Montana's Aaron Flint Chats w/ Ag Secretary at White House

Where it started. Where it's going. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was firing on all cylinders as we caught up with her at the White House the day after the State of the Union address.

Where it started on trade:

Sec Rollins- "When we left Trump One (President Trump's first term), we were- to your point- we had an ag trade surplus. We had worked to strike all these new trade deals. We come back four years later, not one new trade deal. We've lost our surplus. We're now $50 billion in agriculture deficit, and the people that are hurt the most are those farmers, because they don't have the markets anymore to sell their products."

Where it's going on trade:

Sec. Rollins: "That changed in the last year. 15 new trade deals in one year. Another 15 coming online very soon. I sat- we had a very late dinner after the State of the Union last night with the cabinet like at midnight. But we all love each other so much we wanted to celebrate. I had Jamieson Greer on my left and talking about soybeans and talking about row crops and talking about getting more of our you know, the awful-OFFAL part- of our beef and lamb and pigs into China, et cetera, like we are so down in the details- the cabinet is- in getting this stuff done. Of course, we're following the lead of our boss, the President, that you've already seen a remarkable turn, and I think it's just the beginning."

Where it started on input prices for farmers and ranchers:

Sec. Rollins: "(Under Biden) Feed went up 28%. Seed- 33%. Fertilizer- 36%. Fuel- 22%. Labor- 47%. Interest rates- 73%. so when you add all that together with no new trade deals, which is what Aaron and I were just speaking about, you have an untenable situation where our farmers are already struggling, but they just can't make any money. So we have made it a huge focus at USDA and across the Administration to bring those inputs down".

Where it's going on input prices for farmers and ranchers:

Sec. Rollins: "So we talk a lot about inflation, but that- whether fuel has come down 20% already. Labor, we've changed some rules. The crazy Biden years is down about 47% for our farmers and ranchers that use the H2A program. Seed and fertilizer has stabilized. We're working to bring that down as well. So the input side of it has been at the very top of our list, because that's where we can really begin to increase the margins for our farmers and ranchers."

Here's the full audio of our chat with Secretary Rollins, including the part that we recorded during the commercial break (which I think was probably the best part)