House Agriculture Hearing

Chairman Thomas (00:00):

... both her leadership and for taking the time out of her busy schedule to be with us today. Before we begin, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the empty seat in this hearing room. Former chairman David Scott was a friend, a brother in the Lord, and a fierce advocate for the farmers that he represented. His presence here today is dearly missed, and I was proud to honor his legacy by renaming the 1890 Scholarship Program after him in the 2026 Farm Bill. I also want to wish Congressman Baird a very happy birthday today.

(00:33)
On the Ag Committee, our work revolves around a core question. What can we do to help rural America? We go about answering that question through hearings, briefings, round tables, farm visits, and listening sessions. However, the legislation that we ultimately pass is not where this discussion ends. That is where USDA steps in and begins their important work of implementing the programs that we have authorized.

(01:03)
There's no better example of this than the work that we've seen with the implementation of the Working Families Tax Cuts Bill. This was the largest investment in American agriculture in a generation, and USDA has put in the work to get dollars out the door. Just last week, USDA announced the signup process for producers to take advantage of the 30 million base acres added to the ARC and PLC commodity programs. I'm very proud to see these investments roll out in a timely manner.

(01:32)
Secretary Rollins, I want to thank you for being a partner with us in this process. Your work makes it possible for us to ensure help reaches the producers who need it most. Great things are coming with the Working Families Tax Cuts, and I'm eager to see USDA implement all the critical programs we included in that legislation. I also want to acknowledge the important work your team has done to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Your support and leadership have made it possible to restore integrity to this program in the ways that Congress intended. I look forward to hearing more specifics today about your department's efforts to improve state administration of this program.

(02:14)
Hopefully we'll be sending even more work your way soon. I know President Trump wants a farm bill on his desk, and we look forward to getting him one to sign in the near future. The Farm Food and National Security Act of 2026 is a significant step forward for producers, and I know you will continue your diligent work once that bill gets across the finish line. I also want to thank you for the work your team has been doing to boost the domestic production of fertilizer. For critical crop inputs, we must focus on solutions for both today and the future, and I believe the administration's approach does exactly that.

(02:51)
USDA's efforts in the last year to combat the spread of the New World screwworm have also been commendable. The administration's action to prevent exposure in the US stopped the spread of this pest for as long as possible. While the detection yesterday wasn't what we were hoping for, I know USDA will continue to make the necessary efforts to eradicate screwworm once again. Throughout the eradication process, it is imperative that USDA, state animal health officials, industry groups, and members of Congress work together to effectively deploy the whole of government response that has been planned for months.

(03:26)
I also know that I'm not alone when I say thank you for your commitment to farm assistance. The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program was a necessary step to hold producers over until updated policies kick in. Additionally, the decision to dedicate leftover resources from FBA to the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers Program was much appreciated. While I believe there's still more to be done on that front, I thank you for recognizing the need and making the most of the limited dollars that you have available. Please continue to communicate with the committee on how we may be helpful to you as we work to get our farm economy back on stable ground. We know that communication is the bedrock of the important relationship between USDA and the House Committee on Agriculture.

(04:11)
Just a few weeks ago, we hosted Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden to speak to committee members about the USA reorganization process. This was a productive discussion in which good questions were asked and thoughtful answers were given. I look forward to continuing that discussion among others today with Secretary Rollins. I know that supporting our nation's farmers, ranchers and rural communities remains her top priority, and I know her insights will be helpful as we continue our legislative work this Congress. So thank you again, Secretary Rollins, for your service and your testimony. And with that, I now yield to the Ranking Member Craig for her opening remarks.

Ms. Craig (04:50):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to start by saying that former Chairman Scott, the empty seat next to me, was a true fighter for hungry veterans in his district, for students of historically black 1890s land grant institutions hoping to become the next generation of agriculture leaders, and for family farmers. That is exactly why the issues facing farm country today require a serious approach. We owe Congressman Scott that much.

(05:20)
Madam Secretary, welcome. Almost a year ago to the day you appeared before this committee for the first time. During that hearing, Republicans and Democrats voiced their concerns about the pressing issues of the day facing farm country and rural communities. Even then we discussed input costs, commodities prices, tariffs, food assistance programs, and USDA's important role in addressing all of these issues and more. I left that hearing hoping that you would heed the advice of this committee and chart a course for your agency that met the needs of working families and family farmers. Instead, what we have witnessed is blind loyalty to a reckless president and administration. Over this past year, you and this administration have failed farmers and working Americans time after time after time.

(06:19)
Let's recap your record since you were last here. President Trump doubled down on his reckless tariff agenda, destroying critical export markets and driving up costs for all Americans. It cost farmers an estimated $15 billion in lost sales to China last year alone. While American farmers were reeling from the fallout of these tariffs and calling on the administration for relief, President Trump instead gave Argentina $20 billion and handed their ranchers a sweetheart deal, allowing more beef to be imported at the expense of American cattlemen. It's truly stunning. When you finally did listen to the pleas from farm country for relief, it was woefully inadequate, picking winners and losers by providing some farmers with only a fraction of the relief they needed, particularly specialty crop growers, sugar beet farmers and foresters. Only 6% of farmers reported that their financial situation improved from last year, 6%.

(07:35)
Madam Secretary, I'm embarrassed for you. Farm bankruptcy surged 46% nationwide in Trump's first year back in office, an astounding 70% in the Midwest, and just this past April farm bankruptcy surged to their highest monthly total since early 2020 in President Trump's first term. Farmers began 2026 hoping for a course correction. And what has this administration done? Start a war with Iran with no strategy, forethought or care for what the consequences would be for American agriculture or working people. As a result, critical supplies have been choked off from leaving the Strait of Hormuz, driving fertilizer and diesel costs to staggering new levels and making it nearly impossible for farmers to turn a profit. And while all of this is happening, what have you as Secretary been doing? Proclaiming that the Golden Age of Agriculture is just around the corner, for over a year now.

(08:47)
I can promise you that corner is so long, no farmer in America can see around it. And mind you, this is just talking about farm country. You've also made the largest cut to food assistance in the history of our country at a time when more and more people are struggling to afford their food. Then you went on TV and bragged about kicking over four million Americans off food assistance. People like Joseph Myers from my home state of Minnesota, he's a former farmhand who is going to lose SNAP benefits because of the new so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. In his words, "When the food stamps come to an end, then it's going to be really suffering." He's 58, can't perform physical labor anymore and works at the local food bank about 10 hours a week, but Republicans decided that's not enough for him to deserve SNAP benefits.

(09:48)
And over the last year, I've watched you brag about taking food away from millions of Americans like Mr. Myers. You've put on some big show about this Golden Age in Agriculture. Honestly, it's disgusting. The only person this has been a Golden Age for is the President himself. A personal $1.8 billion slush fund paid for by the American taxpayer. A ballroom custom-built for his fancy dinners paid for by corporate donors. Putting his face on a $250 bill, building arches, carving his name into buildings, and that doesn't even include his crypto or shoddy cell phone business interests. A farmer in Iowa put it better than I could, so I will close with his words, "People are hurting out here. The rhetoric about the Golden Age of Agriculture right around the corner, that doesn't match the reality of what's going on on the ground at all." I wish I thought you would listen, but unfortunately, I do believe at this point that you are just another Trump acolyte, and I'm calling you out for it. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Chairman Thomas (10:56):

The Chairman requests that other members to submit their opening statements for the record so our witness may begin their testimony and to ensure that there's ample time for questions. I'm pleased to welcome to the committee our witness for today, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. Madam Secretary, thank you for joining us. We will now proceed to your testimony. You have five minutes. The timer in front of you will count down to zero at which point your time has expired. Secretary Rollins, please begin when you're ready.

Secretary Rollins (11:25):

Great. Thank you so much, Chairman Thompson. Your partnership and friendship and many on this committee over the last year and four months has just been such a unexpected blessing, so I just want to start there. Thank you. Thank you, Ranking Member Craig. We have a lot to talk about, but hopefully during your five minutes, I can respond to some of those accusations. But also thank you to all the distinguished members of this committee. I appreciate the opportunity to provide an update on the Department of Agriculture since we last met just over a year ago.

(11:57)
At the outset, I'd like to acknowledge that there are two people, we've already talked about Congressman Scott, David Scott, but two people that aren't with us that were here last year in this room. Of course, one, Chairman Scott and the other Doug LaMalfa. Both were incredible champions for American agriculture. Doug became a dear friend and whispered in my ear a lot about forestry and about his home area, and I've missed him every day since he left. And of course, Chairman David Scott for, amongst many other things, helping create, steward and shepherd the 1890 Scholarship Program. I know we all feel their absence and take comfort that their incredible legacy will live on for years to come.

(12:42)
One month from today, we will celebrate a truly magnificent milestone, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. As the Declaration's principal author, Thomas Jefferson, once noted, agriculture is indeed our wisest pursuit. More than just an economically vital industry, it helps make our very freedom possible. If we are to secure the blessings of liberty for future generations, we must fight for the future prosperity of American agriculture with every fiber of our being, and for the last 14 months it has been my greatest honor to do so.

(13:21)
Today is the 500th day since President Trump returned to office, and under his leadership putting hardworking farmers, ranchers and rural America back at the center of policymaking and has never been more important than today that we deliver for the men and women who work the land, who tend the livestock and who call the heartland home. The challenges facing our farmers are real in rural America. The Trump administration inherited a farm economy that saw the cost of doing business skyrocket. Under the previous administration, commodity prices plummeted from a 30-year high. Farm income experienced historic declines in those four years. Our farmers saw not one new trade deal in those four years under the last administration. When we left in 2021, we had an $8 billion agricultural surplus, trade surplus. When we came back, it was a $50 billion agricultural trade deficit. These numbers are staggering.

(14:27)
Over the past 16 months, we've worked nonstop to reverse this trajectory for American ag, but such a seismic reroute cannot happen overnight. I hope we will continue to work together, and I'm so grateful for many members of this committee on the other side of the aisle who have been wonderful to work with in the last year, and very grateful for their partnership as they fight for their farmers in their home districts. President Trump and Congressional Republicans delivered historic wins for farmers and rural America in the Working Families Tax Cut, wins including increasing reference prices for the first time in over a decade after the last administration couldn't get a farm bill done. Adding up to 30 million new base acres for farm safety net programs. These are game changers. Saving two million family farms from the death tax and permanently doubling small business expensing under Section 179. And that's just a very short list of win after win after win for rural America. The largest investment in rural America in history was in the Working Families Tax Cut Act of about $250 million.

(15:40)
Input costs, of course, remain top of mind for our farmers, including fertilizer availability and affordability. President Trump has activated our entire cabinet to address this longstanding problem that demands both short-term and long-term solutions, from waving the Jones Act for the short-term to speed permitting instead of a couple of years, 45 days, what will be the largest ammonia plant in the world in Louisiana. We will now break ground on that in just a couple of weeks with about 90 other fertilizer projects, infrastructure projects going on around our country now on fast speed. I am confident we will meet this fertilizer challenge as well as other input challenges in the future and look forward to doing so.

(16:25)
One of my very first actions, and we talked about this a year ago, just a couple of weeks after I was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas, we launched a comprehensive $1 billion plan to combat avian flu and the cost of eggs. That plan has worked and is working. The wholesale price of eggs has dropped over 90% since last year. HPAI cases in commercial poultry and turkey flocks are down 61% since last year. We, of course, invested a significant amount of money in biosecurity and in partnering with our great egg farmers around the country. And the number of birds infected dropped almost 50% since that plan launched. And along with eggs, the cost of other staples has continued to decline, including butter, potatoes, berries, many more vegetables, proteins, yogurts, et cetera. We are taking all threats to our producers extremely seriously. So I'll take a moment, Mr. Chairman, to talk about the screwworm detection, and of course we can dive in with any of you in your Q&A.

(17:28)
Yesterday we received confirmation, for the first time in 45 years, the presence of a New World screwworm case within the United States, with the exception of a couple in Florida and others in the last number of years. We found that and it was confirmed in a three-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas. While this development is a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, it hasn't caught us off guard. We were ready and prepared. Under the last administration and after having the Darien Gap, which is the biological barrier between South America and Central America which held the screwworm at bay since the 1960s, that barrier and gap crumbled under the last administration. With open borders and the proliferation of the Mexican cartels and their illicit cattle trafficking, the New World screwworm began to make its way north hitting Mexico in 2023 and 2024. All models showed that this pest would be here by last summer. With the extremely aggressive action with the support of this committee and an entire across government effort, we began to push back very significantly starting February of last year. The aggressive action we took across the Trump administration and with our state and local partners bought us almost a year of critical time to prepare for what happened yesterday. We have now activated our New World screwworm response playbook, which includes detailed protocols and procedures for just this scenario. We've established a 20-kilometer zone around the detection and implementing quarantines, movement controls and surveillance in the region. In fact, I'll be there next week. We have expedited a targeted release of sterile flies in the affected area to prevent the pests from reproducing and our increasing trapping for New world screwworm flies along the border. We are ramping up surveillance and also management in our wildlife.

(19:32)
In short, we are using every tool at our disposal to eliminate this threat to our livestock producers and to our national security, and we will actively keep you updated. Thankfully, this pest does not represent any sort of challenge to our food safety, and that's a really important message. This is a flesh-eating pest that lands on mammals, on livestock, on deer, et cetera. It is not a threat to our food supply. We have beaten screwworm before, and we will do so again. And again, I don't have time to get into all the details, but if anyone has questions, I'll look forward to ensuring I can answer all of them.

(20:07)
We're also ensuring our farmers can compete and win on the international stage and in global markets. Already in the first year, we have secured 19 new trade deals in one year and leveling the playing field to lay the foundation for that long-term prosperity. I know all of us are working to achieve on both sides of the aisle. We now predict that that $50 billion agricultural trade deficit that we inherited in one year will be cut by 42%. This is billions of dollars back in our farmers' pockets that were lost in the last administration. We are expecting that even this year, year two of our second term, that American producers will set export records in key global markets. It's an incredible time.

(20:57)
As we expand opportunity for the long-term, we are also putting our farmers first by providing the short-term support that is needed to survive. Whether the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, the Specialty Crop Assistance Program, and so many others that we've been deploying over the last year, we have delivered at USDA tens and tens of billions of dollars into targeted direct relief to help our farmers weather these rising input costs, devastating storms and market disruptions.

(21:22)
Another group of producers, just very quickly, I talked about on the West Coast last week, are our cotton growers. The last administration turning a blind eye as our cotton growers suffered. For the first time in American history America became number two in cotton exports when Brazil took over yet another market from our country during the four years of the last administration. Reasserting American cotton dominance is essential, which is why we are going big as well as many other commodities, et cetera, in the days ahead. In partnership with Secretary Kennedy, our most significant reset of federal nutrition policy we believe in perhaps American history through the Make America Healthy Again movement. Our new dietary guidelines are science-based and entirely devoted to ensuring that American farmers and ranchers are at the center of these new dietary guidelines and therefore become the direct model and driver for our nutrition policy in America, which is a huge win for our producers in this country.

(22:25)
It's important to remember that USDA's largest line item by far is what we spend on nutrition programs, not on the farmers. Taken together, USDA spends nearly $400 million every day on 16 nutrition programs, $400 million every day on the 16 nutrition programs last year. Programs like the National School Lunch Program, which took effect 80 years ago today, plays a crucial lifeline to fellow Americans in need. Restoring the integrity of these programs, including in SNAP, is very, very important to this administration and to our USDA. Already in one year we have made over 900 arrests, 900 arrests in the SNAP program, over 120 convictions very quickly and with $132 million already in restitution. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Only the Republican states have shared their data with us, so most of this fraud we have found is actually in the red states. We are obviously in litigation with all the blue states to get that data and to hopefully at some point be able to partner with them to root out more fraud.

(23:37)
Also on the topic of law and order, from day one, this administration has been clear that farm security is national security. Last summer, we launched our National Farm Security Action Plan that boldly integrates agriculture into the national security strategy for our country for the first time ever, which is sort of stunning, but really glad we're finally getting there. Our plan treats the ownership of farmland and who's purchasing farmland, animal disease defense and our food supply chains as the major national security issue that they are. And we continue to work with our congressional and state partners on this issue.

(24:14)
Our farmers, ranchers and rural communities serve the vital role of feeding and fueling and clothing our entire nation and the world. And as we celebrate that 250 years of freedom, including at the great American State Fair on the National Mall this summer in front of the people's department, USDA, I hope we will continue to fight together for these men and women who help make our country great and our freedom possible. I look forward to taking your questions. Thank you so much.

Chairman Thomas (24:42):

Well, thank you for your important testimony today. At this time, members will be recognized for questions in order of seniority, alternating between majority and minority members and in order of arrival for those who joined us after the hearing convened. You will be recognized for five minutes each in order to allow us to get to as many questions as possible, and I'll recognize myself for five minutes.

(25:03)
Madam Secretary, I appreciate your work to support the American cattle ranchers and ensure that misguided plans to import additional foreign beef were not finalized. I also want to thank you for the time and effort you all have dedicated to addressing the New world screwworm. From your coordination with Mexico to the additional sterile fly facilities, enhanced research into emergency technologies and the response playbook and numerous other activities, USDA's work has been tireless and I commend you and your team for that.

(25:34)
I know the detection in South Texas yesterday is not what we wanted, but we are prepared to fight this, containing the spread through quarantine measures and sterile fly dispersals and deploying treatment options to any animals that may be infected, and continued education to producers or consumers alike will be crucial. As we look forward, it is also important that we have frank conversations about returning to a sense of normalcy at the border. The closure has resulted in a full stop of the cattle we traditionally import into the country and has encouraged Mexico to build out their own feeding and processing infrastructures, meaning that they're benefiting from US genetics while taking inventory away from domestic producers.

(26:16)
Because transmissions can happen through a number of vectors, including through wildlife, companion animals and humans, we need to keep talking about next best steps for the southern border, including a reopening that includes rigorous checkpoints, treatment, and quarantine measures. Madam Secretary, again, I want to thank you and your team for your efforts to combat the New World screwworm, and I appreciate the comments that you made in your opening statements. If you have anything further to add, I'm going to give you a few minutes to do so. Otherwise, I'll move on to my first question.

Secretary Rollins (26:51):

No, I appreciate that. I would like to take just a moment on the New World screwworm. So it is a vexing challenge that we thought we had beaten in the 1960s and 1970s. As I mentioned, unfortunately that was wrong as the screwworm began to make its way back towards us in 2021. The way we defeated it before, you need about 400 million sterile flies per week to actually mate with the bad flies, sterilize them, and then of course the way that the fleshes and wounds becomes open to these screwworms, which are actually flies. The flies land in the wound, they lay their eggs. The larva then is what actually eats the flesh. If you catch it right away, you can save the animal and put them back into the supply system after a number of days. If you don't catch it right away, then that's where the problem ensues.

(27:42)
Back when we did beat it, again, as I mentioned, it's about 400 million sterile flies a week, and that was in the 1960s, 1970s. Because over years, we as a country, we as a hemisphere had taken our eye off the ball thinking it was eradicated, we got down to only 100 million sterile flies in production a week in a facility in Panama. So that is what the country, not we, me or USDA, but the country really had relied on to keep it out of Central America and Mexico, et cetera. So here we are. When we got in last year, I was presented with the information, it's starting to move its way up. I went to the President and I said, "This is going to be a massive problem because we need 400 million to 500 million flies per week to beat this back. We only have one facility in our entire hemisphere, and it's only producing 100 million flies per week."

(28:35)
So got immediate approval to begin permitting and construction on what will be the largest facility in the world on this, and that is being built right now in Mission, Texas. So instead of a couple of years of permitting, our Army Corps of Engineer, our Secretary of the War put it at the top of the list, got it fast-tracked and we broke ground about three or four months ago. That facility will come online next year. When it does, it'll produce about 300 million flies per week in addition to the 100 million from Panama, and then we outfitted an additional Mexican facility in Metapa for another $100 million. So we will get back to the point where we're able to push it back and eradicate it, but until that point, which is likely sometime next year, our effort in trapping, surveillance, we had FDA fast-track a lot of treatment.

(29:22)
We've got a national veterinary supply stockpile that was loaded onto a plane this morning is headed to South Texas right now. I've already done a lot of press on this, so making sure that we're over-communicating, especially to our producers is paramount. Of course, for Arizona, New Mexico and California, it's also a challenge, but the screwworm continues to be between 500 and 800 miles away from those borders. It's really South Texas where we're really combating this every day. The point of that, Mr. Chairman, is that we are on it. We've invested almost a billion dollars since we came in the door last year to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

Chairman Thomas (29:59):

Well, thank you, Madam Secretary, and I'll yield back what few seconds I have and now recognize the ranking member for five minutes.

Ms. Craig (30:07):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, do you know how many farms we lost in the United States last year?

Secretary Rollins (30:17):

I know you were talking about the bankruptcies. I know that about 315 farms of 1.88 million are moving through bankruptcy right now.

Ms. Craig (30:26):

Excuse me. We lost 15,000 farms last year.

Secretary Rollins (30:29):

Well, that's a conversation I would really like to have.

Ms. Craig (30:33):

Some were fourth and fifth generation farms.

Secretary Rollins (30:35):

So not bankruptcy, just the purchase-

Ms. Craig (30:37):

15,000 farms. We lost 15,000 farms because of bad policy on the part of this administration. Do you know-

Secretary Rollins (30:42):

So you think we walked in the door as farms closed immediately.

Ms. Craig (30:44):

I'm sorry, I'm going to ask the questions here today.

Secretary Rollins (30:46):

I would love a question.

Ms. Craig (30:47):

Do you know how much money farmers lost last year? What their losses were last year? It was $28 billion. You're the Secretary of Agriculture. $28 billion.

Secretary Rollins (31:00):

Well, it depends how you calculate that because I don't think you're taking into account all the crop protection, all the insurance, all of the different programs that went through to support our farmers.

Ms. Craig (31:11):

Right. And if this administration didn't have terrible policies, we would not need all that support for family farmers because we would have export markets still left in China. Thank you for that.

Secretary Rollins (31:21):

Madam Ranking Member, that is absolutely 100% not correct. When we lost all of our trade access around the world-

Ms. Craig (31:28):

Madam Secretary-

Secretary Rollins (31:28):

... we went to $42 billion agricultural trade deficit.

Ms. Craig (31:29):

... I'm going to reclaim my time on behalf of family farmers.

Secretary Rollins (31:32):

That was not the Trump administration.

Ms. Craig (31:33):

Reclaiming my time means you stopped talking.

Secretary Rollins (31:35):

That was the Biden administration.

Ms. Craig (31:36):

That's what it means in this building. You stop talking when I reclaim my time. What's the national average of farm diesel right now?

Secretary Rollins (31:45):

The national average of farm diesel?

Ms. Craig (31:46):

Yeah, of diesel. What's the diesel? How much?

Secretary Rollins (31:48):

Well, diesel has increased because of the Iranian conflict.

Ms. Craig (31:50):

How much was it? How much is it right now?

Secretary Rollins (31:52):

Well, before the Iranian conflict, it had gone way up under the ... All inputs under the last administration increased about 40%. That's what we inherited. It all was coming down-

Ms. Craig (32:01):

Reclaiming my time. Madam Secretary, Joe Biden is no longer the President of the United States. Mr. Trump is. Your party controls Congress. You own these numbers at this point in time. I'm sick of hearing you blame an administration from a year and a half ago. You own every single bit of this. Since you don't know the answer, in May the average price of diesel was 5.41 a gallon. That's up 95% from a year ago, the entire year in which this administration was in power in the White House, the House, and the Senate. Let me ask you another question to see if you know anything about farm policy. Since the start of the Iran war, how much have fertilizer prices increased for American farmers?

Secretary Rollins (32:49):

Well, there are four different pockets of fertilizer. Nitrogen, I'm sure is what you're talking about, which is ammonia, that's increased about 40% based on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The others are a little more stable, but we are ... Now it did go up almost-

Secretary Rollins (33:00):

Are a little more stable, but we are... Now it did go up almost 90% under the Biden years. So even though we're hitting record numbers-

Ms. Craig (33:08):

Reclaiming my time. You are in power. You own this entire town. Madam Court Reporter, you know what... Reclaiming my time.

Secretary Rollins (33:17):

Okay. I just ask you not to be so rude. I mean, I'd really like to have a legitimate conversation.

Ms. Craig (33:21):

Do you know what percentage of farmers now say they can't afford fertilizer for this year as a result of the president's war in Iran?

Secretary Rollins (33:29):

Well, it depends on the geographic location.

Ms. Craig (33:31):

Oh, my God.

Secretary Rollins (33:31):

The Southeast-

Ms. Craig (33:32):

70% is the answer across the country.

Secretary Rollins (33:34):

Those are not the numbers. That's not correct.

Ms. Craig (33:36):

Madam Secretary, do you know what the SNAP fraud rate actually is according to the most recent estimates from USDA? The fraud rate.

Secretary Rollins (33:45):

Well, that is based on data we're receiving from the states that we can't verify. That's the whole point of this, is we have no ability to verify California, Minnesota where the fraud has been received.

Ms. Craig (33:55):

Reclaiming my time. 1.6%-

Secretary Rollins (33:57):

Well, that's because Minnesota-

Ms. Craig (33:58):

... According to USDA.

Secretary Rollins (34:02):

Your state is saying we only have 1.6% fraud rate, which we all know is an absolute joke.

Ms. Craig (34:07):

I'll say it again. The USDA's own data found 1.6%. I don't know.

Secretary Rollins (34:14):

No, no. We were relying on your data-

Ms. Craig (34:14):

I don't think you understand the difference between error rates and fraud rates. I honestly don't. It is one of the lowest fraud rate in any program in America is the SNAP program.

Secretary Rollins (34:24):

The lowest fraud rate of any program in America is the SNAP program?

Ms. Craig (34:32):

One-

Secretary Rollins (34:33):

You can't be serious when you say that.

Ms. Craig (34:35):

Your own data says 1.6%, Madam Secretary. Reclaiming my time-

Secretary Rollins (34:40):

Your state has told us that number and you won't allow us to confirm it.

Ms. Craig (34:44):

You've bragged on TV that it's a great thing that you kicked four million people off SNAP.

Secretary Rollins (34:50):

The ability to work, the righteousness of work is not-

Ms. Craig (34:54):

Reclaiming my time, 700,000 kids-

Secretary Rollins (34:56):

We would be proud. That's the goal of these welfare programs.

Ms. Craig (34:58):

Well, Madam Secretary, I'm asking you these questions because these issues, this committee, it's all-

Secretary Rollins (35:03):

You're not asking questions for an answer. You're asking questions to make a political statement.

Ms. Craig (35:06):

I'm reclaiming my time again.

Secretary Rollins (35:08):

I would like to actually have a real conversation.

Ms. Craig (35:12):

Mr. Chair, she talked over half of my time here. So look, when you describe the farm economy as the golden age-

Mr. Chair (35:21):

Gentlelady's time is expired.

(35:21)
[inaudible 00:35:22].

Ms. Craig (35:21):

This administration needs to wake up and start understanding that family farmers are-

Mr. Chair (35:27):

Mr. Lucas.

Ms. Craig (35:28):

... in need.

Mr. Lucas (35:30):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Secretary Rollins, thank you for being here today. I want to start my first question by thanking you for your leadership on the great American cotton plan that USDA announced last week. As Congress considers additional ways to help the domestic cotton industry, on proposal continuing to gain traction is the bipartisan Buying American Cotton Act, which would encourage greater use of US grown fiber, support more textile manufacturing in the United States and help shift sourcing away from regions associated with forced labor. Secretary, how do these priorities align with the goals of the great American cotton plan and what role can the stronger demand play in US cotton advancing this agenda?

Secretary Rollins (36:17):

Well, again, this is a job that I just every day wake up and it isn't easy. I don't take it lightly. It's a seven day a week work. It's 20 hours a day, but the opportunity to identify where there has just been such bad policymaking over many years and seeing what has happened to some of our farmers, cotton is one of those. And to see how the world has taken our market over a number of years and that's for a lot of reasons. I mean, what we wear is often shipped in now from other countries. It's cheaper, synthetic fiber. So I think the Buying America Cotton Act, the BACA, as well as aligning with our great American cotton plant, they are 100% aligned. And what's really exciting about this is again, in a bipartisan way, everyone is really, I think, woken up to the Making America Healthy Again movement.

(37:13)
And what I've been talking about isn't just what we're eating in the food and putting our farmers back in charge, but it's also what we wear, the sheets that we sleep in, et cetera. And there's nothing better than great American cotton. And so getting back to that, plants not plastics. I like to say America, not Brazil, because Brazil's the one that's taken most of our market on that is an incredible opportunity for our cotton farmers.

Mr. Lucas (37:38):

Secretary, I'd like to discuss also the New World screwworm for a moment. And first, I want to thank you, Secretary Rollins, for your being extremely transparent and quick in response to the situation in Texas yesterday. I know your testimony outlined, highlighted the work the administration's done to combat the fly both in Mexico and here at home. So let's visit for a moment about that. Tell me about the contingency plans, as you mentioned earlier. Tell me about the focus with which the department is putting on this. You obviously and the department are taking this very, very seriously, correct?

Secretary Rollins (38:18):

Well, that's correct. And I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about it. I didn't want to take too much time in my opening statement, but this is an issue that there should have been a facility that broke ground three years ago, frankly, whenever it began to move our way. This should have been something that we were investing in Mexico from 2021 to 2024 as it began to move our way very significantly. Just a big shout-out to President Trump. I know we're going to get a lot of hate in here and I hate it, but the idea of returning the power to the people and shrinking the size and right sizing the footprint of government is all very righteous work and that's what the American people voted for. But at the same time, to envision that while we were doing all of that work last spring, I walk into the Oval Office, I make the case to the President of the United States that yes, we are cutting government.

(39:15)
We're working really hard not to be so big, especially in Washington. The 10th Amendment, the states and the local government should be the ones doing most of the policymaking. But sir, we're going to need a billion dollars to launch a new facility to break ground, to really invest on the other side of the border to slow down. And if we do nothing or if we do business as usual, the screwworm will be here in the summer of last year and we will not be prepared. And almost without hesitation, he said go. So we've been working really hard.

Mr. Lucas (39:46):

So you're working very hard creating more facilities, increasing the production at existing facilities. I understand trying to improve the viability of the mail flies to make them more attractive, so to speak, in this process.

Secretary Rollins (39:58):

That's correct.

Mr. Lucas (39:59):

Working on ways to try and create higher percentages of mail fly, since that's the fly that matters in this contest.

Secretary Rollins (40:05):

That's right.

Mr. Lucas (40:07):

All of those things, which is why we invest in agricultural research, correct? Why we invest in having the infrastructure for these kind of struggles, because this will never go completely away. We just have to be vigilant and prepared from now on, correct, Secretary?

Secretary Rollins (40:21):

Ever vigilant and ever watchful and talking to... I was on the phone with about 50 of our cattle ranchers in Texas last night, late last night. And I said the single, we're getting the treatments down to you. We've got the veterinarians, we're surging veterinarians, we're surging inspectors, et cetera, but it is now up to you to keep eyes on your animal. That's the most important-

Mr. Lucas (40:41):

[inaudible 00:40:42] Secretary, thank you, Chairman.

Secretary Rollins (40:42):

Thank you so much.

Mr. Chair (40:44):

Now recognize gentlemen from California, Mr. Costa for five minutes.

Mr. Costa (40:47):

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Secretary Rollins for being here. You've been on the job for a little over a year. I'm glad you're ready to talk about the challenges my farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the richest agricultural regions of the country are hurting. Not only then, when farmers are hurting, farm workers are impacted. And as we know and your testimony indicated previously, farm agriculture is a national security issue. I say that every time we have a hearing, I'm a third generation farmer and I know very much firsthand the impacts that farmers are faced with. It's not a slogan in the San Joaquin Valley. We live that every day. Let me give you some numbers, Madam Secretary. California brings $61.2 billion at the farm gate last year, grows nearly half the nation's vegetables, more than three quarters of the fruits and nuts and ships $26.3 billion in farm exports last year, the largest exporter in the country.

(41:50)
So when the USDA acts, my farmers feel it first and bankruptcies are up. That's a fact. You may not like it. My farmers don't like it either. And so what are we doing about it? Your testimony says the reorganization plan that I have a lot of questions about brings USDA closer to serve the communities we serve, but you're moving into five hubs, not one in California, the number one agricultural state in the nation. My growers need help just as much as other growers around the country on farm programs, conservation, research, disaster aid, school purchase programs, which is critical. Those offices are scattered around the country, not closer to my farmers, that's a runaround. And I must tell you that the USDA is closer to California farmers on the map. Can you show me where in fact it skips the biggest ag state in the nation, how it becomes closer?

Secretary Rollins (42:48):

Well, a lot to unpack there, but sir, to answer that last point, what I will say is we are moving hubs to Kansas City, to Indiana, which is closer to California than Washington, D.C. We've also got a hub in Salt Lake City and in Colorado.

Mr. Costa (43:02):

Let me give you a different take.

Secretary Rollins (43:03):

Okay.

Mr. Costa (43:04):

I've been here for 22 years. Farmers and their associations, they're smart folks. When they come to Washington, they not only visit the USGA, they visit the trade office, they visit the Department of Interior. They meet with their members of Congress. Now you want to put this into five different hubs. That's not effective. That's a runaround.

Secretary Rollins (43:22):

We'll still have the headquarters here.

Mr. Costa (43:26):

We're going to need to talk about that. Do you have any desire or willingness to evaluate whether or not California might be possible for a hub?

(43:32)
Yes or no?

Secretary Rollins (43:32):

I would be very welcome to that. And in fact, we've adjusted some things along the way based on feedback.

Mr. Costa (43:37):

Well, let's talk about that later. Trade, critical for California coordinator-

Secretary Rollins (43:41):

Just call me anytime.

Mr. Costa (43:42):

... 4% of California's agricultural is exported and this disastrous trade war brought on between the tariffs, you've tried to do damage control. It happened in the first Trump administration, $28 billion taken out of the commodity credit conservation to deal with the damage that occurred before the Trump first trade war. $11 billion for row crops. I think that's probably appropriate, but what about specialty crops? Specialty crops associations say they think they need at least $5 billion to deal with the impact of these trade wars and it's skyrocketed and it's cut off-key trade partners that these markets are hard to access and develop. You've lumped them together with sugar. Sugar needs help as well for $1 billion. That's not the $5 billion that the specialty crops believe they deserve. I know on Friday in California you announced an increase, but it's still paltry compared to the damage that's occurred.

(44:44)
Crop relief and it's about fairness, Madam Secretary, and I don't think there's fairness being demonstrated. California exports to China collapsed 64% in the last year and a half. Almonds are down 77%. Fresno County alone, which I represent, lost $246 million last year. You cannot find a single bottle of California wine, which is pretty good, I may tell you, in Canada in a restaurant or in a store. They are responding with their pocketbook. And if this Trump's trade war is making matters worse, you can look at the impacts of Iran. The fact that Straits of Hormuz are closed has impacted shipping lanes, pistachio, walnuts, almond shippers and producers can't move their products to the region. So two direct questions. First, beyond the payments announced so far, will you commit to additional assistance for specialty crop growers taking losses from the president's war with Iran? Yes or no?

Secretary Rollins (45:47):

We'll be happy to look on that. It's a matter of funding and the CCC is, as you know, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill... The Working Family's tax cut is-

Mr. Costa (45:54):

It was big. I didn't think it was beautiful. I'll have to save my questions for later. Thank you, Madam Secretary.

Secretary Rollins (45:59):

I'm happy to follow up on California and otherwise, we had a remarkable visit there last week. Thank you.

Mr. Chair (46:05):

Gentleman's time has expired. Now recognize the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Crawford, for five minutes.

Mr. Crawford (46:09):

Madam Secretary, thank you for being here. I want to say at the outset here, it's a very refreshing to have an actual aggie that's occupying the secretary position. Very refreshing for a change. Your credentials in that space are unassailable. Thank you. Real quick, fertilizer has been a topic of conversation. I want to go back to fertilizer because I think it's in our national interests to secure our own sources of fertilizer production. Our supply chain is very fragile and our production base is extremely limited. I think we've regulated ourselves into that position, but let me just say this, that I don't want to see the mistake made that we've done with other endeavors where we see big pharma, we see big oil and the small players are priced out. And the reason I say that is because from a geographic perspective, I think it's more important that we atomize the industry because they are positioned to address the needs in a given geography, which actually enhances the viability of that industry and improves outcomes as it applies to a fragile supply chain.

(47:11)
So I just want to get your feedback on that and how important that is and making sure that we're empowering the little guys like in hell in Arkansas along the Mississippi River and my district where they're getting ready to put a fertilizer plant online and what that will mean to that region.

Secretary Rollins (47:25):

Yeah, I think we're talking about the El Dorado, Arkansas, urea, and ammonium nitrate fertilizer plant, which is really exciting. I know I mentioned in the top of the comments the importance of national security that what I have learned moving into this job, I knew it was a major challenge, but the fact that we've off-shored our fertilizer, our seeds, our supply chains, our processing over a number of years really is a national security issue. We used to produce our own fertilizer almost exclusively in this country. In the last couple of decades, we now only produce about half of the fertilizer that we need, which means we're reliant on China and Russia and other foreign countries and some foreign adversarial countries. This is a solvable problem in the long run and so the light that has been shown on the fertilizer industry to rebuild in America cannot be overstated.

(48:18)
As I mentioned, we've got big plants going in everywhere, the world's biggest plant. We're going to be breaking ground. I'll be in some states in the next few weeks talking about it, but I think your point is a really, really important one. We've got a couple dozen, three dozen really great fertilizer plant projects going on. One is a $4 million project actually in Minnesota, Ms. Craig, where that's going to be and come online. It's an organic fertilizer company. We have an $80 million one coming online in the state of Washington. So making this a national security issue and understanding it as such is allowing Chris Wright at the Department of Energy to invest in our fertilizer plants under the energy bucket of funding. It's allowing Howard Lutnick at Commerce with his investment fund to invest in fertilizer plants. It's allowing Lee Zeldin at EPA to allow us to move out much more quickly and to lift some of the regulations so that we can get these fertilizer plants online very quickly so we don't have this issue again in the future.

Mr. Crawford (49:16):

I appreciate your understanding and awareness and obviously you get it and that's important to our small fertilizer producers so they can make a big impact on the ag industry. Let me shift gears real quick and leave you with this. I'm concerned about our policy governing PLC and ARC payments that basically are made in arrears. I would say that if conditions are bad enough in a given year that they trigger a payment, that the payment is necessary in that year, not putting it off for 12 to 14 months. And so what I've sought to do is to actually create an opportunity for advanced partial payments for producers to help offset some of the interest expense associated with continuing to produce without those payments being made. I would want to get your feelings on whether or not you can appropriately implement that if and when that policy is signed into law, because I think it's important to provide the resources in real time and not make farmers wait for 12 to 14 months when the damage is already done.

Secretary Rollins (50:11):

I couldn't agree more with that and we've got the best team on the field. If it moves forward, we will get it implemented. And it's especially important with the additional 30 million acres that we're now adding into those programs that we're able to do this quickly.

Mr. Crawford (50:24):

Thank you. I appreciate that. And I yield back.

Secretary Rollins (50:26):

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Chair (50:27):

Gentleman yields back, now recognize gentlemen from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern for five minutes.

Mr. McGovern (50:32):

Well, thank you very much. And Madam Secretary, let me begin on a positive note. Being from Massachusetts, I see that you're drinking a cup of Dunkin' coffee, which I think is the best coffee in the world.

Secretary Rollins (50:41):

Yes. They're in the basement of the USDA building. We love them.

Mr. McGovern (50:44):

I need to tell you that your Secretary of Health and Human Services is going after Dunkin' big time. So we won't tell them. We'll just keep our little secret here.

Secretary Rollins (50:52):

We say we're all for [inaudible 00:50:54], but we still like donuts a little bit over there at USDA.

Mr. McGovern (50:56):

While I'm glad that you're here taking questions, I have to be honest with you, I wish that you would take the time to talk with farmers in my district who have been totally screwed over by this administration. They are livid. They are mad. They are pissed off. My farmers can't afford fertilizer. It's at record highs because of your administration. They can't afford diesel because of this president's reckless illegal war. They can't afford farm equipment. It's more expensive than ever because of the stupid tariffs. Their markets have vanished because you illegally halted the local food procurement programs. In some states, they can't even call their local USDA offices because some of them have been closed and because of this administration's cruel cuts to food assistance, many people in my community can no longer afford to buy fresh and local produce. People are tired of the guardian ballrooms and the slush funds and the corruption that is on display before their very eyes.

(51:54)
They're sick and tired of the Mar-a-Lago class being enriched and getting richer while everybody else gets ignored. Earlier this year, you even bragged about kicking four and a half million people off nutrition assistants saying that was, "Good news." Well, a new report from the nonpartisan center on budget and policy priorities found that the number includes at least 700,000 children. Now I say at least because that's data from less than half the country. That number's going to be in the millions. Let me say that again, 700,000 kids plus have lost their food assistance. That's not good news. Hunger is getting worse in this country. And by the way, the average SNAP benefit is only about $2 per person per meal. You can't even afford to buy your Dunkin' Coffee with the average SNAP benefit right now. So do you stand by your comment that kicking people off of food assistance is somehow good news?

Secretary Rollins (52:49):

So sir, most of those based on the numbers were fraudulent. The 700,000 number of children is not correct. That is not a nonpartisan group that gave you that number. And again, we're back to where we were pre-COVID and this idea that we should put more and more people on food stamps is just not correct.

Mr. McGovern (53:10):

Madam Secretary, I mean, I've talked to many of the people who have lost their benefits. They haven't been moved off of SNAP. They've been kicked off of SNAP. These are people who actually need and rely on this food assistance to provide basic nutrition for their families. Hunger is getting worse in the United States of America. We all should be ashamed of that. And that's, by the way, before the $200 billion in SNAP cuts go into effect that were part of the big ugly bill. Let me ask you another question.

Secretary Rollins (53:34):

May I respond? I'll be superfast. What I will say is that wages are at the highest rate they've been in American history. Our employment is at the lowest rate. We have more people working. [inaudible 00:53:46].

Mr. McGovern (53:47):

Costs have never been higher. Costs have never been higher. Go to a grocery store. People are putting groceries back on the shelf because they can't afford to pay their bill. Let me ask you, speak about healthy food and specifically about toxic cancer causing chemicals like glyphosate that get sprayed on our crops. This administration promised to make America healthy again. This is a yes or no question. Glyphosate, do you believe that it's safe?

Secretary Rollins (54:12):

Glyphosate has been proven safe when used correctly, both in the European Union. EU uses it and in America when used correctly. I'm actually surprised on the agriculture committee. If we were to move away from glyphosate overnight, we would completely destroy our food supply system in this country. So Secretary Kennedy and I, obviously we have to take a good look at it. Regenerative farming.

Mr. McGovern (54:39):

You're saying it is safe. I want to submit for the record the World Health Organization's analysis of this. Chairman Thompson has been pushing the Senate to include a liability shield for chemical companies that make glyphosate after we stripped it out of the House. It was a Republican amendment from Representative Luna that got stripped. The chairman of the committee called it a danger to the nation. Do you agree that Representative Luna's amendment is a danger to the nation?

Secretary Rollins (55:02):

We have to be so careful and intentional. Y'all, I mean, we're talking about preserving and protecting American farmers-

Mr. McGovern (55:08):

Do you believe that pesticide companies-

Secretary Rollins (55:09):

... Most Americans among us-

Mr. McGovern (55:11):

Chemical companies deserve liability protection?

Secretary Rollins (55:14):

Listen, we cannot destroy our farmers and ranchers-

Mr. McGovern (55:18):

So, is that a yes?

Secretary Rollins (55:18):

... ability to plant and make a living every day. I mean, this is the whole point of this committee.

Mr. McGovern (55:24):

So you believe, even though you're saying that glyphosate is safe, that they should have some sort of life-liability protection?

Secretary Rollins (55:30):

It's safe when used correctly.

Mr. McGovern (55:32):

So do you believe that the general liability production-

Secretary Rollins (55:34):

We are enacting policy that allows China to be our sole source of crop protected.

Mr. McGovern (55:39):

Do you favor-

Secretary Rollins (55:39):

We will lose freedom in our country. I mean, it is-

Mr. Chair (55:39):

Gentleman's time has expired.

Mr. McGovern (55:39):

It causes cancer, Madam.

Secretary Rollins (55:45):

We should offer it.

Mr. McGovern (55:46):

It causes cancer.

Mr. Chair (55:47):

Now recognize gentlemen from Georgia, Mr. Scott, for five minutes.

Mr. McGovern (55:52):

Thank you.

Secretary Rollins (55:52):

By the way, I would love to come to Massachusetts and visit your farmers.

Mr. Scott (55:57):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, I'm glad to see you. You're here on a day that happens to coincide with the National Defense Authorization Act and there are almost 10 members of this committee that are also on the Armed Services Committee. And so that is you'll see people coming and going. And then my friend, Mr. Crawford, whose gang of eight was called down to a SCIF.

Secretary Rollins (56:19):

Good to see you. Thank you.

Mr. Scott (56:20):

Good to see you too. But just a couple of things on the last statements that were made. If you're under 18, you were exempt from any of the changes that we made on SNAP benefits. If you're over 64, 65 and over, you were exempt from any of the changes that we made on the SNAP benefits and the language on glyphosate was specific to the label on the jug and had nothing to do with the chemical in the jug. Just a few facts that I think the American citizens should know. But a lot's been talked about with trade here, Secretary Rollins. And the European Union has adopted a lot of non-tariff trade barriers against the United States and its producers, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which they turned around and exempted their own countries from in many cases. And so I want to just say I'm thankful that we have a President of the United States that is not allowing other countries to adopt not just tariffs against US products, but the non-tariff trade barriers that have been detrimental to our country.

(57:29)
We simply couldn't look the other way and say, "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. May we have another, sir," the way the previous administration was doing it and destroying the markets that our agricultural producers sold into. I want to move now though to, as I mentioned forest, the emergency forest restoration program. My understanding is that Georgia, my home state is out of funds and letters are now beginning to go out with approved but lack of funds. What is the level of remaining funds in the national EFRP program and is there any additional funding to be released at the federal level?

Secretary Rollins (58:06):

Let me get back to you on that. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but understand it is an important issue for your state. So yeah, we'll continue that conversation.

Mr. Scott (58:17):

Thank you for that. I also want to ask you about the supplemental disaster relief program. I mean, your organization has been very quick to make course corrections and I appreciate that while others pretend we can do a lot of great things without and get it right 100% of the time. True leaders are willing to course correct and I consider you a true leader. Is there anything we can do from the congressional perspective on the front end to help ensure issues like we had with the SDRP funds don't happen again and making sure that those dollars go out the door as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Secretary Rollins (59:01):

I think the challenge with SDRP was that it required negotiations with every state in terms of the granting process and Tyler Harper in your state was incredible, but the back and forth and the back and forth probably on both sides we learned a lot from and this is true of a lot of the different grants. Some moved out very, very quickly. Others took a little bit longer, but I think at this point we are almost completely closed that program. I think there may be Vermont and maybe one or two others up in the Northeast, but I think that's the learning experience for us, but it's a good flag.

(59:33)
I'll go back to the team and make sure we've made a list of what those are and what we can do better the next time. Having said that, Congressman, I think you know we have moved out these programs and this funding in about half as much time as previous USDAs have. The One Farmer, One File allowed us in four days to move out 57,000 different farmer payments as we move to more technology. So we're making huge progress on that front and hopefully we'll be able to hand off these programs to the next administration.

Mr. Scott (01:00:02):

Secretary Rollins, the first conversation I had with you was about highly pathogenic avian influenza and a potential vaccine and I appreciate exactly what you said in that meeting. We need a vaccine, but we don't need a vaccine that doesn't work. My question is, what plans are you looking at to move a high path vaccine strategy forward?

Secretary Rollins (01:00:32):

We are evaluating that every day, Congressman, and we understand the great, great anxiety of the industry itself. There's obviously some trade implications as well, but the good news here is based on biosecurity implementation that we did last year, our HPAI incident rates are down almost 60% since a year ago today. So the farmers, the egg farmers have made the changes as we're looking at a vaccine and we're making tremendous progress.

Mr. Scott (01:01:01):

Secretary Rollins, I appreciate you and I appreciate having a president that is taking our challenges seriously.

Mr. Chair (01:01:07):

Gentleman's time has expired.

Secretary Rollins (01:01:09):

Thank you sir. Good to see you.

Mr. Chair (01:01:11):

Now recognize Dr. Adams from North Carolina.

Dr. Adams (01:01:14):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Madam Secretary for being here today. I do have some serious concerns and questions I want to raise with you. First of all, the real truth is that farm country is in crisis and the people that I represent deserve and need answers. American farmers wake up before dawn. They don't ask for handouts. They ask for fair markets, reliable policy and a government that doesn't make life harder for them. Government has made life harder for our farmers. And so this administration has failed them on all three counts, but let me just be clear about something. What's happened on your watch and under the laws of this administration, we're seeing an increase in everyday costs, cuts to nutrition programs pushing many, including children and veterans off nutrition assistance. We're seeing a useless tariff battle and the abandonment of small farmers. So let me begin with this administration's war on nutrition.

(01:02:10)
We're already seeing millions lose access to nutrition benefits from the implementation of H.R. 1, not a beautiful thing. 17,000 individuals in Mecklenburg County, which I represent, have already lost their food assistance benefits. And we're talking about people being pushed out, pushed off of these benefits who are not able-bodied adults avoiding work. They're workers. They're elderly individuals. They can't navigate a new bureaucratic work verification system. They're veterans who fell through the cracks of a needless administrative agenda, they're children, whose families are caught up in the turbulence of economic downturns and this administration helped cause that. SNAP participation nationwide fell by four million people between July 2025 enactment and February 2026 and that's not efficiency. That is hunger. SNAP is not just a nutrition program, it's an economic and agricultural market driver. So Madam Secretary of this administration, you cut SNAP, terminated local food programs, gutted FSA, other regional office staffing, and then you called that reform.

(01:03:25)
But reform implies measuring outcomes. It implies accountability. It implies that somebody somewhere in that building is tracking what happens next. So please tell me, does USDA have a long-term data and tracking system in place to measure the widening of the poverty gap increase that increased hunger throughout the country and the collapse of grocery access in rural communities and other areas with limited access? And that's a yes or no question.

Secretary Rollins (01:04:00):

Yes.

Dr. Adams (01:04:00):

Okay. Thank you. Well, listen, it's still causing a lot of harm, but Secretary Ron, you serve at the pleasure of this administration and you've used a farm country as a bargaining chip, not a priority. This department and the administration really needs to be accountable for soaring production costs, reduced global export demand. Markets our farmers spent building, decades building have been handed to countries like Brazil and Argentina and Australia while this administration picked trade fights that it had no plan to win. So can I get a specific number? Do you know how many billions of dollars in agricultural exports to China has the United States lost as a direct result of retaliatory tariffs imposed by our trading partners since this administration took office? Do you have a specific number?

Secretary Rollins (01:04:56):

Actually, we've increased exports in the billions, about $22 billion in the last year since taking over. So I think your information's wrong.

Dr. Adams (01:05:05):

Well, over almost 15 billion, Madam Secretary, 15 billion. That's from China alone, not to mention other trading partners, but let me move on. As the USDA secretary, have you conducted a comprehensive economic impact assessment of the retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural producers? Have you done that?

Secretary Rollins (01:05:30):

Yes, ma'am. And corn exports are up 20%, dairies up 11%, tree nuts up 21%, ethanol's up 20% and fresh fruits and veggies are up 4% just in the last year.

Dr. Adams (01:05:41):

Okay-

Secretary Rollins (01:05:41):

We've struck 19 new trade deals.

Dr. Adams (01:05:43):

Okay. Let me ask you what-

Secretary Rollins (01:05:44):

We're getting at that.

Dr. Adams (01:05:45):

... I have another question or part of that. So can we get, this committee get an analysis within the next 30 days?

Secretary Rollins (01:05:52):

Yes, ma'am.

Dr. Adams (01:05:53):

Okay, great. So let me ask you, I've talked to you I think before about 1890s. I'm an 1890 graduate and I worked with Mr. Skye a lot on the issues and the Department of...

Dr. Adams (01:06:00):

I worked with Mr. Scott a lot on the issues and the Department of Agriculture, in my opinion, has a legal and moral obligation to support the 1890 historically black colleges and universities, but right now we're failing that obligation. You've proposed separating the 1890 research program from the extension programs. That's creating a major problem. I really wish you would take another look at that.

Secretary Rollins (01:06:25):

Well, I sure will.

Chairman Thompson (01:06:25):

[inaudible 01:06:26] time has expired.

Secretary Rollins (01:06:26):

I had all the 1890 presidents in about a month ago and we had an incredible conversation and are partnering together. So I would love to get more information on that.

Dr. Adams (01:06:35):

All right. I'll follow up with you. Is that okay?

Secretary Rollins (01:06:36):

Yes, ma'am.

Dr. Adams (01:06:37):

Thank you, thank you very much.

Secretary Rollins (01:06:37):

And we'll get the 30-day trade within 30 days. Thank you, Dr. Adams.

Dr. Adams (01:06:41):

Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Chairman Thompson (01:06:42):

Now, recognize the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Rouzer for five minutes.

Mr. Rouzer (01:06:46):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And first, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the ranking member for honoring and recognizing David Scott and his service as well as Doug Lamalfa and his service. Both were incredible members of this committee and great Americans and Patriots too. Madam Secretary, great to see you.

Secretary Rollins (01:07:07):

You too. Thank you.

Mr. Rouzer (01:07:10):

And first, I want to thank you for visiting my home state of North Carolina and our producers down there. I know they really enjoyed seeing you a few days ago and I'll just say that I appreciate your attention to the export markets for all of our commodities and some of which you and I have talked about personally from time to time when we run across each other. And I greatly appreciate that. We've got a lot of folks that are feeling a lot of pressures and those export markets are obviously really key, which brings me to a broader point because I was listening to the conversation, the debate earlier at the outset of the hearing.

(01:07:54)
I think if you look at the broader picture for 40 years plus American agriculture, Republican administrations, Democrat administrations, the whole philosophy was production should go where it's cheapest. And that's often not been to the advantage of this country. And so I think people who understand the broad picture really appreciate what President Trump is doing. He's trying to level the playing field and you don't do this overnight. I mean, you had 40-50 years of China, China, China, China. I can't tell you how many people when I worked for US Senator Jesse Helms and then later Elizabeth Dole line after line after line of people would come in the office and say, "If we can just get our market in China, it's going to make everybody better and we're going to be able to change their communist regime and they're going to become more democratic." And my old boss would look at them and more or less say, "you can take the tiny dragon and turn it into a big dragon because they're going to keep their communist philosophy."

(01:09:07)
China has a hundred-year plan to annihilate this country and every other democratic nation around the world.

(01:09:16)
And of course, I think it's important for us to recognize too how much Brazil plays into that. They are basically a centerpiece of Chinese dictatorial communist policy in South America. And if you look at our commodities grown in North Carolina, the one place where we're being outpaced in a big way and unfairly so is Brazil.

(01:09:40)
And so there are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the big reasons for that is this 40-50 year philosophy that has been in place, that the president in his first year and a half has done a tremendous... And you as well, the entire administration has done a tremendous job to rebalance the playing field. And I love the Great American Cotton Plan.

(01:10:04)
Cotton is a big part of our agriculture economy in North Carolina and textiles obviously is a mainstay in the state, although endured a lot of hardship over the years because of the policies I was just talking about. So can you talk from the administration standpoint about your plans for Great American Cotton and its role for American textiles and what we're doing to rebalance the trade aspect on that front?

Secretary Rollins (01:10:32):

Yeah, that was really well said and I'll just add a little bit to that. In 2023, America lost our crown as the world's cotton export leader to Brazil. Brazil in the last few years has also taken corn, soybeans, processing, et cetera. These are major national security issues that we are taking very, very seriously. Cotton, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, is at the very top of that list to see the decimation of the policies that have happened to our cotton farmers and other farmers along the way due to bad trade is really sort of eye-opening. USDA will be investing significant resources, time, treasure, et cetera, to ensure that we can rebuild that great American industry. And as alongside that, North Carolina will be the textile industry. We used to have a couple thousand textile mills in this country and now I think we're down to a hundred, maybe, and a lot of those in North Carolina. So this is the onshoring, putting America first, getting back to putting our citizens, our businesses first and ensuring we're securing our country for the next 250 years. And while I've been talking about cotton a lot in the last few days, we've talked about a lot of the different commodities over the last year and four months and we're working really hard to get that market back, but also to make sure people understand. I don't know, congressmen, if you're in here, but the make America Healthy Again movement isn't just about food, although that's the driver. It's about what we wear as well. And so plant not plastics, America, not Brazil or China.

Chairman Thompson (01:12:06):

Gentlemen's time has expired.

Secretary Rollins (01:12:07):

Thank you, Congressman.

Mr. Rouzer (01:12:08):

Thank you.

Chairman Thompson (01:12:09):

Now recognized Jahana from Connecticut, Mrs. Hayes for five minutes.

ahana Hayes (01:12:14):

Thank you. And thank you, Secretary Rollins, for being here.

(01:12:18)
Recently, the USDA announced plans to reorganize, reallocate, and rename the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Mission Area, which includes the Food and Nutrition Services or FNS, the agency responsible for administering SNAP and other critical nutrition programs.

(01:12:34)
On May 11th, I sent a letter to the Department of Agriculture along with 47 of my Democratic colleagues requesting information regarding this reorganization. I listed a series of questions that we were looking for answers to. I received a response this morning, which I haven't really had time to review thoroughly from Deputy Secretary Vaden in which he says, "Notably absent, were these questions raised in this public letter" and he would welcome an opportunity to provide information. Perhaps Deputy Secretary Vaden forgot that he had a hard stop and members were not allowed to speak and that this was a private off the record round table on a topic that is so critically important and the American public needs to hear answers to this.

(01:13:21)
So I'd like to take the opportunity to talk to you about some of these things. The letter that I sent highlighted concerns about FNS losing nearly 30% of its workforce since the start of this administration and this reorganization leaving critical nutrition programs dangerously short-staffed at precisely the moment where they are needed most. In the response that I received, Deputy Secretary Vaden made egregious statements blaming both the Obama and Biden administration for some of the gaps in the disbursement of food. He blamed union bosses, government shutdowns, and the Chevron relocation, but does not address any of the concerns that I listed.

(01:14:06)
I feel the department should be able to talk about this in full public view and let people understand the answers to these very critical questions. I am open to hearing your thoughts on this reorganization and it should not be behind closed doors. So while I can't go through all of the questions, just a few that I had were how many employees will be impacted by this organization and how will the USDA fill vacancies resulting from the reorganization while there's a hiring freeze? And then I guess one of my primary concerns is how do you intend to maintain regional program expertise and relationships with state agencies under this new hub structure?

Secretary Rollins (01:14:47):

I'll take the last one first and then if I forget any, let me know, Congresswoman. First on the expertise in the new hubs, our goal is that this actually becomes even more effective because we'll be out in the country with the very people that we're serving versus here in Washington. We're moving several of the hubs to the middle of the country. We have some on the west coast and some on the east coast and no one has been cut. No employees have been cut in that reorganization. No food aid has been compromised. This is really an effort to get closer to the people that we serve and out of the Washington DC area. So I apologize if there was a hard stop and not everyone got their questions answered. We'll reschedule, [inaudible 01:15:28]-

ahana Hayes (01:15:28):

Well, can I guess just in the interest of time, because I do only have five minutes. He said he would welcome a second opportunity to provide information. Can you commit here today at least to a first opportunity to at least answer the questions that were asked in the letter?

Secretary Rollins (01:15:44):

Yes.

ahana Hayes (01:15:45):

Okay. Thank you. My next question, I just want to follow up on Rep Adam's question predictably about SNAP. In the state of Connecticut, more than 50,000 people, Connecticut residents lost access to benefits. Yesterday, my Connecticut governor Ned Lamont committed $8.5 million in emergency federal... A fund that was created in response to federal cuts. It'll be a one time $300 grocery assistance card for residents, but this is a state government cleaning up a federal mess. Ms. Adams asked you... Just as a yes or no question, I'd asked you to just give us some details on what your department is doing to take steps to ensure that families who lose SNAP benefits do not fall deeper into food insecurity over the coming months and years.

Secretary Rollins (01:16:36):

Again, the economy, we have more people working than ever before. Our unemployment numbers are the lowest they've ever been. Wages are high in the blue collar and the highest I think they've been. And so, as a result of that, that is the goal. It's a supplemental nutrition assistance program for when the times are the toughest. Now if there are stories of families who because of that-

ahana Hayes (01:17:00):

I'm sorry, my question was, what does your department plan to do to take steps to ensure that families that lost benefits don't fall deeper into hunger?

Secretary Rollins (01:17:09):

Well, that's exactly what we're doing by ensuring that the families that really need this are the ones that are getting it. SNAP had a 40% increase in the last administration, 40% in terms of the outlay that was going out. It's unsustainable-

ahana Hayes (01:17:22):

My time has been expired, but again, you have not answered the question about what the USDA plans to do to ensure that families don't fall deeper into hunger. I yield back.

Secretary Rollins (01:17:30):

Thank you.

Chairman Thompson (01:17:30):

[inaudible 01:17:31] time has expired. Now. Recognize gentlemen from Misippi, Mr. Kelly, for five minutes.

Mr Kelly (01:17:35):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I, like Mr. Rouzer, also want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for recognizing former chairman David Scott. What a tremendous, amazing and Mr. Lamalfa earlier. We lost two of the mentors on this committee who showed us all how it should be run and we'll miss them, but we take forward the way that they work on this committee.

(01:17:56)
Secretary Rollins, thank you for being here today. I also want to thank you for your visits to Mississippi. They mean so much. I want to begin by thanking you and President Trump for putting American farmers back at the center of our agricultural policy. Farmers across Mississippi appreciate President Trump's commitment to strengthening the farm economy and ensuring agriculture remains a priority. I also appreciate your leadership at USDA and your work to implement the president's agenda on the behalf of the American producers.

(01:18:28)
I also want to pat the chairman and this committee in getting 10 and a half billion in assistance to our farmers a year and a half ago and the president following up with another +10 billion. That was so important to do because our farmers are really struggling with input costs, with bad markets and all those things. So I thank y'all for all the improvement. Mr. Rouzer stole my thunder on the Great American Cotton Plan and you articulated that, but that is also so important to states like Mississippi. So I just want to thank you for your hard work in that.

(01:18:59)
Turning to another challenge facing producers in Mississippi, our state has experienced a series of drought conditions over the last several years. Cattle producers in particular have seen tremendous losses in forage and hay production as a result. Congress passed some very positive enhancement to the livestock forage program and the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

(01:19:18)
Can you update the committee on the status of implementation of these changes to the LFP program?

Secretary Rollins (01:19:24):

Yes, we are getting very close to taking that to conclusion. Of course, the new reference price is going to affect this fall. A lot of those working family tax cut programs have moved out and have made a tremendous difference to the country. I think that's why you see a lot more people going back to work, but specific to that program, we're really close on that. If you want to follow up with me directly, we'll give you exact timeline.

Mr Kelly (01:19:47):

Absolutely, Secretary. And as USDA works to deliver these improvements, I also want to touch on the role of the Farm Service Agency. The vital role of FSA cannot be overstated. As the most farmer facing agency with offices in nearly every county across the country, FSA is key to helping producers make operational decisions. With the monumental changes made to the farm safety net last summer, the agency support is even more important. Has FSA been adequately staffed and equipped to meet the needs of our producers and swiftly implement these provisions?

Secretary Rollins (01:20:23):

I can't, again, to your point, overstate the importance of these FSA offices. There's no doubt there is room for efficiency. It is congressionally, it is statute that there has to be an office in every county. So no offices have closed, even though I think the congressmen from Massachusetts mentioned there are office closures, but we are really digging in this year. I visited multiple FSA offices sitting down with the teams that are in there. I've thanked them because some of them are operating at 50-60% of the staff that they had before we came into office. And so I will recognize there is room for improvement. We are working really hard to get that improved. And what I will say, and this is true for anyone, Republican or Democrat, if you have specific FSA offices that are saying we're weeks behind, we cannot get this funding out without more help.

(01:21:15)
What we'll do is we've been moving around in Nebraska with the fires. We relocated some FSA offices from non-fire parts of the state of Nebraska to where the fire hit the most for our producers while we're restaffing.

Mr Kelly (01:21:28):

Secretary Rollins, I'm a veteran and I love it when people who haven't served want to talk about what we do and don't for our veterans. I don't like it when veterans who don't deserve benefits get benefits that they don't deserve because it takes away from those who actually deserve it. I feel the same way about our SNAP program. The fraud and abuse that was rampant in some areas, that took away from the well-deserving. So they got less of what they needed because someone who didn't deserve anything was getting fraud, SNAP benefits. So I just really want to thank the administration for tightening up the shot group on this stuff, for making sure that anyone who deserves benefits gets as much SNAP benefits as they can to have the nutrition benefits for their children and their families and that we're taking away from those who are illegally getting these benefits, who are getting double benefits or improperly using them.

(01:22:18)
So thank the administration and you, Secretary Rollins for tightening up that shot group and making sure the people that need it most get more. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Secretary Rollins (01:22:27):

May I respond in my 12 seconds? The red states that shared their data with us, that's where we found the 200,000 dead people, the 500,000 people receiving more than one benefit. These are in the red states that have the tighter controls than the blue states. Can you imagine the fraud in these blue states once we can access the data and figure out how to make this program better? It's going to be stunning.

Chairman Thompson (01:22:51):

Thank you. I now recognize the gentlemen from Ohio, Ms. Brown for five minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:22:55):

Thank you, Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Craig. Secretary Rollins. Over the last year, this administration has repeatedly said that we are entering a golden age, a golden age of American agriculture.

(01:23:07)
Well, frankly, that would come as news to the farmers and ranchers I talked to in Ohio and around the country because the only thing that is truly golden right now is the price of fertilizer while farm country and rural America struggle. Farmers are facing trade wars and real wars, rising input costs and shrinking export markets, cuts at USDA and tightening margins all because of policy choices made by this administration. For many producers, the question isn't how much they're making, it's whether they'll make it through another season. So you all can call this the golden age if you want, but the numbers tell a different story, and so do the farmers living it every day.

(01:23:56)
So Madam Secretary, yes or no, are you aware that the farm bankruptcies increased by 46% last year according to the American Farm Bureau?

Secretary Rollins (01:24:05):

Out of 1.77 million farms-

Speaker 1 (01:24:07):

Reclaiming my time, it's a yes or no.

Secretary Rollins (01:24:08):

We had a 0.017% but that's still [inaudible 01:24:09]-

Speaker 1 (01:24:09):

And are you aware that the USDA's own [inaudible 01:24:12] show that farm income fell roughly 25 billion, billion following the implementation of tariffs? Yes or no?

Secretary Rollins (01:24:20):

That was based on the years before we lost our export markets.

Speaker 1 (01:24:24):

Yes or no? Reclaiming my time.

Secretary Rollins (01:24:26):

It isn't a yes or no question. Corn exports are up-

Speaker 1 (01:24:26):

Are you aware that according to a recent Farm Bureau survey, 6 out of 10 farmers report that their financial situation is getting worse? These are simple yes or nos.

Secretary Rollins (01:24:36):

We have opened the market.

Speaker 1 (01:24:37):

Reclaiming my time. These are facts, Secretary Rollins. So this is what a golden age of agriculture looks like because if rising bankruptcies, falling farm income and worsening financial conditions are a sign of a golden age, I'd hate to see what a downturn looks like.

Secretary Rollins (01:25:01):

There're challenges but commodities price are up, export markets are expanding-

Speaker 1 (01:25:03):

This is my time, Secretary Rollins. Mr. Chairman, point of order. And on the trade front, the president-

Secretary Rollins (01:25:11):

Again, there is no reason to be rude.

Speaker 1 (01:25:13):

Secretary Rollins, this is my time, this is my time, this is my time.

Secretary Rollins (01:25:16):

I know, but could we ask in a gentle-

Speaker 1 (01:25:18):

Mr. Chairman, point of order.

Secretary Rollins (01:25:20):

... in a dignified manner?

Speaker 1 (01:25:22):

You be dignified and I'll be dignified because this is my time. And when I ask a question, if it's a yes or no, I expect a yes or no answer.

Secretary Rollins (01:25:29):

This is why the American people don't like congress.

Speaker 1 (01:25:30):

Secretary Rollins, respectfully.

Secretary Rollins (01:25:32):

I'm so happy to have a gentle conversation without this.

Speaker 1 (01:25:34):

And on the trade front, the president recently defended his Beijing bailout, supporting Chinese ownership of US farmland by stating, and I quote, "You want to see farm prices drop? You want to see farmers lose a lot of money? Just take that out of the market." Another easy yes or no question. Madam Secretary, do you agree with the president that China should own our farmland?

Secretary Rollins (01:25:56):

China is a massive threat to America. The president has recognized this over and over again. We have to protect American farmland.

Speaker 1 (01:26:04):

Thank you. Madam Secretary, I'd like to turn to another example where I think there is a significant gap between the story this administration is telling and the reality Americans are experiencing.

(01:26:15)
Recently, you described it as, "good news" that roughly 4.5 million people have been quoted, moved off SNAP. Now, if those families were leaving SNAP because of wages were rising and people no longer needed assistance, I think we'd all celebrate that, but that's not what's happening. The reality is the reality is that 4.5 million people were kicked off the program to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy through HR1.

Secretary Rollins (01:26:43):

That's not true.

Speaker 1 (01:26:45):

Families and children are not leaving the SNAP program because they're doing better.

Secretary Rollins (01:26:49):

They are.

Speaker 1 (01:26:49):

They're being forced off because of eligibility changes, new administrative barriers, and states preparing for the enormous cost shifts that they know is coming. And you know this. So I'm really struggling to understand why you think pulling the rug out from under children, seniors, veterans, and families that have fallen on hard times, good news.

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