ICYMI: Secretary Rollins Pens USA TODAY Op-Ed “Trump Is Fighting to Protect American Farmers”

(Washington, D.C., December 12, 2025) - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins published an opinion piece in USA TODAY highlighting this week's actions the Trump Administration is taking to protect American farmers.

"Under President Joe Biden, the cost of doing business increased drastically, and commodity prices slumped after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. Between 2020 and this year, seed costs increased 18%, fuel was up 32%, fertilizer went up 37%, labor went up 47%, and interest expenses shot up by a whopping 73%," said Secretary Rollins. "While American farmers face historic pressures, this week, President Donald Trump reminded them he is their greatest champion. That's why President Trump directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a bridge to support American agricultural producers while new trade deals take effect and give input costs time to come down. This new aid program is a limited but critical bridge to the improvements President Trump and Republicans in Congress have made through the One Big Beautiful Bill. The bridge funding will assist farmers until input costs and inflation go down."

Read the full piece below.

While American farmers face historic pressures, this week, President Donald Trump reminded them he is their greatest champion.

As our very first president, George Washington, himself a farmer, told a joint session of Congress in 1796: "It will not be doubted, that with reference either to individual or national welfare, agriculture is of primary importance."

More than two centuries later, those words remain true.

Our farmers not only feed, fuel and clothe us, but they bear and sustain a set of values and principles that are essential to the continuation of our republic.

Like the pioneers who settled this great nation, our farmers and ranchers build civilization from wilderness and fulfill God's command to till the earth, renewing our national inheritance of liberty for new generations.

That is why all of America is under threat when American agriculture is under threat.

And there's no doubt that right now, American agriculture is under threat.

Biden's policies hurt America's agriculture industry

Under President Joe Biden, the cost of doing business increased drastically, and commodity prices slumped after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. Between 2020 and this year, seed costs increased 18%, fuel was up 32%, fertilizer went up 37%, labor went up 47%, and interest expenses shot up by a whopping 73%.

This is unsustainable for our farmers and ranchers, and it has left them with heavier debt loads and fewer tools to manage risk.

Suffice it to say, rural America was on the brink of ruin.

But on Jan. 20, 2025, that all changed.

In just 10 months, the Trump administration has delivered more targeted support, faster relief and opened more markets than the Biden administration managed in four.

Whereas Biden failed to sign even one new trade agreement, the Trump administration is rapidly expanding sales to new buyers in more than two dozen key markets, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

To help relieve strain on rural America's credit system, this week the Farm Credit Administration issued guidance, not shared with the public, that allows credit institutions to offer emergency loan restructuring and refinancing for borrowers facing cash-flow stress.

We are also working every hour of every day to lower input costs. Already, President Trump's actions have lowered fuel prices.

However, there is more work to be done.

Anti-competitive trade practices threaten America's food supply. Trump is fighting back.

We are boldly standing up to anti-competitive behavior, which threatens the stability and affordability of America's food supply - especially when carried out by foreign-controlled corporations.

Food supply sectors, including meat processing, seed, fertilizer and equipment, are vulnerable to price fixing and other anti-competitive practices. We will determine whether these behaviors are increasing the cost of living for Americans.

For the sake of producers and consumers alike, any associated national security threats to our food supply will be swiftly addressed.

While we have already made great strides toward permanently changing the trajectory of our farm economy, and therefore of America's future, we know it will take more in the short term to undo the mess we inherited from the last administration.

That's why President Trump directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a bridge to support American agricultural producers while new trade deals take effect and give input costs time to come down.

As the president announced earlier this week, USDA has secured more than $12 billion in funding for programs that will provide relief and support.

The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program includes $11 billion in targeted support for American row crop farmers who have been harmed by market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation and harmful actions from foreign governments. Eligible farmers can expect payments to hit their bank accounts by Feb. 28, 2026.

The remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in bridge payments will be reserved for commodities not covered in the program announced this week.

This new aid program is a limited but critical bridge to the improvements President Trump and Republicans in Congress have made through the One Big Beautiful Bill. The bridge funding will assist farmers until input costs and inflation go down.

As we make historic investments in our nation's farmers and ranchers, and as I travel through the countryside, I have heard loud and clear: Our farmers and ranchers want fair markets, not endless handouts. They don't want to farm for government checks.

This vision of long-term freedom undergirds the short-term solution that the FBA program represents. Under President Trump's leadership, we will not rest until every farmer is free from the cycle of dependence and back in control of their farms and their futures.

In the spirit of George Washington, the Trump administration is once again delivering on our promise to treat agriculture with the importance it deserves, so families all across our countryside will be able to stand tall and pass on our national inheritance of greatness to future generations.

Brooke L. Rollins is the 33rd United States Secretary of Agriculture.

###