WASHINGTON — “Food security is national security” was a core theme of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Conference, where Bret Erickson, executive vice president of Little Bear Produce, took the stage to introduce Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. He first shared his own farm’s struggles, including untenable labor costs and having to sell off land to stay afloat.
“We want the opportunity to continue growing food in America, pass our farms on to the next generation and compete fairly for the first time in a long time. ... Secretary Brooke Rollins has been our fierce advocate for American agriculture and for American producers. She understands that food security is national security. She understands the importance of rural communities, family farms and a strong domestic food supply.
“The special crop industry still faces significant challenges, but I am optimistic,” Erickson continues. “I believe American growers can compete. I believe family farms can survive, and I believe our best days are still ahead of us. We just need the opportunity, the support and the urgency to get there before more family farms disappear.”
“The headwinds are real,” said Rollins, addressing Erickson and every grower-packer-shipper in the room. “But I’m so inspired by the resilience and the passion and the love of land and the love of the multigenerational righteous work that’s personally about you and everyone in this room.”
How did American agriculture get to this place of uncertainty? Rollins, in part, criticizes the offshoring of the American fertilizer market and the acquisition of domestic farmland by foreign adversaries, arguing that the nation “went to sleep” regarding its economic independence. She also condemns the installation of inefficient solar panels and massive wind turbines on farmland.
“And it isn’t just about preserving a way of life, everyone,” she says. “This is about national security. The minute, the day, the month, the year that we can no longer feed ourselves or fuel ourselves is the minute, the day, the month, the year that we will lose freedom and liberty in America.”
Rollins brought five key topics to the fresh produce industry gathered in the nation’s capital: Making America Healthy Again; regenerative agriculture; “America first” trade policies; expanding opportunities with new markets; and lowering the cost of labor.
1. MAHA
In the past 16 months, through Make America Healthy Again, Rollins says the administration has “carried out the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in American history.”
She says 3 out of 4 American students between the ages of 17 and 24 cannot pass the military readiness test and that nearly 90% of healthcare spending goes to treating chronic disease are causes for concern.
“This is a national security vulnerability and a national health emergency,” she says. “Putting real food back at the center of health and putting the producers that are in this room — that you represent in this room — first is how we make America healthy again.”
Rollins says new dietary guidelines that prioritize real, nutrient-dense food like high-quality protein, healthy fats and fruits and vegetables, as well as revisions to federal nutrition programs that include moving fruits, vegetables and proteins to the center of government-run nutrition programs, are all part of the plan.
While many in the industry are concerned that recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will decrease access to fresh food for low-income families, Rollins contends revisions to SNAP and more stringent requirements of the almost 250,000 retailers in this country that accept the EBT or SNAP dollar will result in that program offering “more real food, more real eggs, chicken, fruit, vegetables, yogurt, etc. on the shelves.”
2. Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture, another key component of the MAHA movement, got a boost in December when USDA announced a $700 million Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program to help American farmers adopt practices that improve soil health, enhance water quality and support long-term productivity.
“In order to continue to be the most productive, the most efficient and also the best growers in the world, we must protect our topsoil from unnecessary erosion and boost the microbiome of the soil,” Rollins says.
She says the pilot program supports farmers who choose to transition to regenerative agriculture and is “not forcing anyone.” Rollins says the program has between 600 and 700 contracts, totaling about $120 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and another 239 contracts worth $30 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program.
“I’m excited to see again how this program will make our farms more protected, our land healthier and our water cleaner,” she says.
3. ‘America First’ Trade Policies
Rollins highlighted the administration’s commitment to an “America First” trade policy by detailing substantial financial investments designed to level the global playing field for domestic agriculture.
Through the Working Families Tax Cut Act, the administration allocated an additional $285 million annually to trade promotion, aiming to aggressively expand export markets for U.S. food and agricultural products. To accelerate this impact, $166 million was fast-tracked through the America First Trade Promotion Program to 55 farm groups, which she says directly counters decades of unfair global trade practices.
Rollins frames these initiatives as part of a broader economic effort to shrink government intervention while simultaneously boosting the financial viability of rural America and domestic farmers. Rollins notes that this trade strategy serves as a critical bridge toward a new era characterized by increased American exports, higher commodity prices and lower input costs.
She says the administration has more than doubled funding for the specialty crop research initiative from $80 million to $175 million per year, with the aim of further strengthening American agricultural competitiveness.
Rollins says $2 billion has been distributed to over 52,000 producers under the USDA marketing assistance for specialty crops program. Last week at a potato farm in central California, USDA announced $1.6 billion in funding for specialty crop producers.
“And y’all, I hear you. It’s not enough,” she says. “There’s still massive gaps out there, but know that we continue to talk, to battle, to meet, to work, to get more funding into the system for our great farmers.”
4. Opening New Markets
“One of the most important ways I believe we can secure our mutual prosperity for our farmers is opening up new markets and export opportunities,” Rollins says.
She says the administration has secured 19 new trade deals in a little over a year and is “working to expand in dozens more.”
“For example, our great apple producers from Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia can now sell their apples to Thailand for the first time — a $5 million opportunity,” she says.
5. Labor
Rollins says the financial relief brought about by correcting the Adverse Effect Wage Rate last year has resulted in a 40% decrease in labor costs for farmers that use H-2A, translating to a “$2 billion savings for our farmers out in the field.”
She adds the administration will continue to work alongside Congress to legally codify these wage corrections.
Recalling a pivotal roundtable meeting in Georgia shortly after taking office, Rollins says local producers were emotionally devastated by escalating expenses.
“There were literally tears,” she says. “’We can’t afford our labor. If things don’t change, we are first-generation, fourth-generation peach family farm or peanut, whatever it was, is going to go out of the business,’” the producers said, according to Rollins.
She says that feedback was a driving force behind the administration’s decisive AEWR rule change.
“We’re talking about keeping food affordable and farming profitable,” she says. “You all know the numbers. You all live in the numbers — that year over year, if the margins are so thin, sometimes there’s no margins at all, and you don’t even know if you can make it to the next year.”
Rollins then invited the entire fresh produce industry to bring any federal rule — no matter how big or small — to IFPA CEO Cathy Burns’ attention, so that she can pass it along. “Let us keep working on those,” she says.
“This is not Republican or Democrat, this is not blue or red,” she says. “This is about preserving the best of our country and ensuring we have freedom for future generations.”
