Newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Friday the U.S. farm economy is in the “worst economic straits in a century” with tough challenges on prices, markets and labor all hitting at the same time.

Rollins delivered opening remarks at the Department of Agriculture to more than 400 USDA employees, stakeholders, and congressional members and staff in her first full day on the job. She takes the reins of the USDA at a time when disaster aid distribution has been delayed, the Farm Bill hasn’t been reauthorized and disease outbreaks and trade wars are threatening further instability.

In addition to the economic challenges, Rollins noted there is a “great conversation underway” among the American people about agriculture, food and health – one that will be bolstered by the confirmation of Robert Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“These are challenges and conversations we cannot avoid — and we do not wish to. We will be at the center of both, and we will meet them both with the professionalism and patriotism that is the foundation of this Department and its mission,” Rollins said.

“Both those qualities were on stark display in the past several weeks — in the firefighters of our own U.S. Forest Service who answered the call to defend Americans and American homes in the face of a literally hellish natural disaster,” Rollins added. “The bravery, steadfastness, and selfless service of our men and women who stood against the flames is an example to us all.”

Rollins’ comments Friday did not have a lot of policy specifics, but she emphasized the need to ensure American farmers, ranchers and producers “compete on a world stage that is fair, on terms that put America first.”

Rollins vowed the department will works to keep the trust of the public to fight disease, feed the needy and manage land and forests. She also expects the USDA to help ensure the Make America Great Again and Make America Healthy Again movements “exist not in opposition to one another, but as complements in a common mission for our country. In that conversation, I will always defend American ag at the table.”

The farm industry has been angered this week by freezes in some grant spending at the USDA that was being targeted toward conservation efforts. This occurred after the White House said in January that programs helping farmers would not be targeted.

Rollins did not address this situation specifically, but said she is welcoming the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at USDA because she believes the agency’s work, “makes us better, stronger, faster, and more efficient. I will expect full access and transparency to DOGE in the days and weeks to come from everyone at this department, and I will personally set that example as they proceed.”

Rollins also vowed to end, “identity politics, identity celebrations, and DEI at USDA — period.

“We will neither commemorate nor celebrate our immutable characteristics, neither among ourselves nor among Americans at large. We will instead celebrate the things that make us American: merit, faith, and liberty first among them.”

Rollins added the USDA would focus on its core missions of supporting American farming, ranching and forestry, working with the White House and the Congress. “This is a long-term effort,” she said, “but it begins now. This department must return to its basic purpose, and we will work to make it so.”

Rollins revealed she will order all USDA personnel to their workplaces — whether it’s an office or a farm. “Our farmers and ranchers don’t get to work from their homes, and neither will we. They are our models, and we will follow them.”

A recording of Secretary Rollins’ remarks can be found on the USDA website.