Latest news with #Beck'sHybrids
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Farmers could see another bailout if U.S. tariffs cause economic fallout in ag
Apr. 6—Farmers should be noticing a pattern by now. When the Trump administration imposed tariffs amidst trade wars with China in 2018, farmers were compensated with a round of bailouts. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said if farmers' pockets are hurt again by the tariffs, they can expect the same outcome. Rollins appeared alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and other state leaders on March 31 during a tour of agricultural facilities, including a dry mill ethanol plant in Atlantic, a family farm in Waukee and Beck's Hybrids in Colfax. Newton News gathered with other state reporters to speak with Rollins after a roundtable. In between each stop, Rollins said she has been on the phone with the White House and with people back in Washington, D.C. Hopefully, she said, American farmers and the agriculture community won't be hurt by these incoming trade decisions and the tariffs imposed on other countries. "But if they are, the president's commitment is the same today as it was five or six years ago," Rollins said. "And we at USDA and our partners across Congress and in Washington will work around the clock to ensure that we have the programs in place to do what we did the last time." While the economic impact has yet to be determined, Rollins assured the same commitment to farmers would be followed. U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks added that farmers and ranchers in Iowa are very pleased with the announcement that Rollins is going on trade missions to open more markets. For the past four years, the costs of inputs — land, fuel, fertilizer, etc. — for farmers and ranchers, Rollins said, have increased on average about 30 percent. "Also we have a trade deficit of almost $50 billion that was $0 when we left the (first Trump administration)," Rollins said. "So there just wasn't the focus in the last administration — I'm not here to Republican-versus-Democrat — there just wasn't a focus to expand the markets, and in fact the markets even contracted." Rollins has made it her goal to visit these six countries in the coming months: India, Vietnam, Peru, Brazil, United Kingdom and Japan. She plans to take along partners from the U.S. State Department and other members of the federal government to re-open markets and find new markets to sell farmer goods. Prior to speaking with the press, Rollins participated in a roundtable discussion with Beck's Hybrids employees. Those conversations were closed off from the press, but her opening remarks were open for pictures and recording. She said President Donald Trump gave her a message to share: "'You tell farmers that I have their backs (and) that you will be entering a golden age of prosperity for all of our Americans, but especially our farmers and ranchers,'" Rollins said before starting the roundtable discussions at Beck's. "...I want you know we're there in Washington. We're realigning the USDA."
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
USDA pausing funding to Maine school programs over alleged Title IX violations
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, center, joined by U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, left, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, answered questions from reporters after a roundtable at Beck's Hybrids in Colfax March 31, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pausing federal funding for some school programs in response to Maine's alleged violations of Title IX, though the agency has not conducted a formal investigation. 'You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated,' USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in a letter to Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday. 'Today, I am freezing Maine's federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools. 'This is only the beginning,' the letter warned. School lunch programs, which are funded by the USDA, will not be impacted by the freeze, Rollins said. However, the agency is 'reviewing all research and education-related funding in Maine' for compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws 'and the priorities of the Trump administration.' For Maine to continue receiving funding, the state will have to 'demonstrate compliance with Title IX's protection of female student athletes from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males,' Rollins' letter said. The funding freeze comes amid a barrage of actions targeting Maine following President Donald Trump and Mills' heated exchange over the state's protections for transgender student athletes. Both the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services determined Maine's polices allowing transgender girls to compete in girls' sports, which is supported by the Maine Human Rights Act, violate federal protections against sex-based discrimination in schools. Title IX does not reference trans people directly, but the Trump administration has interpreted Maine's policy as discrimination against cisgender girls. Maine has not responded to the investigations. Last month, USDA preemptively froze millions in grant and research funding for the state's public universities as it reviewed whether they were in compliance with Title IX and Title IV, which bans race-based discrimination. The agency later determined the University of Maine System to be in compliance, and funding was restored. The university system follows National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, which were updated last month after Trump issued an executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls' sports. Maine public schools are required to follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which includes gender identity as a protected class. That means students can use the pronouns and facilities aligning with their gender identity. Republican state lawmakers want gender identity to be removed from the Human Rights Act so that Maine can access federal funding. The Maine Principals' Association, which governs school sports, also follows the state law and has so far declined to walk back trans' students rights to participate in sports. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says USDA plans to assist farmers with tariff backlash
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, center, joined by U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, left, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, answered questions from reporters after a roundtable at Beck's Hybrids in Colfax March 31, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) COLFAX– As U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins toured Iowa agricultural facilities Monday, she said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is prepared to support farmers while tariffs go into place. President Donald Trump announced plans Sunday to impose 'reciprocal tariffs' on countries that have their own tariffs set on U.S. products, set to officially roll out April 2. While earlier statements from members of the Trump administration said the tariffs focus on 10 to 15 countries with large trade imbalances, the president said Sunday the tariffs will encompass all countries that charge fees for U.S. exports. Iowans in agriculture have expressed concerns about Trump's original plan — later delayed — to enact 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Some farmers said the move could hurt Iowa, as the state's pork and corn industries are heavily tied to the countries. A spokesperson for the White House has confirmed that the tariffs will not contain exemptions for farmers. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Speaking with reporters at Beck's Hybrids, a retail seed company in Colfax, Rollins tried to assuage concerns about the tariffs' impact on agriculture. She said the Trump administration and USDA plan to aid farmers from potential economic fallout using similar strategies as in 2018, when a U.S.-China trade war during Trump's first term led to an estimated $27 billion in U.S. agricultural export losses. 'Hopefully our farmers and our ag community won't be hurt by — at least in the short term — by these decisions,' Rollins said. 'But if they are, the president's commitment is the same today as it was five or six years ago. And we at USDA and our partners across Congress and in Washington will work around the clock to ensure that we have the programs in place to do what we did the last time with the (Commodity Credit Corporation), and we fully expect to do the same this time, but to be determined based on what happens in the next weeks and month.' The USDA provided farmers more than $23 billion in federal subsidies during Trump's first term to help offset the economic impacts of tariffs. While Rollins said at an earlier stop in Waukee that 'we don't have quite the funds we had back then,' according to the Des Moines Register, she also said there was other work being done by the Trump administration to expand U.S. agriculture's international market presence. U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, who joined Rollins alongside Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig in Colfax, said she and other Iowa officials were 'very pleased' by Rollins' commitment to go on trade missions in coming months. 'We have not seen that the past four years,' Miller-Meeks said, comparing Rollins' approach to efforts under the Biden administration. 'Six countries and six months, I think it is — because we know we need to open up more markets.' Rollins plans to visit Vietnam, Japan, India, Peru, Brazil, and the United Kingdom in 2025. While the agriculture secretary said tariffs are one part of Trump's 'tool kit to realign the American economy,' another component was the reduction in force happening across the federal government — including roughly 6,000 at the USDA. Rollins said she supported the effort as a way to make government more efficient and put more economic focus on 'expanding the private sector, on lifting up free enterprise, on reshoring American jobs.' 'The vision isn't that we're putting a lot of people out of work,' Rollins said. 'The vision is that we're realigning our entire economy, where the private sector and free enterprise is driving those jobs, rather than bigger and bigger government.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
