Last year, as part of Brooke Rollins’ initiative to Make Agriculture Great Again, the U.S. secretary of agriculture lauded the sentiment that farm security is a matter of national security. It builds upon an idea that has been around for decades, first presented at the 1974 World Food conference.
Rollins and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth then commemorated this initiative in February by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines how the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the agency formerly known as the Department of Defense can collaborate more closely to safeguard American farms, defend the nation’s food systems, and address emerging threats to American agriculture.
This MOU is one of many federal actions that have been enacted toward this security goal. All signs — from banning the import of foreign-made drones and critical components, to adding potash and phosphorus to the 2025 List of Critical Minerals, and even an Executive Order from President Donald Trump highlighting the importance of glyphosate-based herbicides — indicate that the federal administration is taking agricultural security as national security very seriously.
In pursuit of this notion, the question arises: Are these actions actively helping the everyday American farmer?