Meet the Texas Farmer Who Had the Rare Opportunity to Host RFK Jr. On His Farm

Health and Humans Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a controversial name in agriculture. He’s advocated for significant changes in the way food is produced, specifically when it comes to the use of chemicals, seed oils and GMOs, all of which play a major role in modern agriculture. But this week, a fourth-generation Texas farm family worked to change Kennedy’s view and give him a taste of the truth of being a farmer today.

Kennedy joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on a tour of Texas, making several stops. USDA says the trip was aimed to discuss food security and learn how America’s farmers are working to make America healthy again.

In a post on X, Kennedy says if the Trump administration is going to “Make America Healthy Again,” HHS has to partner with USDA. Kennedy says he and Rollins have been working together very closely since day one of their appointments. He took to social media, standing in front of a corn field, to say in order for the MAHA movement to take off, and the U.S. to continue to produce high-quality food, farmers have to be sustainable.

Those in agriculture argue Kennedy has a lot to learn about agriculture, not only in terms of how food is produced, but that non-GMO and organic crops don’t mean they’re healthier.

Kennedy and Rollins were hosted by Sawyer Farms, a fourth-generation farm in Texas. Sources told Farm Journal the plan was originally to visit a smaller farm that focuses on regenerative agriculture, but that plan took a turn in order to give Kennedy a taste of modern and conventional production agriculture today.

“We were lucky enough to host Secretary of Agriculture Rollins and Secretary of HHS Robert Kennedy yesterday to my farm, and we had really enjoyable afternoon and a great discussion about agriculture,” John Sawyer of Sawyer Farms told Farm Journal’s Clinton Griffiths. “It is a pretty incredible opportunity. I’ll give you that. To have two of them on your farm in the same afternoon in central Texas was kind of a fateful thing.”

USDA says the Sawyers are using stewardship practices to ensure healthy production of a robust barley, rye, corn and wheat crop.

Sawyer told Farm Journal the conversation was enjoyable and went very well.

“The Secretary was very interested in exactly how you put in a corn crop, what mechanical needs were there as far as a planter, but since his oversight veers more toward the insecticides, pesticides and the safety of it, and so we discussed those things,” Sawyer told Griffiths.

Sawyer says he explained to Kennedy that non-GMO crops have a place, but he made sure to highlight the fact genetically modified crops are safe and more sustainable. He explained to Kennedy that when growing genetically modified crops, they use less pesticides compared to non-GMO crops.

“We discussed that quite, I believe, successfully to the point that we talked about how with sweet corn, if you’re trying to sell sweet corn to a restaurant and it’s non-GMO and you let the bugs get in it, how is your chef going to feel? And we happened to have Chef Tim Love there with us from Fort Worth, and how is our chef and our restaurateur going feel to about those ears when they shuck them back and they’re full of worms? It certainly doesn’t add to the safety or the quality of the food that we’re being served.”

What did Sawyer learn? He says Rollins was extremely familiar with the issues facing farmers today, including financial constraints. But for Kennedy, Sawyer was able to explain how challenging and expensive it is to grow crops today. He says that resonated with Kennedy, as the three had in-depth conversations about budgets and equipment. But what he appreciated was how much Kennedy listened and seemed to resonate with what Sawyer was saying.

“I believe that Secretary Kennedy is certainly intelligent and involved and committed emotionally to what his job is. He is fully capable of doing anything and everything required of him as the Secretary of HHS. The part that I wanted to make sure of as Secretary of HHS is he connects agriculture to food and food safety and to know that as farmers we do this because we love it and enjoy it,” Sawyer says. “Most of us are multi-generational, and it’s our home. We are not doing things out here with any knowledge that could be a detrimental effect to our home, our land or the food that we eat, or that we provide to the world to eat.”

Rollins Looks Back at President Donald Trump’s First 100 Days

Rollins was part of an all-cabinet meeting on Wednesday, which included a press briefing at the end. The meeting looked back at Trump’s first 100 days.

Rollins took the opportunity to celebrate several wins, including dropping criminal charges against a South Dakota ranching couple that were entangled in a land dispute that started during the Biden administration, as well as highlighting a monumental deal in the fight with Mexico over water.

But she also mentioned her trip to Texas with Kennedy, saying working with HHS and other departments are critical for moving the president’s agenda forward.

“Secretary Kennedy and I have been working very closely,” Rollins told the room which was packed with Cabinet Secretaries and the press. “We were in Texas yesterday. You can’t make America healthy again without your farmers and ranchers as your partner, and those at the bottom of the ladder really have to have access to nutritious foods as we’re facing an obesity crisis and chronic disease crisis, which I’m sure secretary Kennedy will touch on.”

According to USDA, in addition to touring the farm on their trip to Texas, Rollins and Kennedy visited cutting-edge laboratories at the Texas A&M Norman E. Borlaug Building, received a briefing on the Grand Nutrition Challenge at the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture. The Secretaries then toured the Automated Precision Phenotyping Greenhouse.

“Making America healthy again starts with supporting America’s farmers and ranchers,” said Secretary Rollins in a release. “In Texas, I was joined by Secretary Kennedy to do just that. At USDA, I am negotiating with Mexico to stop the spread of invasive species like the new world screwworm, and Secretary Kennedy and I are working together to ensure that our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food produced in the USA.

“It was an honor to join Secretary Rollins in her home state of Texas,” said Secretary Kennedy in a press release. “Together, HHS and USDA are taking on the chronic disease epidemic by fixing our broken food system and giving families the tools they need to eat well, stay healthy, and make America healthy again.”

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