Brooke Rollins Nominated as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture: What It Means for American Farmers

Nov 25, 2024

Brooke Rollins, a former White House domestic policy adviser and current CEO of the America First Policy Institute, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump as the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. If confirmed, Rollins will become the second woman in history to lead the USDA, following Ann Veneman’s tenure under President George W. Bush.

A New Chapter for the USDA
Rollins brings a diverse background in conservative policy advocacy, including her leadership at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where she championed initiatives such as school choice, fossil fuels, and faith-based programs. As Secretary, she will oversee the USDA’s $200 billion budget, which supports programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and school meal regulations.

Her nomination comes at a critical time, with the potential reauthorization of the trillion-dollar farm bill looming. The farm bill, which provides funding for farmer safety nets, rural development, and government nutrition programs, has yet to be renewed after its previous iteration was signed in 2018.

Industry Challenges and Opportunities
The pork industry and other agricultural sectors have faced significant challenges in recent years, including trade disputes and retaliatory tariffs that impacted market access and profitability. Rollins’s leadership is expected to shape policies aimed at bolstering U.S. agriculture’s competitiveness on the global stage.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) issued a statement congratulating Rollins, emphasizing the need for strong leadership at the USDA. “We look forward to collaborating with Ms. Rollins to address the challenges impacting our industry. Strong leadership is essential for supporting agriculture and ensuring the success of American farmers,” the NPPC said.

Prioritizing Trade and Innovation
Rollins’s tenure is likely to focus on streamlining USDA operations, promoting rural development, and enforcing tariffs on foreign goods in alignment with Trump’s broader economic agenda. For pork producers, these priorities could translate into expanded market opportunities, enhanced biosecurity measures, and support for agricultural innovation.

Additionally, Rollins’s deep ties to agriculture and rural communities are expected to inform her approach to the department’s responsibilities. Her leadership could bring renewed attention to sustainability, food security, and animal health—key concerns for producers navigating a complex and evolving agricultural landscape.

Looking Ahead
As Rollins steps into this critical role, the agricultural community will watch closely to see how her leadership shapes the future of the USDA and its impact on farmers nationwide. Pork producers and stakeholders across the sector are hopeful that her experience and vision will help address ongoing challenges and drive meaningful progress.

Swine Web will continue to provide updates on Rollins’s confirmation process and the implications of her leadership for the pork industry and beyond.

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Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators