U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins addressed attendees at the Commodity Classic in Denver, Colorado, where she outlined plans for distributing economic and disaster relief funds approved by Congress last year. During her speech, Secretary Rollins emphasized the challenges facing the agricultural economy and expressed optimism about future improvements.
"The state of the Ag economy—especially for row crop producers—is perhaps the worst it’s been in one hundred years," stated Secretary Rollins. She attributed recent progress to leadership changes, noting that "the era of economic malaise and decision paralysis ended the day President Trump took the oath of office."
Secretary Rollins provided updates on reviewing IRA and IIJA funds, confirming that funds have been released for several key programs including the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The review process continues for other initiatives to enhance American agriculture's global competitiveness.
She announced that $10 billion in economic assistance will be distributed through a new program called the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (E-CAP). "Congress gave us 90 days to start distributing the first $10 billion in economic assistance—and we are on track to begin applications on or before March 20," said Secretary Rollins. Efforts are underway to simplify application processes, utilizing existing data where possible.
For disaster relief totaling $20 billion, Secretary Rollins promised swift implementation due to uncontrollable weather conditions affecting farmers. "Unlike the previous administration, we are not going to delay for an entire year—and gone are the days of progressive factoring," she assured attendees.
In addition to her remarks, Secretary Rollins engaged with industry leaders from corn, soybean, wheat, and sorghum sectors during a roundtable discussion. She also interacted with farmers and stakeholders on topics such as trade policy and USDA's response plan addressing avian flu impacts on egg prices.
