OCM, CMA React to Rollins' Confirmation as Ag Secretary

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA) issued a statement today congratulating Brooke Rollins on her confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by the U.S. Senate.

While the groups expressed disappointment in Rollins' comments regarding Proposition 12 during her confirmation hearing, they remain optimistic that her commitment to states' rights will guide her approach on the matter.

“We look forward to working closely with Secretary Rollins to reform the USDA’s [United States Department of Agriculture’s] scandal-ridden Commodity Checkoff Programs, which continue to put countless American family farmers out of business with their own money,” Taylor Haynes, president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, and Marty Irby, president of Competitive Markets Action said.

“We call on Secretary Rollins to pursue checkoff reform with Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), as well as Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), who continue to champion reform efforts in Congress with the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act,” they said.

“With the departure of former Secretary Tom Vilsack — whose tenure was marked by a troubling legacy of favoritism toward multinational foreign conglomerates in China and Brazil, conflicts of interest and a lack of accountability — we call on the Trump Administration to condemn the harmful EATS Act, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), and urge Secretary Rollins to uphold Proposition 12 and other state laws designed to support American family farmers who utilize more humane and regenerative agriculture practices,” they added.

“We congratulate Secretary Rollins on becoming the first female Secretary of Agriculture in two decades and only the second in American history and we stand ready, willing and able to work with her and her team to reform the deep-rooted systemic corruption at USDA.”