505: Brooke Rollins—Where's the Beef?

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe interviews Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a two-part conversation that addresses the recent presidential proclamation all

Key takeaways

• President Trump signed a proclamation lifting tariff rate quotas on certain ground beef imports to address high domestic prices.
• The US cattle herd is at its lowest level in 75 years due to drought and the resurgence of the screwworm parasite.

Main topics

• Beef Import Proclamation
• National Food Security

Notable quotes

Where there is beef, there is freedom.

Conclusion

The episode highlights the high stakes of agricultural policy in an er

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:03) Hello, friends. Welcome to The Way I Heard It. My guest today is Brooke Rollins, the Secretary of Agriculture in these United States. The episode is called Where's the Beef? You remember that woman, right? Clara, what was her name? Clara Peller, I think, made that expression famous back in the early 80s. It's a phrase that's been on my mind here of late ever since the president signed a proclamation a couple of weeks ago. allowing 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to come into the American food supply from various countries around the world. This is big news in the agriculture business. I've heard from a lot of ranchers and a lot of farmers who I'm friendly with, and opinions are very strong. A lot of people are talking about this. I point it out because none of this was going on when I interviewed Brooke. a couple of months ago at the Reagan Library. She was running to catch a flight and very graciously agreed to sit and talk with me for a half hour. But that's all the time she had. And then a month or so after that, when we were about to post the conversation, this news broke. And I just felt weird putting the conversation on the podcast and not addressing the biggest story in agriculture with the Secretary of Agriculture. So I called Brooke back and said, look, can we just hop on a... quick Zoom, because I really need to ask you about this. It's a huge story. And of course, she said yes. So what you're about to hear is a podcast of typical length. I think the whole thing will probably last an hour, but it happens in two parts. The first part was recorded at the Reagan Library a couple of months ago. The second part was just recorded very recently in the wake of this proclamation that President Trump signed. Both conversations I think are really interesting. The first one is kind of general about all things agriculture. The second one is a bit more pointed around our meat supply, our beef supply. Where's the beef, you might ask? It's pretty much everywhere. How can you tell the difference between American beef and beef that's imported from another country? That's a question we'll dive into because it's not as easy as you think. Anyway. It's the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. Where's the beef? I'll show you right after this. Speaker 1 (2:33) It's appropriate that Good Ranchers is a sponsor of this episode and maybe a bit ironic as well because the administration has just allowed foreign countries to ship 300,000 metric tons of ground beef into the American food supply. I'll ask Secretary Rollins why that's happening and how the decision is impacting America's ranchers. But right now, I just want to take a moment to remind you that American ranchers really do raise the best meat. on the planet. But they face more challenges than most business owners can even begin to contemplate or relate to, including the preposterous policy that allows meatpackers to deceptively label their foreign-grown beef as product of the USA and then sell it in American grocery stores. I'll ask the Secretary about that as well, because honestly, that is seriously corrupt in my view. which is why you should know that Good Ranchers is the number one company in America that delivers 100 % American meat right to your door. They partner with over 100 local farmers and ranchers to deliver pasture-raised meat with no antibiotics, no added hormones. They got 25,000 five-star reviews on Trustpilot, including my own. This month, when you visit goodranchers.com slash row, you get a free Angus ground beef bundle with your first order. Again, that's goodranchers.com slash ro for four bonus pounds of American raised ground beef. Guaranteed. Support your local ranchers by insisting on American meat delivered at goodranchers.com slash ro. Speaker 2 (4:09) If you could eat a steer, if you could eat a cow, don't take a chance on a foreign ranch. Speaker 1 (4:16) Get Good Ranchers now. Yeehaw! Speaker 1 (4:23) All right, well, this is Brooke, Brooke Rollins. Hello, Speaker 2 (4:26) yes, Speaker 1 (4:26) Brooke. You're very important. Speaker 2 (4:28) No. Speaker 1 (4:29) No, you're critically important. No. You're the Secretary of Agriculture. Speaker 2 (4:33) This is true. Speaker 1 (4:34) And you've been in that position now since this— Speaker 2 (4:37) Fourteen months, yes. February 13th, I raised my hand, and Justice Clarence Thomas swore me in. What was the oath Speaker 1 (4:44) like? You know what? What do they make a Secretary of Agriculture swear to do? Speaker 2 (4:52) amazing thing. I was up in the National Archives looking at what George Washington had his soldiers swear to in 1775, 1776, and it is basically the same oath from back then. Is that not amazing? Just, I solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution, to not, you know, be beholden to other foreign adversaries. So help me God. Speaker 1 (5:16) It's really cool. How important is it? Like whether it's a pledge to the flag or the Boy Scout oath, how important is it for a person to do that in their life at some point? And I don't mean a marriage vow. That feels different to me. But like a promise to yourself, like a code. You know, Speaker 2 (5:37) it's like when the kids, when we grew up, we were probably about the same age when we grew up, we did the Pledge of Allegiance every single day. Speaker 2 (5:46) swearing an oath to the country. All, of course, our amazing men and women in uniform do it. I think that as we look at our 250th birthday, basically, and this sort of reinvigoration and this revivifying of the American spirit, you know, I look at across our cabinet, I look at Pete Hegseth and what he's doing to inspire those young men and women. Our recruiting is up. It's broken records the last year and a half. I will say that's Speaker 1 (6:14) amazing. Speaker 2 (6:16) It really is. And so this love of country and Memorial Day was just Monday. Had one of my kids is going to be a senior at Texas A &M. He's in the Corps of Cadets. Brought some friends up. And just this kind of energy and rededication to, frankly, to God, but and to country by this next generation is really inspiring. And I think hopefully that continues. Speaker 1 (6:38) I did a show for a long time called Dirty Jobs. Speaker 2 (6:41) Yes, very familiar. Big fan. For the record, I was the number one welder at Glen Rose High School, Texas in 1990. I won the welding award. Speaker 1 (6:50) Now, I'm going to ask you a sexist question. Okay, please. Number one female welder or number one welder? Speaker 2 (6:55) No, this was 1990. There were no male and female awards. It was, you go all in. No, it was, yeah, the number one welder. My ag teacher, Mr. Rosenbush, who I'm still very close with, 34 years later, I'll never forget, he told me when I graduated and he announced the award in front of the whole high school. It was a big... tiny little rural high school in Texas. Most didn't go to college. And he said, you know, Brooke, I think you're going to go on to do pretty cool things. And I had a Future Farmer of America scholarship to study agriculture at Texas A &M. He said, but if it doesn't work out, you know that welders make more than most with a college degree. And I've never forgotten that. And even now, I like look at beads on different, you know, things that are built. to say I was a pretty good welder. Speaker 1 (7:42) Why do you think it's such a consequential trade? Speaker 2 (7:45) Well, there is no America without the hard, the skilled labor, the builders and the welders and the tradesmen. I mean, that's what our country was built. I mean, for me, I'm repping farmers and ranchers, right? I mean, this is food security, farm security is national security. And so that ethos, right, that building and that welding and that construction job. That's what's best about our country from my perspective. And those are the jobs that are going to keep us going. I mean... I Speaker 1 (8:16) think of welding as... Well, I mean, it's the ultimate connecting trade. I mean, you're joining things. Speaker 2 (8:24) Yes. You know, and we've had, I don't know, like Speaker 1 (8:27) 3,500 people go through MicroWorks and a big chunk of them are welders. And the thing that always struck me, and I'll make this relevant in a second, is the way a welding certification so often leads to a plumbing. Speaker 2 (8:41) certification Speaker 1 (8:41) and then electric and then and the next thing you know you bought a band and now you hired your buddies and now it's HVAC and now you got a mechanical contracting company way leads on the way right that's right and it so often starts from what I've seen anyway with welding with respect to your own career I mean what are you doing here how did this Wait, Speaker 2 (9:02) wait, what just happened? I don't know. The president calls and says he wants me to be the secretary of agriculture. Why? Speaker 1 (9:08) Why does the president call you? Speaker 2 (9:10) So without the way too long, boring story, I mean, raised by a single mom, went to college on a scholarship, basically a first-gen college student, studied agriculture, had a heart and a fire for my country. my mom instilled, but also I just think it was probably a God thing. And, and so I went off to A &M, loved people and public service and A &M lit a fire in me. It was an all male military school, more medal of honor winners from there than anywhere but the three academies, more officers in World War II than any, anyone, including the academies. I mean, so that the spirit, and again, I'm single mom, three little girls, barely made it. Right. Struggle, struggle, struggle. Graduate from high school, go way far away, the other end of the earth from my rural town, two hours. But it was like I was leaving the world. And A &M and the Future Farmers, honestly, really just inspired me. I thought I'd be a stay-at-home mom. That was kind of what I wanted to do. How Speaker 1 (10:10) long were you in Future Farmers? Speaker 2 (10:12) Well, all of high school, obviously. And then I worked for the National FFA through college, kind of organizing and leadership. Long story short, I ended up in Rick Perry's first term as governor running his policy shop. I went to law school at Texas, so I was a general counsel. Then I basically launched the Texas Public Policy Foundation. which is sort of the free market, conservative, Texas first think tank in Texas. Never thought I would leave. Took it from me to about 150 employees. Moved Texas toward freedom, deregulation, more prosperity, more jobs, more trades than anywhere in the country at the time. Those were during the Obama years. Got a call from the first Trump White House. You know, hey, can you come up here and basically build in the West Wing what you built in Texas? And I said, I have a third grader, fifth grader, sixth grader, and eighth grader. My husband runs an energy company. I can't move to D.C., but I'll keep helping you. And long story short, I was convinced by the president and others to come up in that first term, ended up being his domestic policy chief, so built out his entire policy agenda, was ready for the second term. Second term didn't happen. I built a new think tank called the America First Policy Institute to basically take what we learned in that first term, build the infrastructure to make sure that America didn't slip back into what I believe is the radical left agenda. And in that interim, the president and I, President Trump and I, and a few others, but I was one of his core kind of sounding boards. We started talking about his cabinet, probably 23, 24. If he was going to win, who would go where? He loves to do this. He's like, what about so-and-so in this role? And how about that person in this role? Speaker 1 (11:50) Did you know him prior to him reaching out? Speaker 2 (11:53) No. Well, obviously from the first term. I was obviously, you know, his first domestic or in his domestic policy chief. But no, it was Jared Kushner and others. I've done a lot of work in criminal justice reform. I'm a hardcore conservative. It made no sense to me that 95 % of those in jail are coming back out and more than half of those are nonviolent drug offenders. And if we just gave them a chance with training and a chance to actually live a righteous life, that they would choose that. It's just they didn't really, a lot of them didn't have a chance. So did a lot of changes in Texas on that. closed a bunch of prisons, crime rate went way down. So that's, I got a call on that from the first White House because Jared Kushner is very interested in that and ended up helping them build their deregulatory agenda, their tax cut agenda, because I'd done it all in Texas. Speaker 1 (12:39) What's that have to do with agriculture? Speaker 2 (12:40) Well, so this is where the story goes. So building out what would be perhaps the president's cabinet if he were to win again, this is during the interim, and in all the conversations, and he would say, You know, Brooke, let's just say we win. What do you think about energy? What do you think about education? You know what, where are we in all this? And I say, absolutely not. At this point now, I have high school kids, and it just isn't on my bingo card, for right now at least. And anyway, he wins. The cabinet gets set. I don't think I've ever talked about this publicly, but the cabinet gets set, and the final spot is agriculture. And he caused Thursday night. right before Thanksgiving and right after we won. So November 5th is the election. This is probably the 18th or 19th of November. He's named everybody else. And he called me to talk about two of his announcements that day. Scott Turner was housing, who's wonderful. He should be on your show if Speaker 1 (13:39) he Speaker 2 (13:39) hasn't been. One of my dearest friends. And Pam Bondi for Attorney General. So he called to talk about that. It was like at midnight. And, oh, isn't this great? You know, I'm getting such a great. And he'd said. Speaker 1 (13:49) Midnight your time? Texas time? Speaker 2 (13:50) Midnight. His time, 11 o'clock my time, the midnight Palm Beach time. And he said, man, golly, would you really wish you'd think about ag? And of course, he knew I had some ag background. He knew I was an ag major. Did he say Speaker 1 (14:05) golly? I'm just trying to pick. He didn't say Speaker 2 (14:06) golly. That was probably my answer. But anyway, and then. Speaker 1 (14:11) Golly brook. Speaker 2 (14:12) I paused for a second. Yeah, exactly. Brook. And. The next thing I know, I'm the new secretary of agriculture. But let me say this, Mike. It was not anything I've never really planned much of. It's not what I had ever thought about. But looking back now, it is the best, most righteous artist. But it's the honor of a lifetime to represent this way of life, right, to represent those who feed and fuel us. It's a national security issue at this point. My relationship with the president and with our full cabinet is such that I can work across the cabinet to get things done for our farmers and ranchers. Would you Speaker 1 (14:51) learn from Future Farmers of America? And do you remember the oath you took in that organization? Speaker 2 (14:56) I remember. Madam President, why are you stationed by the rising sun? I'm stationed by the rising sun because it represents a new era in agriculture, an era of words, deeds, not just words and blah, blah, blah. I can't do the whole thing, but oh, yeah, Speaker 1 (15:11) I Speaker 2 (15:11) know it's here forever. I Speaker 1 (15:14) mean, since we started with an oath, it strikes me. I spoke at the FFA National Convention. Oh, Speaker 2 (15:19) they Speaker 1 (15:19) love Speaker 2 (15:19) you. I saw that. I saw you. Speaker 1 (15:21) 2008. Yes, I remember. Speaker 2 (15:23) I tried to get in touch with you after that. I thought you were so good. You didn't try that hard. I actually did. You didn't try that hard. I did. I tried to get you to come speak at one of my events in Texas, and it was like $8 million. His speaking fee was maybe $10 million. I was like, he's way out of my league. Speaker 1 (15:37) We had three easy payments that we would have extended with very attractive interest. No, you know what? You know what killed me about that? Those are Speaker 2 (15:47) your people. Speaker 1 (15:48) Well, I mean, there were 20,000 of them at least in that auditorium. And right before I went on stage, one of the organizers came up and I was looking through a brief, you know, and on the first page, it literally said, and this broke my heart. I better break yours too. It said, the Future Farmers of America is now officially referring to itself as FFA. Yeah. Speaker 2 (16:13) And Speaker 1 (16:13) I said, why? Speaker 2 (16:15) It's not. Speaker 1 (16:16) Why are you doing that? Speaker 2