Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins recently outlined new actions to build upon USDA’s 2026 plan to fortify the American beef industry. The ranchers first initiative is a package of actions aimed at rebuilding the great American beef herd. Secretary Rollins breaks down the actions in further detail saying, “In Nebraska we talked about the new effort to retain heifers under the Beef Retention and National Development Endorsement brand, a fast-tracked new heifer retention endorsement for our traditional livestock risk protection programs in LRP, allowing producers to ensure the economic value of retaining a heifer for breeding over a two, three, four, or five year period.”
“That was number one. But also, number two, unleashing the Emergency Conservation Program or ECP on our Grassland Conservation Reserve Program to help rebuild critical infrastructure when it’s needed. And then also to prioritize an additional 1 million grasslands in the CRP program to provide more space to grow our great American beef herd,” Rollins added.
“Number three is a new guaranteed loan program to continue building on the small and regional beef, sheep, and lamb processors that can purchase excess capacity. Number four, prioritizing the procurement of great American beef to buy locally to get more healthy nutritious food on the plates of our kiddos, of our veterans, of our soldiers,” said Rollins.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.