As Americans gather this Thanksgiving, many will bow their heads and thank God for the blessings in their lives, including family, health, opportunity, and the simple gift of having food on the table. Yet we rarely pause to consider the men and women whose daily work makes that meal possible. The early mornings, the long seasons, the sweat, the sacrifice, and the steady commitment of America’s family farmers and ranchers.

They are the backbone of this nation. And in recent years, they were pushed to their limits. 

For years, consolidation, foreign land acquisitions, and layers of federal overreach weakened the foundation of American agriculture. The country lost over 141,000 farms in recent years and now the average age of the American farmer is nearly 60 – with many representing the last of their families willing or able to work their land.

Thanksgiving is an important moment to bring this conversation back into focus. Because when consumers can support a family operation directly, where their dollar goes to the farmer and the local processor instead of a corporate middleman, they still choose to do so. This reveals a simple truth: Americans do not wish to abandon the American farmer.

Nor does the current administration. 

The second Trump administration has taken major steps to uplift our nation’s producers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins — the most accessible agriculture secretary to date — has worked tirelessly to pursue policies that both uplift producers and consumers. She understands that a strong farm economy and affordable groceries aren’t in inherent competition, and can be accomplished together.   

Under her leadership, the Department of Agriculture is working hard to lower food prices through a number of policies, including through reversing the sizable U.S. agricultural trade deficit, pursuing a deregulatory agenda, enhancing programs assisting small and beginning farmers, and combatting pests and diseases that threaten our food supply. She is also reinforcing our defenses against foreign adversaries who seek influence over our food chain — because farm security is national security.

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Further, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice is investigating competition and affordability within the food supply, including with respect to critical inputs and the meatpacking sector. 

Finally, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 1 and a continuing resolution, both of which include significant contributions to U.S. agriculture and affordability at the supermarket— from permanent death tax relief to investments in agricultural exports to extending the current farm bill.

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All of this — and we are only at the first Thanksgiving of Trump’s second term.

Here is a reality worth remembering: This week, while many Americans drift into their turkey or prime rib comas, somewhere between a second nap and the third slice of pie, farmers and ranchers across the country will still pull on their boots, step into the cold, and make their rounds to check livestock, feed, and water. The work never stops. Not on holidays. Not ever.

This is part of what makes America unique. Our national strength has always come from people who are willing to work when no one is watching, serve without applause, and shoulder responsibilities most would find overwhelming.

If we want to secure America’s economy, we must support these individuals. That requires a continuation of the policies we are already seeing out of Washington – rebuilding competition in agriculture instead of allowing further consolidation, expanding regional and local processing to reduce bottlenecks and strengthen resilience, protecting American farmland from foreign ownership and influence, opening pathways that allow a new generation to enter agriculture, and empowering consumers to know and trust where their food comes from. 

Farmers and ranchers do not ask for applause. They do not seek headlines. They do not want handouts. They ask for a fair shot. And that is what they are getting from Washington. 

This Thanksgiving, may we remember the men and women who made it possible and recommit ourselves to the administration’s agenda to ensure America remains a nation affordably fed by its own hands.

Make America healthy again.

Protect American agriculture.

Support the families who feed the nation.

A.J. Richards is an entrepreneur, homesteader, and food-system advocate.