United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced (Aug. 31, 2026) a new group of actions the agency is taking in an effort to continue “rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply.”
Rollins says the Ranchers First Initiative is “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.” She says 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 service members departing military service into ranching and farming careers.
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.
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