US Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins discussed the state of the agriculture economy during the 11th Ag Outlook Forum in Kansas City last week.
Rollins says agriculture is central to “the American republic and the American experiment,” and it remains vital despite the shrinking percentage of farm workers in the overall economy.
Having said that, the ag economic sector has been under increasing economic stress since the COVID pandemic. Rollins says ag input costs have jumped in numerous sectors the past five years, including seed expenses by 18 percent, fertilizer by 37 percent, fuel and oil by 32 percent, interest by 73 percent and labor by 47 percent.
Rollins says the One Big Beautiful Bill, passed and signed earlier this year, has set up some recovery for producers while work has lagged on a Farm Bill update all year.
The USDA says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department to better understand why these costs keep rising, although it appears labor costs are up because of the H-2A seasonal labor program. Rollins says the USDA is working to lower consumer prices, ensure competitive supply chains and strengthen the resilience of American agriculture by expanding markets, adding $2 billion in emergency aid through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program and investing close to half a billion dollars to buy commodities from American producers for international food assistance programs.
