In May 2025, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made small family farms the first pillar of USDA’s “Farmers First” agenda. The plan addresses paperwork, credit, farmland, succession, markets and infrastructure, labor, risk management, and business planning. It combines proposed changes with descriptions of existing federal programs; it is not evidence that every proposed change was completed.
What USDA announced—and what remains unconfirmed
The USDA’s May 2025 Farmers First: Small Family Farms Policy Agenda set out a policy framework for reducing obstacles that can make it harder for small farms to apply for assistance, obtain financing, access land, and reach markets. Rollins also described planned reforms in a May 19, 2025, op-ed published by Successful Farming.
The distinction matters for a farm’s financial planning: the agenda names existing programs that farmers may be able to explore, but some of its process changes are commitments, not confirmed results. Rollins said USDA would audit farmer-facing paper applications for digitization and streamlining; her op-ed said applications for every farmer-focused program would be available electronically by the end of 2025. The agenda also says paper applications would remain available on request. The materials cited here do not establish whether that deadline or the other announced reforms were met.
The agenda describes evaluating shared-services platforms to improve delivery of Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Rural Development loan and guarantee programs. Rollins wrote, “We are reforming the Farm Service Agency loan program to streamline delivery and increase program efficiency.” That is a statement of planned reform, not confirmation that a particular borrower’s application will be faster or easier.
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How USDA defines a small family farm
In the May 2025 policy materials, a small farm is a family farm with gross cash farm income below $350,000 per year. A family farm is described in terms of majority ownership by an operator or qualifying relative. USDA said it was reviewing its farm-size definition, so these are the criteria in the announcement materials, not a promise that the definition will remain fixed or govern every program.
The agenda reports that, using 2023 data, small family farms accounted for about 86% of U.S. farms, operated 41% of U.S. agricultural land, and produced 17% of total agricultural production value. The 86% figure is also associated with a 2024 USDA Economic Research Service report; 2024 is the report year, while the agenda identifies 2023 as the underlying data year. These figures describe the farm sector, not the likelihood that any individual farm will qualify for assistance.
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Where the agenda says small farms face financial obstacles
Applications and program access
USDA’s proposed application review is intended to simplify farmer-facing paperwork and make applications electronic. The agenda’s continued paper option is relevant for farmers who prefer or need to apply on paper. Until implementation is confirmed for a specific program, applicants should check that program’s current application instructions rather than assume a new digital process is in place.
Credit and buying farmland
The agenda points to FSA farm loans and Rural Development lending or loan guarantees, alongside financing from commercial banks and the Farm Credit System. It also identifies FSA Farm Ownership Loans and Guaranteed Farm Loans as routes related to farmland acquisition. USDA described evaluating shared services to improve loan delivery, and announced plans to reform delivery; the materials do not establish new terms or guarantee approval.
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For a borrower comparing routes, the practical distinction is who lends the money. An FSA direct loan is made through the agency, while a guaranteed loan involves a commercial lender with a USDA guarantee under program rules. A guarantee does not mean automatic approval, a particular interest rate, or that every lender offers the same terms. Ask the lender and USDA about current eligibility, rates, fees, collateral, repayment terms, and application requirements before building a purchase plan around either route.
Keeping agricultural land in production
The agenda mentions the Agricultural Land Easement program as a land-protection resource and federal grazing permits as another way land access may arise. An easement-based approach is different from buying a farm: it concerns protection of land, rather than financing a particular purchase. The document also says USDA planned to adjust federal funding priorities concerning solar installations on productive farmland. Rollins wrote, “Farmland should be for agricultural production, not solar production,” and the agenda called on state and local governments to work with USDA on local solutions. Those statements do not establish a blanket ban on solar projects or a specific funding outcome for an individual property.
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Storage, processing, and routes to market
USDA identifies cold storage, processing capacity, and transportation as obstacles for lower-volume producers. The agenda points to Farm Storage and Facility Loans, Local Agriculture Market Program resources, the Rural Energy for America Program, and Value-Added Producer Grants, as well as procurement and food-market programs. These resources address different needs: financing storage or facilities is not the same as obtaining a grant, energy support, or a route to buyers. A farm should identify the bottleneck it needs to solve and check each program’s current rules before treating it as available financing.
Succession, labor, and managing risk
The policy framework also names generational transition, agricultural labor, and business planning. It references crop insurance and disaster-assistance programs as risk-management resources. These are areas in which the agenda identifies concerns or existing tools; it does not set out an individual farm’s eligibility, coverage, award, or labor requirements. Those details must be verified under the applicable program’s current terms.
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How a farm can use the agenda in a financing decision
- Define the financial problem. Separate a land purchase, operating-credit need, storage or processing investment, energy project, market-access challenge, succession plan, or uninsured risk. Different problems may point to different programs.
- Identify the type of support. Determine whether the cited resource is a direct loan, a USDA-guaranteed loan through a lender, an easement, a grant, a loan for facilities, a market or procurement resource, or insurance or disaster assistance. Do not treat all of these as cash grants or interchangeable credit.
- Check current program rules. Confirm eligibility, application windows, eligible costs, documentation, matching or repayment requirements, and whether funds are available with the administering agency or participating lender. The agenda’s program list is not an eligibility determination.
- Compare the full financing terms. For loans, compare rates, fees, repayment schedule, collateral, guarantees, and timing. For grants or cost-share programs, check allowable expenses and any required contribution. For easements, understand the land-use and ownership implications before proceeding.
- Confirm the application route. Ask whether the relevant program currently accepts electronic applications, paper applications, or both, and whether an announced process change applies to that program.
What the 2025 announcement does not promise
- It does not establish that every small farm qualifies for a named program or that funding is currently available.
- It does not give every farm a loan, grant, faster review, or new financing terms.
- It does not show that the promised electronic applications or loan-delivery reforms were completed.
- It does not make USDA’s small-farm definition permanent; the agenda says the agency was reviewing it.
The USDA’s May 7, 2025, announcement about the Farmers First roundtable and a memorandum with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture provides context for the policy effort, while the agenda and Rollins’s May 2025 op-ed describe the small-farm proposals and programs. They document what USDA announced, not later implementation results.
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