Today marks one year since Brooke Rollins was confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture, and her first year has been a catastrophe for American farmers and families. Since her confirmation, she has overseen massive cuts to the USDA, as well as the largest cut to SNAP in history, stripping food assistance from millions of Americans and hungry kids. 

Donald Trump’s reckless trade war has devastated American farmers and rural communities, sending grocery prices soaring for working families and causing family farms to go bankrupt at the fastest pace in five years alongside record-high farm debt.  Farmer sentiment plummeted in January amid concerns about the economy, and farmers are facing the widest gap between operating costs and yield profits in 10 years. 

In response, DNC Deputy Executive Director Libby Schneider released the following statement: 

“Brooke Rollins and Donald Trump have failed rural communities and America’s farmers. Family farms are on the brink of bankruptcy as they struggle to sell their crops, and families are stretching their budgets to make ends meet as prices at the grocery store continue to soar. Rollins rolled over as Donald Trump wrecked the rural economy with his reckless trade war, and she looked the other way when the administration made massive cuts to SNAP in exchange for tax cuts to their billionaire backers. Americans deserve more.”

Trump and Rollins have claimed that the U.S. is moving to a “golden age for our farmers.” Here’s the truth: Trump’s reckless trade war has been a blow to farmers, locking them out of markets completely. As Argentina undercut U.S. farmers in the global marketplace, Trump promised to bail out Argentina to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Then, after months of delays and excuses, Trump and Rollins announced a Band-Aid bailout for farmers that will fail to make farmers whole on their losses and won’t address the long-term damage Trump has done. 

Americans paid $310 more in groceries during Trump’s first year in office compared to the previous year, and nearly all Americans — 92% — cut back on spending in 2025, particularly on groceries and everyday necessities to make ends meet. As grocery prices soar, Rollins told Americans they could eat “a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing” to afford the administration’s new food pyramid.