Rollins called the speech a “triumph” on Fox Business
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is celebrating President Trump’s State of the Union address a day after the near two-hour speech to Congress.
Speaking on Fox Business on Wednesday morning, Rollins called the speech a “triumph” while highlighting the successes of the Trump administration and her department’s role in that.
“It’s remarkable to think that in just one year, the borders are sealed, peace through strength around the world (with) so many wars solved,” she said. “And from my perspective being the Secretary of Agriculture, working to ensure from a national security standpoint, that America can feed ourselves and fuel ourselves while ensuring those prices come down.”
The closest mention of farmers or agriculture in the president’s address came while discussing how his administration’s policies are reversing high costs resulting from the Biden years.
“The price of eggs is down 60%, Madam Secretary (Rollins), thank you,” Trump said during the State of the Union. “The cost of chicken, butter, fruit, hotels, automobiles, rent is lower today than when I took office by a lot. And even beef, which was very high, is starting to come down significantly.”
While Americans see the prices at the grocery stores, they may be unaware of the input costs related to producing that food.
As input costs rise, so do food prices.
“Fertilizer went up 33 percent under Biden, seed went up 40 percent, interest rates for our farmers (up) 73 percent, labor went up 47 percent in the agriculture industry under Joe Biden,” Rollins said. “Of course food (prices) went up astronomically.”
External factors are at play too.
“In 2022, food prices increased faster than any year since 1979, due in part to a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which compounded other economy-wide inflationary pressures such as high energy costs,” a February 2025 USDA report says.
Bringing input costs down while negotiating trade agreements will help farmers and rural communities while lowering grocery prices for consumers, she added.
Multiple members of the ag community attended the State of the Union.
Guests included Doug Darling, a row crop farmer from Maybee, Mich., Tom Willis, a Kansas farmer and chairman of Growth Energy, and Nick Levendofsky, the executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union.