First, there was President Donald Trump’s classic campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Then, the first offshoot arrived with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new administration’s Health and Human Services secretary, with MAHA — Make America Healthy Again.
And Wednesday, a conservative think tank aligned with the Trump White House, and especially Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, offered up the basis for another MAGA spin-off, Make Farming Great Again.
“We believe farm country is in a dire state,” said Tate Bennett, the director of rural policy for America First Policy Institute. “AFPI wants to be part of reversing this trajectory and bring bold policy solutions to the table,” she added in announcing the organization’s new “Farmer’s First Agenda.”
The group is considered the closest thing to a Trump-focused think tank of any organization in Washington. It was where many of the president’s agenda items were developed and was founded by Rollins and other insiders. Six former AFPI executives have Trump Cabinet posts.
We look forward to shaping policy that keeps America food secure, allowing innovation and the agriculture economy to thrive. Feeding, fueling and clothing America and the world. This requires grit and our farmers and ranchers are ready! @A1Policy https://t.co/34yPCM9VDS
— Kip Tom, Farmer and (former) US Ambassador (@kiptom) April 16, 2025
It should be no surprise that one of their initial projects would focus on agriculture since Rollins heads USDA, though Bennett suggested that Rollins played no role in developing it. What’s more, Rollins is working with Kennedy on the MAHA effort, which the new AFPI projects hopes to support.
Bennett said that while there are dozens of farm advocacy groups in Washington, there isn’t one helping to develop policy and AFPI aims to fill that void.
“We feel like there is somewhat of a void in pro-farmer, pro-rural think tank leadership in our nation’s capital; we think this is an important void to fill, especially on the heels of a farm bill reauthorization and tax reform that can impact rural lives,” she said.
The team heading the new initiative includes Bennett with Christie Mullin as chairwoman of rural policy, vice chairman Kip Tom, who in the first Trump administration served in Rome as chief of the United States Mission to the United Nations, and Sarah Frey as senior adviser for rural policy.
In announcing the new group, AFPI unveiled a 16-page Farmer’s First Agenda that broadly covered several aspects of agriculture, such as cutting regulations and taxes farmers face and pushing for more exports.
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Additionally, the group pledged to involve agriculture experts throughout America in developing policies.
“We will not lean significantly on inside the Beltway experts but rather from state partners in farm country. Our policies will deliver lasting results through this approach — they will restore long-term rural prosperity, lower input costs, and reduce chronic diet-related disease,” promised their agenda document.