OMAHA (DTN) -- Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that she and President Donald Trump will announce a "bridge payment" program for farmers next week.

Rollins also warned she planned to cut off funds for 21 states that are ignoring her requests for data on food-stamp recipients.

Rollins' comments were just one small slice of a wide-ranging Cabinet meeting in which every agency head went through bullet points including thanking the president, criticizing the prior administration for crime, immigration and inflation, and explaining how their new programs were working better for the country. The president frequently interjected that the news media isn't recognizing their accomplishments in areas such as affordability. "The word 'affordability' is a Democratic scam," Trump said.

For her part, Rollins blamed the state of the farm economy on lingering impacts of inflation from the Biden administration that have put farmers under "extreme economic strain" as she cited statistics.

"These are massive, massive numbers, it will take time for our farmers to get out from under," Rollins said.

Touting trade deals, Rollins and other Cabinet members talked about selling more commodities overseas. "Many of them have been farming for government checks rather than moving their products around the world," Rollins said. "These trade deals change that forever."

The volume of trade deals, Rollins said, would bring "the Golden Age back to rural America, which has been lost for too long."

Rollins pointed to China announcing last week it had halted soybean purchases from five Brazilian exporters over contamination as China pivots to buy its soybeans from the U.S.

"And what that means is a continued signal that this country and our farmers produce the best, highest quality soybean, sorghum, etcetera in the world," Rollins said.

The markets are watching closely to see if China will buy as much as 12 million metric tons (mmt) of U.S. soybeans before the end of the year, which was the commitment the Trump administration said China agreed to make.

"What you've been able to do is open those markets up and again, move toward an era where our farmers are not so reliant on government checks, but they have the markets to sell their product," Rollins said.

Rollins then pointed to the new term "bridge payment" for crop farmers to make up for negative returns on their current crops.

"Having said that, we do have a bridge payment," she said. "We'll be announcing with you next week, as we're still trying to recover from the Biden era."

SENATORS QUESTION IF USDA HAS ENOUGH

At least two farm-state senators in recent days have questioned whether USDA has enough funds to cover farmers' needs.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaking to reporters on a call Tuesday, said he doesn't think USDA has the money needed to provide an aid payment.

"There isn't enough money in the Commodity Credit Corp. to reach $10 billion to $14 billion.

"Congress is going to have to appropriate money."

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, told RFD-TV that the current economic challenges are some of the most difficult Kansas farmers have faced in the 28 years he's been in Congress. He suggested more aid may be needed than USDA can provide.

"I doubt these payments are sufficient," Moran said. He added, "It's been a number of years since we had a good year, and farmers are just not prepared for the challenges that are out there today."

USDA did not respond to questions about funding for an aid payment.

ROLLINS GOES AFTER BLUE STATES ON SNAP

Separately, Rollins also threatened to withhold administrative funds from 21 states that have refused to share information on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients with USDA.

USDA requested the data back in February and so far, 29 states have complied "to root out this fraud to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them, but also to make sure the American taxpayer is protected," Rollins said at the Cabinet meeting.

Rollins said the 21 states that haven't turned over data are "blue states," including California, New York and Minnesota. She said USDA is going to halt federal funds to those states.

"As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply, and they tell us -- and allow us to partner with them -- to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer," Rollins said.

In the states that have turned over their data, Rollins said USDA has found 500,000 people receiving SNAP benefits in multiple states and 186,000 deceased people also still receiving benefits. USDA has not provided any specific details on these cases.

A USDA spokesperson stated to DTN that USDA would inform states that they risk losing their administrative funds for the program if they do not comply.

USDA established a SNAP integrity team to analyze not only data provided by states, but to scrub all available information to end indiscriminate welfare fraud.

"They choose to protect illegals, criminals, and bad actors over the American taxpayer. We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds," a USDA spokesperson stated.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduces administrative funds for states that fail to lower their SNAP error payment rates, but that provision doesn't start until 2028. The law requires states with error rates higher than 6% to file corrective actions with USDA. The act also gives states with the highest error rates more time to comply, which includes both Democratic and Republican states.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, said USDA's demand for personal data is being litigated and USDA is under a restraining order from the U.S. District Court of Northern California that prevents USDA from withholding SNAP funding.

"Secretary Rollins continues to spew propaganda, attacking a food assistance program, which 42 million Americans rely on to feed their families," Craig said. "Rather than address the rising cost of living, the secretary is once again weaponizing hunger by putting political talking points ahead of feeding seniors, children, veterans and Americans with disabilities. Her disregard for the law and willingness to lie through her teeth comes from the very top -- the Trump administration is as corrupt as it is lawless, and I will not sit silently as she carries out the president's campaign against Americans struggling to afford food in part because of this president's tariffs and disastrous economic policies."

See, "Groups Press USDA to Tighten Standards for Expected Trade Aid Payments," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Also see, "Delayed by the Shutdown, CRP Payments Should Be Going Out From FSA," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.