Fresh from being confirmed as the 33rd secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins headed into her new office, surrounded by family and new staff and acknowledging a long list of challenges and opportunities ahead. It didn’t take long before she also headed to the countryside to meet with producers.
“There’s a lot of work we need to do, but it’s also so joyful,” she said during her first media interview with me. With President Donald Trump at the White House, she said those who are serving in the cabinet are given a “once in a lifetime, maybe in a country’s lifetime,” to return government to the people.
Her long-term goals include realigning the agency back to its original intent of “working for our agriculture community, our farmers, ranchers and our rural communities” and more broadly, bringing prosperity back to rural America.
“There is no doubt that people in this country are hurting, especially in corners of rural America that are often overlooked,” she emphasized. “Whether we’re talking about things like rural housing, rural child care, whatever it may be, if we can bring this cabinet together, which I believe we can, and work across the agencies to ensure that we’re really bringing the American dream to every corner.”
Rollins arrived in office shortly after the Trump administration had offered federal employees an opportunity to resign in exchange for pay through September. About 75,000 employees accepted the offer by Wednesday’s deadline, but Rollins said she had not yet been briefed on how many were from USDA’s workforce, which has numbered up to 100,000 employees.
“I think the numbers will perhaps be significant, but I also think it is an amazing opportunity for us to bring in new talent and bring in people who are excited to fight for American agriculture,” she explained.
In the short term, Rollins says she is focused on effectuating the president’s vision for a more streamlined and effective government. She plans to work alongside Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency to realign the agency around its core and central purpose, which is supporting farmers and ranchers.
Rollins said the DOGE team has already identified hundreds of programs supporting identity politics and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) which she will call back to move those funds into other efforts supporting farmers and ranchers.
She’s also eager to get personnel back to this “beautiful building” in Washington, D.C., and to address issues that are front of mind for our entire ag community, including avian influenza. She was headed into a briefing on the “bird flu” shortly after our interview and had several other meetings planned into the evening.
Rollins said she would be reviewing “very, very carefully” government contracts that have been frozen, leaving farmers and ranchers uncertain about whether or not they will be reimbursed for expenses incurred under programs like the Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities. She hopes to have some answers as soon as next week.
“Our intent is to ensure that the programs are supporting our farmers and our ranchers, but that we’re also aligning with the president’s vision on any commitments that have been made,” she explained, while adding that he would not support “Green New Deal-specific programs that don’t align with where he thinks the country needs to go.”
She is also closely following Trump’s announcement that lays the groundwork for reciprocal tariffs. Asked about how U.S. farmers might be supported if other countries retaliate and shut down ag exports, she recalled her conversation with the president shortly after her Senate confirmation vote.
“He called to congratulate me, and we talked about the votes, and we talked about the work ahead, and without me even beginning the conversation, he immediately said, ‘Tell the farmers that we are with them, and that we are going to make decisions that will do nothing but help them,’” she said.
“I think the communities can be sure that no one will be a bigger fighter. … And once the president does effectuate his policies and his vision on this, that we do everything we can to protect our farmers and our ranchers.”
The next day, she addressed more USDA staff and supporters from Capitol Hill. USDA issued a press release outlining “bold actions” she was taking to reform the department.
The release said USDA had terminated 78 contracts worth $132 million and that more than 1,000 contracts were under review. Already terminated contracts included $2.8 million in Politico subscriptions, $254,000 for diversity dialogue workshops and $91,000 “for training, education and access to professional and economic opportunities for women and increasing their participation in climate change adaptation activities” in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The USDA release said she was also killing all “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility programs to reprioritize unity, equality and meritocracy.
Rollins also said she would “end identity politics, identity celebrations and (diversity, equity and inclusion) here at USDA. … We will instead celebrate the things that make America the best in the world—our merit, our faith and our liberty.”
“All of our people deserve equal dignity, and at this department, we will be the model for that,” she said.
Shortly after Rollins met with USDA staff in Washington, D.C., she headed to the National Farm Machinery Show and Tractor Pull in Kentucky. Then she went west to Kansas for a meeting with growers, along with Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall and U.S. Rep. Tracy Mann.
“I’m grateful that Secretary Rollins chose the Big First as her first official producer visit following her confirmation,” Mann said. “Agriculture is the heartbeat of the Big First District, and the livelihoods of the men and women in our district depend on sound farm and food policy that provide certainty as they work day in and day out to feed, clothe and fuel the world.”
Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com.
