Secretary Rollins Announces Ranchers First Initiatives to Rebuild the Great American Beef Herd

New actions build on USDA’s 2026 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry

(Washington, D.C., August 31, 2026) – Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a sweeping package of actions to continue rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Building on USDA’s October 2025 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, the Trump Administration is delivering again.

American ranchers embody the independent spirit that drove the founding of America, 250 years ago. For more than two centuries, their independence, resiliency, and committed stewardship have provided American consumers with the safest and highest-quality beef and lamb in the world, and they remain foundational to America’s national security and to the strength and vitality of rural communities. Yet today the nation’s cattle herd sits at a 75-year low, with ranchers forced out of business by burdensome regulations and an outright war on beef waged at the altar of Green New Deal climate extremism.

“Until President Trump took office, America’s ranchers were treated as a problem with policy geared toward their eventual extinction. The consequences were devastating: a war on beef, a cattle herd at a 75-year low, and the loss of tens of thousands of family operations,” said Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. “President Trump promised to put the American ranchers first, and the Ranchers First Initiative delivers on that promise. We are investing real dollars to rebuild the Great American Beef Herd, giving producers the risk management tools they need, cutting the red tape that has squeezed small and independent operators, and demanding transparency in a marketplace that has been consolidated and foreign-owned for far too long. President Trump will make certain the men and women who raise our cattle can hand their operations to the next generation, and that American families can put safe, high-quality, American-raised beef on the table.”

Ranchers First Initiative Actions

New Tools to Support Heifer Retention

USDA is going to secure tomorrow’s herd through the new Beef Retention and National Development (BRAND) endorsement for Livestock Risk Protection (LRP). The BRAND endorsement will allow producers to insure the economic value of retaining a heifer for breeding over a two-year period. The endorsement would establish a protected value based on the expected slaughter value of the heifer at the time of enrollment. If, at any time during the endorsement period, the heifer’s projected or realized slaughter value exceeds the economic value of retaining her as breeding stock, the policy would provide for the difference.

ECP and Grassland CRP Maximization

USDA will allow producers to use the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) on Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to speed recovery after wildfires and other natural disasters.  This flexibility is a direct investment in rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd by providing ranchers the ability to rebuild critical infrastructure quickly and minimize long-term losses from disaster events.

Continuing to Revitalize American Local Processing

Following up on the successful Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR) program to support small and regional beef slaughter facilities, USDA is creating a SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program to help support regional processing, including establishing processor co-ops, expanding small business footprints, and increasing the variety of animal proteins being processed.

USDA will also establish a Regional Processor Continuity Effort designed to strengthen regional processing capacity and improve business resilience across the agricultural supply chain. With recent processing closure announcements, nearly 20% of beef processing capacity will be available as the herd grows. This is a tremendous opportunity to shift this capacity toward American-owned independent small, mid-size, and new co-ops and keep our critical meat supply out of the hands of foreign control.

Prioritizing American Beef in Federal Spending

USDA will prioritize federal procurement of locally processed American beef by encouraging purchasing across federal and state institutions—including prisons, hospitals, and related facilities. By strengthening locally processed domestic sourcing requirements, USDA aims to bolster demand for American‑raised beef, support U.S. ranchers, and reinforce integrity and transparency within federal food purchasing programs. This builds on last week’s Harvest to Hallways announcement advancing healthy food for schools, and will allow USDA to work with not just Health and Human Services, but also the Department of Justice, Veterans Affairs, and the Department of War in what food they purchase.

Supporting New Farmers and Ranchers

Under the Working Families Tax Cuts, USDA was able to expand support for beginning farmers and ranchers for the first decade of operations and increase premium assistance during that entire time frame. New ranchers can also access specialized Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans to buy land, livestock, and equipment, receive free conservation and grazing management support through NRCS, gain risk management protection through livestock insurance programs, and connect with state coordinators.

To help build on these programs, USDA will be establishing an initiative focused on Beginning and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Affairs. USDA will also be working with the Department of War and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to leverage programs like Department of War’s (DOW) SkillBridge program, to recruit servicemembers departing military service into ranching and farming careers.

Building on a Record of Delivery for America’s Ranchers

Since taking office, President Trump and Secretary Rollins have taken the most aggressive action for American cattle ranchers in a generation:

October 2025: Secretary Rollins, alongside the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration, launched the Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, a whole-of-government commitment to the American rancher.

March 2026: USDA and the Department of the Interior signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand grazing access and cut permitting delays on public lands.

June 2026: USDA launched the Small Processors Action Plan and opened a fourth round of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program with $60 million to expand American processing capacity.

June 2026: The U.S. Forest Service issued a Department-wide grazing directive protecting the roughly 23,000 permittees and lessees who depend on public rangelands.

June 2026: Secretary Rollins announced the Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR) Program, providing up to $500 million to independent and regional beef slaughter facilities.

June 2026: Secretary Rollins announced the $500 million Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long Term Domestic Supply (FIELDS) Program, to onshore domestic fertilizer production and lower prices for our farmers and ranchers.

2026: USDA launched and continues to expand awareness of the Product of USA label, so families can identify beef born, raised, harvested, and processed in the United States.

August 2026: USDA and Health and Human Services announced the Harvest to Hallways initiative to put more American-raised beef and local product into school meals.