WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — Lawmakers are weighing agriculture funding priorities in a series of budget meetings, with specialty crop producers drawing increased attention amid concerns over how federal assistance programs are being distributed.
Brooke Rollins said Congress and the administration worked to expand recent farm support programs to include more specialty crop producers, noting that initial funding was largely directed at row-crop producers affected by trade disruptions.
“Originally, that $11-$12 billion farmer aid was only for our row crop farmers as a result of the China, back and forth, which I realize is a whole other opening up, probably another can of worms here, but that was the original intent,” Rollins told Congress on Thursday. “When we scraped around to find that money as Congress was considering putting more money in — and I think they still are, which is great, and I would love to help move that forward — but we kind of duct-taped and bubblegummed that $12 billion together.”
Rollins also said the original intent of the aid program was to support row-crop farmers affected by trade-related pressures, but lawmakers and stakeholders pushed to expand eligibility as funding was assembled. She emphasized that the current assistance package covers only a portion of the sector’s overall losses. She added that adjustments were made to ensure more than 100 specialty crops are now included, though not all producers were ultimately covered, and additional work remains.
“Yes, yes, it became very apparent, sir, after speaking to you and other members, some on this committee, that we had to carve out some of that money for our specialty crop guys,” Rollins said. “Even though they perhaps weren’t caught in the crosshairs of China, negotiations — like soybeans and soy and sorghum and others — we had to do whatever we could, understanding we’re still only covering 15 [or] 20 [or] 25% of the losses. There’s just so much, so much work to be done here.”
Rollins acknowledged that the current crisis for farmers is now the rising cost of fertilizer and fuel, and acknowledged that more crises will come as time goes on. She called it a “disaster” fueled by a lack of market competition across all farm inputs.
“Fertilizer is the current crisis of the day, but as soon as we’re past this one, it will be seed or that it will be equipment,” she told Congress. “It is an overarching economic pending disaster. What has happened with the cost of inputs? And of course, if you look at the data, what has happened is you have a handful of companies that have basically taken over the market in all of the inputs.”
Now, amid ongoing volatility in the Middle East, there are urgent concerns about the affordability of farm inputs, as producers continue to face rising fertilizer costs. A new American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) survey found that nearly 70 percent of producers say they cannot afford all the fertilizer required for this season.
AFBF Economist Dr. Faith Parum joined us on Thursday’s Market Day Report to discuss the findings and what they signal for producer sentiment heading into the 2026 growing season, and highlighted key takeaways from the survey and how the data may inform future decision-making across the agriculture sector.
In her interview with RFD NEWS, Parum broke down how fertilizer price volatility and availability concerns are shaping purchasing decisions, application strategies, and overall production risk for farmers this year. She also discussed how regional production systems and crop mixes influence exposure to input cost shocks.
Parum further addressed how ongoing uncertainty in global energy and shipping markets could continue to impact fertilizer affordability, particularly if geopolitical tensions affecting key transit routes remain unresolved.
