Rep. Crane Joins MOU Signing to Counter Lawfare on America’s Farmers and Ranchers

This morning, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Headquarters for the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two agencies. The agreement establishes a joint process to intake, investigate, and resolve lawfare complaints from America's farmers, ranchers, and producers.

The event featured a roundtable discussion, a press conference, and the formal signing of the MOU. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), John Rich, Special Envoy for American Landowners, and Stevan Pearce, Director of the Bureau of Land Management, also attended the official program.

Additionally, numerous legal and policy organizations joined the opening roundtable, which gave ranchers and producers from across the country the opportunity to share firsthand accounts of regulatory and legal overreach. Among those in attendance were two Arizona families, Dustin and Becki Ross of Windmill Mountain Ranch, and Casey and Meggan Murph of H Bar and Y Ranch.

The Ross family's U.S. Forest Service grazing allotment has been stalled for more than two years by unnecessary archaeological-clearance requirements that have blocked even basic stock-tank maintenance. In 2021, drought conditions triggered a 25% cut to their Animal Unit Months (AUMs). Although the Forest Service has since restored their AUMs, the family has been unable to rebuild their herd to full strength due to unrepaired wildfire-damaged fences and cumulative financial strain.

The Murph family has run cattle on Arizona State Land Department grazing leases in Holbrook since before statehood. However, the state is considering reclassifying their grazing land for a solar project proposed by the Danish company Ørsted. Losing the lease would be financially devastating to their operation, and despite raising their concerns publicly, the family has received no clear answers from state land officials.

The Trump administration has made defending America's producers from bureaucratic overreach, radical environmentalist NGOs, and activist groups a priority, citing a pattern of costly fines, lost land, and drawn-out litigation targeting farmers and ranchers. Over the past two years, the USDA Lawfare Portal has logged more than 400 submissions from 47 states documenting anti-agricultural legal harassment.

Today's MOU formalizes cooperation between the USDA Lawfare Portal and the SBA's Office of National Ombudsman, which holds statutory authority to review complaints of unfair federal regulatory enforcement against small businesses. Together, the agencies aim to rebuild a government-wide shield ensuring complaints are routed, investigated, and resolved rather than passed between agencies with no resolution in sight.

Rep. Crane commended the Trump administration's efforts to defend these vital industries and the hardworking Americans who feed and fuel our nation.

"Farmers and ranchers are the foundation of a strong and thriving nation. Despite their tremendous contributions to our way of life, the federal government has too often stood by as radical environmentalists targeted them," said Rep. Crane. "Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, Secretary Rollins, and Administrator Loeffler, those days of bureaucratic neglect are over. This Memorandum of Understanding will help protect America's producers from senseless red tape and litigation. We look forward to continuing this critical partnership and laying the groundwork for a healthy, robust industry for generations to come."