Cattle Farmers and Ranchers Agree Farm Security is National Security
Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) praised Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’ Farm Security is National Security action plan. As part of the announcement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is releasing a number of farm security and national security policies strongly supported by NCBA and America’s cattle farmers and ranchers.
“America is blessed to have hundreds of thousands of family farms and ranches producing beef right here at home,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “NCBA strongly agrees with Secretary Rollins that farm security is national security. We are pleased that USDA is protecting our family farms and ranches, scrutinizing foreign acquisitions to ensure they don’t threaten American agriculture, protecting U.S. agricultural research from foreign adversaries, and bolstering animal health programs to prevent a foreign animal disease outbreak. Secretary Rollins and President Trump are true friends of American agriculture.”
Secretary Rollins was joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and several other leaders from the Trump administration and Congress for the rollout of these farm security and national security policies.
“The cattle industry faces no shortage of challenges, but threats like foreign animal disease and agriterrorism are what keeps us up at night,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall. “NCBA has previously worked with the FBI, Homeland Security, and other federal law enforcement to safeguard American agriculture. This announcement from Secretary Rollins, alongside Secretary Hegseth, Attorney General Bondi, and Secretary Noem, is welcomed news for America’s cattle producers. We look forward to working with USDA, the Department of Defense, and federal law enforcement partners to continue protecting America’s cattle industry.”
As part of the action plan, USDA will increase their oversight of foreign land acquisitions, strengthen inspections to root out dangerous products coming through U.S. ports of entry, invest in preventing the spread of devastating diseases, and counter cybersecurity threats.
NCBA has long supported adding the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS is an interagency panel chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury with additional involvement from the Secretaries of State, Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security, Energy, the Attorney General, and senior White House officials that reviews foreign purchases to ensure they do not threaten U.S. national security. As part of this announcement, Secretary Rollins will be joining CFIUS—a significant win for protecting America agriculture from foreign threats. This move will ensure the Secretary of Agriculture is fully aware of foreign transactions moving forward and can ensure they do not harm American farmers and ranchers.
Additionally, the plan calls for investing in cybersecurity and strengthening screenings at ports of entry. NCBA worked with members of Congress earlier this year to introduce the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act. This legislation would help identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats to the food and agriculture sectors. Additionally, NCBA has also supported strengthened inspection at U.S. ports of entry and use of the Beagle Brigade to sniff out potentially dangerous products coming into the country. Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection quarantined over 1.3 million agricultural items coming into the United States that could have brought disease, invasive species, or other threats to U.S. agriculture.
NCBA has also continued to focus on countering foreign animal diseases. NCBA secured $153 million per year for the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank in the One Big Beautiful Bill, with a total investment in cattle health programs of $233 million per year. The vaccine bank currently houses the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and test kits, which makes sure we are prepared to combat any outbreak.
