Helping family farms, convincing Congress to pass the Farm Bill, and preparing farmers and ranchers for potential tariff implications are among her priorities.
Brooke Rollins, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of agriculture, told committee members at her confirmation hearing on Jan. 23 that she will prioritize helping family farms and the agricultural community as a whole if she takes office.
“I fully recognize that if I am confirmed, I am stepping into the role during one of the most economically challenging times in American agriculture history,” Rollins said.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show that there are 550,000 fewer farms in the U.S. today than there were in 1980, and more than 150 million acres are no longer generating commercial crops.
“It is clear we all agree that farmers and ranchers are the cornerstone of our nation’s communities, and I commit to you today that if confirmed, I will do everything in my ability to make sure our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities thrive,” she added.
Rollins noted that “revivifying, restoring, and bringing back rural America” is one of the initiatives she is most excited about, adding that supporting housing and education for rural Americans are among the objectives.
Rollins agreed with lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee that the growing trend of multinational companies purchasing farms causes harm to smaller farms and should be addressed.
“We have to find a better way, and it can’t come always through government subsidies. We’ve got to expand the market,” Rollins said.
The USDA, which spans 29 agencies and offices, has around 100,000 employees and a pending 125-page $213.3 billion budget.
The agency manages national forests, agricultural lending programs, food safety inspections, rural development, commodity trade policies, fighting wildfires, setting standards for school meals, and nutrition programs that assist low-income people, pregnant women, and young children.
Rollins is a Texas native who once served as CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. She earned degrees from Texas A&M and the University of Texas Law School.
Rollins was Trump’s domestic policy chief during his first term. She also served as general deputy counsel and policy adviser for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
When President Joe Biden was in office, Rollins headed the America First Policy Institute, an organization aligned with Trump. She co-founded the organization with former National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow in 2021.
She has gained the backing of almost every major farm group. A letter signed by more than 400 organizations cited her “close working relationship” with Trump as an asset.
In a letter earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined several other Republican governors in endorsing Rollins’ nomination.
Farm Bill, Tariffs
If Rollins is confirmed, convincing Congress to adopt the five-year Farm Bill will be one of her most significant challenges.
“I look forward to working with this committee, and with the House Agriculture Committee, to pass a Farm Bill that provides the certainty and predictability our farm families need,” she said in her opening statement.
The omnibus includes agriculture, conservation, and nutrition policies. It was signed by Trump in 2018 and has been extended twice.
The USDA’s 125-page fiscal year 2025 budget summary indicates its request is $213.3 billion. This includes mandatory Farm Bill programs totaling $181.7 billion and $31.6 billion in discretionary funding.
Adopted in 2024 by the House but yet to be heard in the Senate, the Farm Bill details $1.46 trillion in spending over the next 10 years.
The 2018 farm bill expired for a second time on Sept. 30, 2024. The latest extension gives Congress until Sept. 30, 2025, to pass a new measure.
In her opening statement, Rollins outlined additional day one priorities.
“We must ensure that the disaster and economic assistance authorized by Congress is deployed as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” she said.
Rollins added that the USDA must work with community and state leaders to “get a handle on the state of animal disease outbreaks” and “immediately begin to modernize, realign, [and] rethink” the USDA.
For the long term, Rollins said, the USDA must ensure that rural communities are “equipped and supported to prosper” by eliminating “costly regulations that hamper innovation” and creating “strong and steady” domestic and export markets for farmers among other goals.
Tariffs were a hotly discussed topic at the confirmation hearing.
During Trump’s first term, he implemented tariffs on Chinese imports, which led to retaliatory tariffs on soybeans. The Trump administration compensated farmers with billions of dollars to offset losses.
Trump has indicated he could impose new tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada.
Rollins said she would consider direct payments to farmers to offset losses from proposed tariffs. She told the Senate Agriculture Committee that she talked to Sonny Perdue, who was Secretary of Agriculture during Trump’s first term, about managing the trade war.
When asked by Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) about what her approach would be on Trump’s trade agenda, she said she would work with the administration to manage challenges farmers and ranchers might encounter from tariffs.
Rollins said that Trump believed tariffs are “a very important tool in his toolkit to continue to bring America back to the forefront of the world, and to ensure that we have a thriving economy.”
“But just as he did and we did in the first administration, he also understands the potential devastating impact to our farmers and our ranchers. So I fully understand and we are prepared to do something similar—to ensure that we can close those holes moving forward under any sort of tariff execution,” she explained.
Other Topics
Rollins is expected to work with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on a number of issues if both are confirmed by the Senate. Kennedy is Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee, and his confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29.
The USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services have a late 2025 deadline to complete the 2025–30 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Kennedy has said he will focus on removing ultra-processed foods from school lunches, eliminating harmful chemicals from foods, and implementing other measures to address what he calls a “chronic disease epidemic” in the U.S.
The former Democrat and independent presidential candidate has also pledged to ban candy, soda, and other “junk foods” from being eligible to buy with food stamps under the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Boozman asked Rollins if she would commit to reviewing SNAP to ensure that program recipients are incentivized to “secure steady employment.”
“It’s imperative to us that every taxpayer dollar that is spent in support of these programs is reaching its intended recipient, and that the recipient is able to use it effectively and efficiently for true nutrition reasons,” Rollins responded, adding that the money spent should be done “in the best and most effective way.”
Trump has vowed to implement an expansive deportation of illegal immigrants. Some lawmakers have expressed concern that move could increase labor costs for farmers and inflate food costs for consumers. According to the USDA, more than 40 percent of American crop farmworkers lacked legal immigration status between 2020 and 2022, a point made by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) during the hearing.
Rollins defended Trump’s mass deportation plans.
“I believe sincerely that he will execute his agenda that he has promised the American people, but that will never forget our ag-community in so doing,” she added.
Multiple Democrats at the hearing asked Rollins how farms could stay in business without as many workers.
Rollins responded several times that she would work with the Department of Labor to “reform and perhaps modernize” the H-2A visa program for temporary farmworkers and “make sure none of these farms or dairy producers are put out of business.”
Reforming the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa could remedy the potential employee shortage, Rollins said.
She also noted that Trump has been “very clear” that the first round of deportation will be aimed at “those who have committed crimes.”