North Dakota agriculture leaders ask Secretary of Ag Brooke Rollins to bring back certainty for the industry

FARGO / WHEATLAND, N.D. — Surrounded by a wide swath of the agriculture community on Tuesday, April 22, at NDSU’s Peltier Complex, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said she’s hit the ground running to support farmers and believes strongly in putting America first.

Rollins said President Donald Trump’s focus is to make America great again and that he realizes that Rollins’ focus is to ensure American agriculture is great again. She said it is not lost on Washington, D.C., that large parts of the ag industry have been suffering from paper-thin margins in recent years.

Rollins met with industry members from the corn, soybean, wheat, pulse, sunflower, canola, potato, sugarbeet and cattle industries along with North Dakota dignitaries. Rollins listened to the group during a roundtable in the morning before heading out to tour Grand Farm Innovation Campus in Wheatland and wrapped up the day with a visit to American Crystal Sugar in Moorhead, Minnesota.

“Listen, we are on a mission to, in our founders’ best vision of this country, to return powers to the people,” Rollins said.

The sentiment was in response to several farm groups sharing concerns related to government overregulation. Specifically, that was related to

Waters of the United States

policy and

endangered species regulations

that were adding uncertainty to farming.

“Anything that can be done administratively would be great, legislatively would be more permanent, I presume,” said Ryan Ellis, president of the North Dakota Grain Growers Association, concerning the Endangered Species Act. “The ESA to me is kind of terrifying.”

Rollins said this topic came up in the White House in the last week and she asked that specific desires for these regulations be shared with Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who helped orchestrate the gathering on Tuesday.

Trade concerns resonated with several attendees at the round table. Tony Richards, president of Northarvest Bean Growers Association, shared that the world eats dry beans, but concerns over implemented or even delayed tariffs are causing buyers to move away from the U.S.

“They are not canceling orders, but they are not making orders,” Richards said. “So we are roughly about 25% down, and that market share has gone away to Brazil and Argentina. And that, for us up here, and the United States as a whole, is a major issue, especially to our growers and processors.”

If the pain of lost markets continues, Richards said producers will need the certainty of crop insurance. As a specialty crop, dry bean growers don’t receive the same disaster assistance as corn and soybean growers. Richardson along with several others are hopeful for unilateral trade agreements that can put U.S. farmers in a strong position to trade around the world.

Leaders of sunflower and canola groups shared concerns over the Make America Healthy Again movement that puts seed oils in a bad light. John Sandbakken, executive director of the National Sunflower Association, said he was hoping that Rollins would be a strong advocate for seed oils and the healthy benefits that they bring to consumers.

The importance of Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation District staff available to farmers was illustrated by North Dakota Farmers Union government relations director Matt Perdue. He shared how the number of attendees interested in learning more about programming for these groups has jumped. He said it’s obvious that producers rely on those staff, especially as profit margins are thin for many crops.

“As we look ahead to a new farm bill, I think it’s critical that we have strong FSA staff, strong NRCS staff out there working with producers, boots on the ground,” Perdue said.

Rollins responded by noting that it was shared last week that the reduction in force efforts, which have allowed for early retirements for large swaths of federal government employees, do not apply to FSA or front-line workers for farmers.

“We need you in the office,” Rollins said of those staff.

Andrew Mauch, president of North Dakota Corn Growers Association, shared that with half of North Dakota corn going towards production of ethanol, continued support of the ethanol industry will be of utmost importance. He wants to see a permanent fix to the year round availability of E-15, a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline. He noted that while the U.S. is just looking for availability of E-15, Brazil, a major competitor on global trade, mandates the use of E-27, a blend of gasoline with 27% anhydrous ethanol.

Rollins, who said she worked for Trump for three years during his first term in office, added that Trump is an unequivocal fighter for ethanol.

From the cattle industry, concerns over truth in labeling and mandated EID tags for animal traceability were brought up. Hoeven agreed, stating that he is for animal traceability, but opposed to making the electronic tags mandatory.

Rollins has been making stops at several states across the country and noted that Hoeven was one of the first to invite her to North Dakota soon after she was sworn in as 33rd U.S. secretary of agriculture.

North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong shared appreciation for the new administration’s responsiveness. He said he struggled to get calls back from the previous administration.

“The fact that you guys are responsive to what is going on out here, and willing to engage with us, and willing to talk to us is a huge benefit, not only to me as governor but to everybody sitting around this table, who is just looking for answers before they move onto the next thing,” Armstrong said.