USDA Finally Fights Back Against Corporate Giants Crushing Small Farmers

Small family farms define America, nourishing our nation and sustaining rural communities. Yet, these vital operations face relentless pressures from market shifts and policies that tilt toward corporate giants. On May 19, 2025, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled the Farmers First: Small Family Farms Policy Agenda, a decisive plan to bolster these farms. This initiative delivers practical solutions to help farmers endure and prosper, rooted in the belief that their survival is essential to our nation’s strength.

The decline is stark. Over 140,000 farms have vanished since 2017, with small operations—those grossing under $500,000 yearly—suffering the most, per the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture. Large farms, with sales exceeding $1 million, have surged by 36 percent. This trend threatens more than livelihoods; it erodes the fabric of rural America, weakens our self-sufficiency, and concentrates our food supply in fewer hands.

Why should this concern you? Small family farms, comprising 86 percent of U.S. farms, are more than economic units. They steward our land, preserve traditions, and anchor communities from Iowa to Idaho. Their loss hollows out towns, cripples local economies, and risks our food security. The USDA’s plan offers a lifeline, prioritizing farmers over bureaucracy.

Secretary Rollins, after crisscrossing the country and listening to hundreds of farmers, grasps the urgency. Her agenda provides actionable tools—streamlined processes, better credit access, and land protections—to tackle the daily struggles farmers face. This is a fight for fairness, ensuring family farms can compete and endure.

What’s really at stake? The values of hard work, independence, and community that small farms embody. Can we afford to let these fade, or will we rally to protect them?

The USDA’s agenda outlines nine targeted measures to address farmers’ challenges. It simplifies program applications, cutting through layers of red tape that frustrate small operators. It also expands credit access via Farm Service Agency and Rural Development loans, countering the soaring land prices that deter young farmers from entering the industry.

Protecting farmland is central. The plan discourages converting fertile fields to solar projects, keeping land in production. It also eases federal land leases through NEPA reforms, making them more accessible to farmers. These steps safeguard the foundation of agriculture: the earth itself.

Labor shortages, a persistent issue, are addressed through H-2A and H-2B visa reforms to ensure a stable workforce. The agenda further enhances risk-management resources, updates farm-size definitions to reflect modern realities, and boosts educational outreach. Critically, it advocates for tax policies—extending Section 179 expensing and estate-tax protections—to facilitate passing farms to the next generation.

This approach empowers farmers to navigate a market dominated by corporate power. With the top four meatpackers controlling over 85 percent of beef and pork processing and John Deere holding half the large tractor market, small farmers face steep odds. The USDA’s emphasis on local processing and market access directly challenges this consolidation.

Some policymakers advocate for heavier regulations or climate subsidies, claiming they support sustainability. Yet, programs like the Conservation Reserve often tie up land and inflate prices, sidelining small farmers. The USDA’s strategy, focusing 65 percent of its Advancing Markets for Producers funds on farmers, prioritizes those who feed us over bureaucratic priorities.

The question is clear: do we want a food system driven by family farms or one controlled by corporate monopolies? The USDA’s plan chooses the former, and it’s the right call.

The erosion of small farms threatens our national security. As Tennessee’s Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher aptly stated, food security is inseparable from national security. Losing family farms hands control of our food supply to a few corporations, increasing our vulnerability to supply chain disruptions or foreign influence. The USDA’s agenda promotes self-reliance, ensuring we feed our nation independently.

Rural communities hang in the balance. Over half of rural counties are losing residents, with gaps in broadband, healthcare, and water systems stifling growth. The Investing in Rural America Act of 2025, alongside the USDA’s efforts, expands loans for rural hospitals and childcare, but small farms remain the lifeblood of these towns, sustaining jobs and cultural heritage.

Some argue large farms are more efficient or that climate programs are the priority. Efficiency, however, often means monocultures that degrade soil and displace communities. Climate subsidies frequently enrich large operations, not small farmers who practice genuine stewardship. The USDA’s market-driven approach better serves our farmers and our future.

This is about preserving the American spirit. Small family farms represent resilience, hard work, and community. They are vital to our prosperity and security. The USDA’s agenda equips them to thrive, but it demands our commitment to succeed.

The USDA’s Farmers First agenda is a strong foundation, but it requires action to become reality. Lawmakers must champion these reforms—tax protections, labor solutions, and reduced regulations—while resisting policies that burden small farmers. Consumers can play a role by buying local and supporting family farms, demanding a transparent food system.

Every small farm lost is a blow to America—a family uprooted, a community weakened, a piece of our heritage gone. Secretary Rollins and President Trump have charted a path to reverse this decline, but its success depends on our collective resolve.

Let’s stand with our farmers. Let’s protect the roots of our nation. Because saving small family farms isn’t just about agriculture—it’s about preserving the values that make America strong.