CEO over supreme court fight, agency records show

This article is more than 1 month old

Top US regulators met with Bill Anderson to discuss ‘supreme court action’ over glyphosate weed killer

[Carey Gillam]

Fri 13 Mar 2026

Top US regulators met with Bill Anderson, Bayer’s CEO, last year to discuss “litigation” issues – including “supreme court action” over its glyphosate weed killer – just months before the Trump administration took a series of steps to boost Bayer’s case at the high court, internal government records show.

The 17 June meeting, between officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Anderson and two other top Bayer executives, came as the Germany-based company was working to quash costly US litigation brought by tens of thousands of people who allege they developed cancer from their use of the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup.

At the core of those lawsuits are claims that the company failed to warn users of the risk of cancer, as shown in several research studies over many years.

One of Bayer’sstated key strategies to try to end the litigation, which has so far cost Bayerbillions of dollars in settlements and jury verdict awards, is getting the supreme court to agree with Bayer’s argument that if the EPA does not require a cancer warning on its glyphosate products, the company cannot be held liable for failing to warn of a cancer risk.

While one appellate court has sided with Bayer, multiple other courts have rejected that preemption argument, as did the US solicitor general under the Biden administration. In contrast, the Trump administration has acted to defend and promote Bayer’s position and its glyphosate herbicides.

In a statement Bayer said the meeting at the EPA was a “normal part of the regulatory process” and that the company has been “transparent about our position” regarding glyphosate litigation.

The show of administration support has largely come after that 17 June meeting, which government email communications and visitor logs confirm took place with Anderson and the other Bayer executives arriving at the EPA on the appointed day a little before 1pm.

According to a 13 June internal EPA email planning for the meeting, Bayer’s team was “going to bring up some legal/judicial issues”, and discussion topics were to include “supreme court action”.

The company would “give an update to the administrator on where they stand in litigation and labeling options”, the planning email states.

The meeting came less than two weeks ahead of a request from the Supreme Court for the Trump administration’ Justice Department to weigh in on whether or not the court should agree to hear Bayer’s case.

The EPA officials attending the meeting with Bayer were to include Lee Zeldin, the agency’s administrator, along with Nancy Beck, formerly senior director at the American Chemistry Council who is now the EPA’s principal deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

Sean Donahue, who was confirmed last May as the EPA’s general counsel, and Turner Bridgforth, senior adviser for Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the EPA, were also to attend.

“It’s becoming abundantly clear that the political appointees at the EPA are more invested in protecting pesticide company profits than the health of Americans,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which obtained the email communications in a Freedom of Information Act request and provided them to the Guardian.

“When the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world is meeting with political appointees in a US regulatory office, it shows just how much power and influence these corporations have on decisions that can have very real consequences for the health of all Americans,” he said.

“The Trump EPA seeks input from a broad range of stakeholders, including MAHA advocates, doctors, scientists, farmers, and ranchers to ensure our policies are grounded in transparent, gold-standard science, and advance the Make America Healthy Again agenda,” Brigit Hirsh, the EPA press secretary, said in a statement. The meeting with Bayer was “a standard introductory meeting” and was not a meeting to discuss pending litigation, Hirsh said. She did not explain why the planning email for the meeting specifically said litigation would be discussed.

Multiple moves supporting Bayer

Since the meeting, the Trump administration’s support for Bayer has taken many forms.

In a 1 December filing with the US supreme court, D John Sauer, the solicitor general appointed by the Trump administration in April 2025, told the court that it should take up the Bayer case, and the supreme court subsequently agreed to do so, setting a hearing for 27 April.

---

ggl 5 26

[### About the Office of External Affairs | US EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (.gov)

https://www.epa.gov › aboutepa › about-office-external...](https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-external-affairs)

Henry Turner Bridgforth, Senior Advisor for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Organization. Digital, Risk Communications, and Press Division. Angela Shogren ...Read more

Missing: SCOTUS ‎| Show results with: SCOTUS

[### EPA Seeks New Members for the Farm, Ranch and Rural ...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (.gov)

https://www.epa.gov › pesticides › epa-seeks-new-mem...](https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-seeks-new-members-farm-ranch-and-rural-communities-advisory-committee)

Feb 2, 2026 — ... Turner Bridgforth, Senior Agriculture Advisor to the Administrator. “Feeding, clothing, and fueling the world requires a strong partnership ...Read more

Missing: AFFAIRS ‎SCOTUS

[### Turner Bridgforth LegiStorm

https://www.legistorm.com › person › bio › Henry_Turn...](https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/350215/Henry_Turner_Bridgforth.html)

See more about Turner Bridgforth including contact information, congressional salary, employment history, education, lobbying records and other biographical ...

Missing: RURAL ‎SCOTUS

[### A Farm Kid Navigates Federal Policy at the EPA - Seed World

seedworld.com

https://www.seedworld.com › 2025/06/09 › a-farm-kid-...](https://www.seedworld.com/us/2025/06/09/a-farm-kid-navigates-federal-policy-at-the-epa/)

Jun 9, 2025 — Turner Bridgforth brought his agricultural roots to Washington DC, aiming to build trust with farmers and tackle regulatory backlogs.Read more

EPA Senior Advisor For Agriculture and Rural Affairs Turner Bridgforth addresses the 2025 ASTA Leadership Summit.

Turner Bridgforth brought his agricultural roots to Washington D.C., aiming to build trust with farmers and tackle regulatory backlogs — but how fast can change come?

Turner Bridgforth didn’t grow up in D.C. He grew up in a town so small, he joked, “we could probably fill up the whole city hall with just the people in this room.”

Now, with just under 80 days under his belt as the EPA’s senior advisor for Agricultural Rural Affairs, he finds himself working from the inside — inside the agency, inside the Beltway and, as he puts it, inside “the house.”

Bridgforth’s role is to bring agricultural concerns into EPA policy conversations — something many in the seed and agriculture sectors have long pushed for in D.C. He serves as a liaison between farm stakeholders and agency leadership, managing a federal advisory committee on rural affairs, coordinating with advisors across all 10 EPA regions, and acting as a point of contact for ag-specific issues like pesticide approvals, seed treatment regulation and clean water initiatives.

“I try to take what I learned from home and what I learned the last nine years inside the house,” he said to a full room at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Leadership Summit in Washington D.C. “It truly is an honor to represent the thousands of men and women working six inches of topsoil into the most productive land in the world.”

A Familiar Message — But With New Urgency

Bridgforth’s remarks came as part of a broader update on EPA activities under the Trump administration. His central message was that the agency is committed to working more efficiently with agriculture — and, in his words, “open for business.”

“The main I want to drive across is the EPA is open for business, ready to meet our customers, ready to hear from you about your concerns and possible solutions,” he said.

That outreach comes at a time of heightened pressure around pesticide regulations, chemical backlogs and permitting delays. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, appointed earlier this year, has laid out a five-pillar ‘Powering the Great American Comeback’ initiative, covering everything from clean air and energy dominance to permitting reform and AI development.

“Farmers and ranchers are the first and foremost stewards of the environment,” he said. “Their partnership is critical to ensuring clean air and water for all.”

But the rollout of those goals hasn’t been without challenges.

Tackling the Backlog — and the Expectations

The EPA has long struggled with delays in reviewing new crop protection products and chemical registrations. That backlog has only grown in recent years, raising frustration among developers, retailers, and producers who rely on timely access to safe, effective inputs.

“Right now, we’ve got a little over 14,000 open actions,” Bridgforth said. “To give a specific number, 2,281 of those being important PRIA (Pesticide Registration Improvement Act) cases, and 3,616 of those being non-PRIA notifications and amendments.”

He acknowledged that “we’re late in reviewing a lot of these cases,” noting that delays translate directly into “lost money and productivity for businesses and our nation’s farmers.”

Since Jan. 20, the agency has reportedly reduced the backlog by more than 2,300 actions. But many questions remain about how sustainable those gains are —vand whether long-term staffing, funding and scientific infrastructure are adequate to address the scope of the problem.

To that end, EPA is undergoing what Bridgeworth called a “reorganizational effort,” aimed at modernizing the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). That includes hiring new staff, expanding IT capacity and increasing internal coordination on reviews.

“This makes us more efficient and really sets this program up for success for the years to come,” he said. “We’re doing it in a way that’s going to enhance the science and the tools we use.”

Treated Seed Policy and the ESA Challenge

Bridgforth provided updates on the agency’s review of treated seed policies, which continue to evolve as more data and public feedback come in.

“The Health Effects Division (HED) is looking at ways to further refine modeling exposure assumptions to include real-world data,” he said. “We’re expecting to have updates to share in 2026.”

Seed treatment has been a flashpoint issue in recent years, particularly in discussions around pollinator health, environmental exposure, and the legal status of treated seeds under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

A Farm Visit and a Field of Peanuts

Bridgforth used an anecdote to illustrate how agriculture can still be a mystery in Washington.

“I think it was my second or third week on the job. We were in Georgia, at a cotton and peanut farm,” he said. “The administrator — who’s from Long Island — walked out into this field, and he goes, ‘What am I looking at?’”

Bridgforth said he pointed out the rows — one bed of peanuts, another of cotton — and then gave what he believes was his most effective explanation of how agriculture works:

“From spring to summer, it’s when farmers put their money in the ground. From summer to fall, they watch and take care of their money. And from fall onward, they pick up their money.”

That metaphor, he said, helped the administrator connect the dots between EPA policy and its impact on the ground.

Still a Long Road Ahead

Bridgforth acknowledged the EPA still has a lot of work to do — on chemicals, on transparency, on stakeholder trust. And while he’s only been in the role for a few months, he said that words and plans aren’t enough.

“Farmers are excited for this administration to be here,” he said. “But I think with trade concerns, with the opportunities of markets, uncertainty — they’re looking for a leading voice here.”

---