At a September 25, 2025, agriculture conference in Kansas City, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a planned USDA purchase of 417,000 metric tons of commodities for international food aid and a new USDA–Justice Department effort to scrutinize competition in agricultural markets. The announcements addressed food assistance and market oversight; Rollins said no plan was then under consideration to make payments to beef producers.
What did the agriculture secretary announce in Kansas City?
Rollins made the announcements at the Agriculture Outlook Forum in Kansas City, Missouri. The USDA’s event listing confirms the date and announcement context; details below are reported by Anna Kaminski of the Kansas Reflector in her September 25, 2025, account.
First, Rollins said USDA would immediately purchase 417,000 metric tons of commodities to support international food aid. The report described that amount as equivalent to more than 16 million bushels of corn and sorghum. It did not identify a crop-by-crop breakdown, so the bushel comparison should not be read as a precise statement of how much of each commodity USDA planned to buy.
The programs named in the report were America First International Food Assistance, McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Food for Progress. The announcement linked the purchase to those programs, which rely on U.S.-grown crops. It was an announced procurement, not evidence that USDA had completed the purchase or that food had reached recipients.
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What was the USDA–DOJ antitrust effort?
Rollins also announced that USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice had signed a joint memorandum to scrutinize the agricultural marketplace through antitrust enforcement. The report described the effort as effective immediately and connected it to concerns about competition and undue foreign influence.
The memorandum’s text was not available in the reporting reviewed. The announcement therefore does not establish which companies, sectors or conduct might be examined, what particular legal authorities would be used, or whether any investigation or enforcement action followed. Scrutiny is not itself a finding of wrongdoing.
How the purchase and memorandum differ
| Announcement | Purpose reported | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| 417,000-metric-ton commodity purchase | Support international food assistance programs through procurement of commodities, reported as equivalent to more than 16 million bushels of corn and sorghum. | That procurement or aid distribution was completed, or the exact crop allocation. |
| USDA–DOJ memorandum | Scrutinize agricultural-market competition through antitrust enforcement. | Specific investigations, legal theories, targets or enforcement results. |
Neither announcement should be confused with a direct payment to farmers or ranchers. The purchase was described as food-aid procurement, while the memorandum concerned market oversight.
What farm pressures did Rollins cite?
To describe the pressures facing farmers, Rollins cited the following increases in costs since 2020, as reported by the Kansas Reflector:
- Seed: 18%.
- Fuel: 30%.
- Labor: 47%.
- Electricity: 36%.
- Machinery: 45%.
- Fertilizer: 37%.
- Interest expense: 73%.
These are figures Rollins cited, not independently verified measurements in the report. She summarized the strain by saying, “The cost of doing business for our farmers has increased drastically while commodity prices have slipped.”
Rollins also cited the loss of about 150,000 U.S. cattle operations over the prior decade and said the U.S. cattle inventory was at a 75-year low. The report did not link these figures to the underlying statistical series, so they should be understood as figures cited at the event rather than independently checked data here.
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Did USDA announce payments to beef producers?
No. In the report, Rollins said: “No plan is even under consideration to insert ourselves through payments into the beef cattle industry.” That statement describes her position at the September 25, 2025, event; it does not establish current policy or rule out later changes.
The same report noted around $23 billion in subsidies during the first Trump administration. That historical figure is separate from the September 2025 commodity-purchase announcement and is not a value for the food-aid procurement.
What is known about what happened afterward?
The announcement report and USDA listing establish what was announced and where, but the available information does not establish whether USDA completed the procurement, how commodities were allocated or distributed, or what results followed from the USDA–DOJ memorandum. The announcement itself should not be treated as proof of implementation or impact.
Sources: Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector, September 25, 2025; USDA press-release listing, September 25, 2025.
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