U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, focused on the need to combat high input costs, improve forest management and get farmers disaster relief in his questioning of President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins.
Tuberville called on Rollins and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure farmers get the support they need during the Jan. 23 nomination hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
‘Farmers are in trouble’
“Our farmers are in trouble,” Tuberville said. “Small farmers are selling right and left.”
Rollins worked in the first Trump administration as the director of the Domestic Policy Council. She led the America First Policy Institute, a think tank aimed at promoting Trump’s agenda. Rollins is a lawyer and has an agriculture development degree from Texas A&M.
The USDA oversees the nation’s farming and forestry industries, along with nutritional programs.
Alabama has 8.3 million acres of farmland and had $1 billion in agriculture and food exports in 2023, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce. Tuberville pointed out during the hearing that row croppers in Alabama are struggling with high input costs.
“There’s a $45 billion trade deficit in ag, $45 billion, and the only way that we can get commodity prices back up is handle that trade deficit. Though, that being said, we need dialogue,” Tuberville said.
Rollins said she looks forward to having that dialogue and working to get more farmers a positive net income.
Finding ‘a better way’
“We have to find a better way and it can’t come always through government subsidies,” Rollins said. “We’ve got to expand the market, we’ve got to figure out input costs.”
Sen. Tuberville highlighted a bill he reintroduced this Congress with Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, to permanently add the secretary of agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. The group “oversees the vetting process of foreign investment and acquisition of American companies.” The bill is aimed at giving the agriculture secretary more oversight on other countries trying to buy farmland in the United States.
Tuberville also brought up the forest industry, which has a $36 billion annual economic impact in the state and employs more than 54,000 people. The senator emphasized the need for good forest management in Alabama and across the country.
Tuberville also questioned Rollins on the need for expedited disaster relief for farmers after tornadoes and floods hit the state. He said farms have had to wait three years to get disaster relief and asked Rollins if she will commit to fixing that lag time.
“You know as well as I do, farmers borrow money from banks for a crop, and those bankers are looking around going, ‘Where’s our money?'” Tuberville said. “‘Well, we’re waiting for disaster relief.’ The bankers shouldn’t have to deal with that, nor should the farmers.”
‘Trade not aid’
Senators also questioned Rollins on how she would work with Trump’s trade agenda and the impact the president’s tariffs could have on farmers. Ranking Member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, asked Rollins how she would help farmers understand the “effects of potential retaliatory tariffs on American farmers.” She said farmers wanted “trade not aid” during the last Trump administration.
Rollins said her experience in the first Trump administration makes her ready “to ensure that at every corner my team, our community, that what we all represent together, is at the table fighting for what we believe is necessary for these communities.”
A committee vote on Rollins’ nomination has not been scheduled. She is expected to be confirmed with bipartisan support.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Alex Angle and originally published by Alabama Daily News. It is reprinted with permission.
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