“Ag has changed yesterday, it’s changing today, and it will surely change tomorrow,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a speech to attendees at the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Convention on April 12. “What has stayed the same for far too long are the broken systems in Washington, D.C. – including systems at the USDA that haven’t been updated in decades.”
She then spent the next half-hour or so describing how the Trump administration – particularly the USDA – intends to help U.S. agriculture.
Rollins began by laying out the current trade situation among the U.S. and its trading partners, and what it all means for American cattle producers. She acknowledged that the Trump administration is cognizant of the angst and uncertainty its trade policies are contributing to U.S. agriculture, but that the president remains firm in his conviction that his tactics will bring prosperity to U.S. producers and consumers.
“The president has given me a seat at this table to make sure farmers and ranchers have a seat at this trade negotiation,” Rollins, a Texas native, told TSCRA members.
The administration has begun talks to negotiate new or revamped trade deals with more than 75 countries and on April 2 announced a 90-day pause on implementation of many tariffs to allow those negotiations time to take place. Among the nations currently in trade talks with the U.S. are Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, major export markets for U.S. beef. The USDA has announced an aggressive travel schedule for Rollins that will see her visit Vietnam, Japan, India, Peru, Brazil and the United Kingdom in 2025 to work on hammering out trade deals that will hopefully benefit American producers. Other USDA trade missions scheduled for this year include Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Côte d’Ivoire and Mexico. Specifically, Rollins cited the United States' $1.3 billion trade deficit with India and $7 billion trade deficit with Brazil as major reasons for her world tour.
“We travel into these countries to get a fair deal for American family ranchers and farmers and to reassert what this great country has to offer,” Rollins said. “We know how important it is to expand market access for our farmers and ranchers.”
Rollins also addressed concerns about New World screwworm and the threat the pest could pose to U.S. beef production. New World screwworm has been eradicated in the U.S. and Mexico for decades but has reemerged in southern Mexico in recent months, sparking anxiety that it’s only a matter of time before U.S. cattle producers are once again contending with the devastating pest, particularly in Southern states. Producing and distributing sterile flies to interrupt the insects’ life cycle is currently the most effective defense against the spread of screwworms. Rollins said she is in regular conversation with her counterpart in Mexico about collaborating to combat the pest.
“If this parasite entered the United States, as you all know better than anyone else, it would have a major impact on you, our cattle producers,” Rollins said. “That’s why we continue to take strong action to stop its spread in Mexico and Latin America … to drive it farther south far away from our border [with Mexico]. We remain resolute and hyperfocused on this issue.”
Rollins’s final major point of emphasis at TSCRA was the passage of a new farm bill. Current farm bill legislation was passed in 2018 and intended to last for five years. It received a one-year extension in 2023 and again in 2024, but ag groups and many legislators say that many of its policies and regulations are in dire need of updating. Rollins says she and her department have already been in talks with Congress to get a new farm bill across the finish line prior to the current one’s expiration on Sept. 30.
“When I first got the call to do this job, I was told to do everything we can to get that farm bill across the finish line,” she said. “We understand how important reference prices and others are for our ag community. Together, we can avoid punting for a third time and instead provide the agriculture community with the certainty you deserve and need to plan for the future. I am hopeful and encouraged that Congress will deliver.”
