Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said USDA will focus on five priorities this year to turn the ag economy around. During remarks Feb. 26 at Commodity Classic in San Antonio, she touted what she considers the Trump administration’s successes, while acknowledging many challenges remain.
“We still have so much work to do, but I will declare that we have made great progress on promises that were made and worked on together over the last 365 days,” Rollins said.
As farmers continue to face challenges, Rollins said her agency will prioritize:
- deregulation
- trade deals
- lower input costs
- expansion of domestic biofuel markets
- a stronger farm safety net
‘One farmer, one file’ initiative
During her appearance, Rollins said USDA will launch a new initiative to modernize the agency’s tech capabilities to streamline administrative burdens for farmers. Under the program, USDA will create a single file for each farmer that will stay with the farmer throughout USDA’s system. Rollins said this will make it “simpler and easier” for farmers to interface with the federal government.
According to Rollins, past modernization efforts created duplicative tech platforms that didn’t communicate with each other. This created redundancy for both farmers and USDA. Still, Rollins said farmers won’t necessarily need to be online more often.
“This is not a mandate to digitize,” she said. “We’re not telling you we’re moving everything to your phone or your computer.”
Instead, Rollins said the initiative is intended to expand options for producers. Farmers will still be able to visit their local Farm Service Agency and go through paper applications with an expert if they prefer.
Trade successes and concerns
On the trade front, Rollins was quick to point out that the Trump administration has brokered trade deals or frameworks with 15 nations and governmental bodies, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan and Mexico. She noted that last year’s $41.5 billion ag trade deficit was much lower than the $50 billion that had been projected. Rollins said that downward trend is expected to continue, with a trade deficit of about $35 billion projected this year.
Still, rising input costs remain a major concern for farmers. Costs for key items like fuel, seeds, fertilizer, labor and interest have all risen significantly since 2020.
In remarks following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Rollins said farm input costs are now going down for the first time in five years.
Not everyone agrees with that claim. While inflation has slowed from COVID-era levels, multiple economic analyses have concluded that overall ag input costs continue to climb despite good news on certain segments. During the three-day San Antonio conference, farmers repeatedly cited costs as one of the biggest issues keeping them from being profitable.
E15 waivers imminent?
Ethanol supporters were dismayed when year-round E15 was not included in the latest farm bill proposal. During a post-speech press conference, Rollins said getting that legislation passed remained a priority for her and Trump.
“I wish you all knew how much E15 has been discussed in the Oval Office and the Capitol,” she said.
The secretary added that she has been “given assurances” that year-round E15 will happen. While the White House needs Congress to approve permanent legislation, the president can invoke waivers allowing E15 sales in the summer. Both Trump and President Joe Biden have issued these the past several years. While not wanting to promise anything before it’s official, Rollins said she believed a waiver for this summer is “imminent.”
Mental health initiative coming soon?
During the same press conference, Rollins said the administration is working on incentives to bring more young people into agriculture and keep multigenerational farming operations viable. She said she remains optimistic that those efforts will help reverse the trend of fewer people choosing farming as a career.
“I do think that mental health of a farmer is also an important piece of that, and I’m working on a pretty big program to announce on that very soon,” Rollins added.