When the Trump administration first announced the freezing of all federal funds in January, farmers from all over the country were pushed by uncertain Limbo.
For more than a month, the fourth -generation farmer, Adam Chappell, continues to wait to repay the $ 25,000 paid from the pocket to carry out preservation practices such as cover cropping. He cannot prepare the next crop until he knows the fate of the federal program that left a small rice farm in Arkansas. A 45 -year -old boy is considering leaving his only job. Chappell said, “I don’t know who we can believe. “That’s what I’m scared.”
In Virginia, frozen financing forced a sustainable agricultural network that supports small farmers from all over the state to stop operations. Brent Wills, a livestock producer and a program manager of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming, said that almost all organizations’ funds come from the USDA program. The team, which consists of three people, is now trying to make a chance plan and is trying not to panic about whether a $ 50,000 subsidy will be repaid.
Wills said, “This is very fatal. “The short -term effect of this is bad enough, but long -term effects? We can’t do that right now. ”
In North Carolina, Hurricane Helen was not receiving $ 14,500 emergency funds from USDA after hurricane Helen washed 60 honeycombs. ANG ROELL, a beekeeper, also operated by Florida and Massachusetts, said that there are more than $ 45,000 for the frozen USDA subsidies. Due to the delay, it lags behind production, resulting in an additional loss of $ 15,000. They are also not sure of the future of additional subsidies of additional subsidies they have applied for. ROELL said, “I have to rethink the entire business plan. “I feel shocking.”
Within the scope of USDA, frozen financing aims for two major funding categories. $ 19.5 billion You have to pay over a few years. Add to uncertainty of financing frozen Tens of thousands of federal employees In recent weeks, people who have lost their jobs have been a civil servant who manages various USDA programs.
Under the first freezing, the court repeatedly ordered the administration to give access to all the funds, but the agency disclosed the funds in the “trench” and took a fragmentary approach. Despite the fact that the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs announced significant financing, USDA moved slowly, citing the need to review the program with IRA funding. But in some cases It completely ended the contractIncluding people involved in the largest investment of the institution for climate smart agriculture.
At the end of February, USDA announced that It will launch $ 20 million To farmers who have already received subsidies -the first trench of the institution.
According to Mike Lavender, the policy officer at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, $ 20 million is the amount of “less than 1 %”. His team estimates The three IRA funding programs legally promised about $ 2.3 billion in legally through 30,715 conservation contracts for ranches, farmers and forests. These contracts were made through environmental quality incentive programs, preservation management programs and agricultural preservation reduction programs. Lavender said, “In some ways, it is a positive signal. “But I think it’s more meaningless. In most cases [this] Never do anything. ”
Saul Rob / AFP through Getty Images
A week later, Brooke Rollins, Secretary of State, announced that the agency would be able to distribute $ 10 billion in emergency relief payments by meeting the deadline for March 21 on March 21.
Then on Sunday, March 2, Rollins made a presentation to some farmers, but there is little separate content. A JournalistThe USDA said that the institution’s review of IRA funds was completed and the funds related to EQIP, CSP, and ACEP would be released, but they did not clarify how large. The statement also announced a promise to distribute additional $ 20 billion in disaster support.
Lavender called Rollins’ statements as “the borderline Nothingburger.” If Rolins mentions the first financing trench or if the statement publishes a second trench, he is not clear if the latter is being released. “Uncertainty still seems to rule the best. More clarity is required. ”
USDA did not respond to Grist’s request for explanation.
Farmers who identify women, queers or colors are especially concerned about the contract state. A beekeeper, Roell, said that the application for financing celebrates various human resources development programs for operation. ROELL, now synonymous, is concerned that the existing contract and the pending application will be eligible for the same reason. (The federal agency is tracking Executive order It aims to “end radical and wasteful government DEI program”).)
Roell said, “This feels like a clear assault on sustainable agricultural, small businesses, queers, bipoc and female farmers. “At this point, all our projects are represented by DEI. We do not know whether we can modify the submissions or whether it will be completely rejected by the language of a project for women or queers. ”
The impact on the agricultural economy already in the United States of the financing grid was deeply concerned with Rebecca Wolf, the senior food policy analyst of Food & Water Watch. Tensions in the agricultural recession across the same area as the Midwest and the number of US farms Already steadily declineShe sees federal employees’ frozen and continuous layoffs as “ultimately leading the way to further integration.” The WOLF said the administration intentionally dismantled the program that supports small and medium -sized farmers. “It can lead to the loss of this farm and the loss of land ownership.”
Other results are more subtle but not very important. According to Omanjana Goswami, a soil scientist of concerned scientists, the Trump administration’s hostility on financing, dismissal and climate behavior is likely to contribute more to carbon release.
Agriculture almost explained 10.6 % In 2021, when farmers implement conservation practices on the farm during carbon emissions in the United States, they can improve air and water and increase their carbon storage capabilities. Such tactics are not only possible to reduce agricultural emissions, but are also encouraged by many programs under review. GOSWAMI said, “If we look at this size, it’s huge. “If this fund is reduced or completely removed, it means that agriculture’s impact and contribution to climate change will increase.”
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The Trump administration’s farmers’ attacks occur when the agricultural industry faces various real crises. First of all, the time is tight for farmers. In 2023, the average household income from agriculture was negative $ 900. In other words, more than half of all households who have attracted income from agriculture did not benefit.
In 2023, natural disasters caused nearly $ 22 billion agricultural loss. As the temperature rises, the growth of plants is slowing, floods often occur, droughts extinguish harvests, and forest fires are rising through the fields. Farmers are paying more and more money, paying premiums only for such a set of losses. Last year, some economists have designated the worst fiscal year in the industry for nearly 20 years due to extreme weather influence, increased labor and production costs, global supply and demand imbalances, and increased price volatility.
Elliott Smith, which helps small farmers to supply fresh foods like schools, says the situation has completely changed the way the federal government looks at the federal government. Freeze has worked in at least 10 states for farmers and food businesses, stopping emerging contracts and stalling the slate of ongoing projects, SMITH has made it consider “unstable financing.”
Everything is frozen, and The Freeze threatens the future of Smith’s business, but also threatens the future of farmers and local food systems working in the country. “The entire food ecosystem is fixed in place. USDA feels like a troll seen by the sun. They were frozen. They can’t move. ” “The rest of us are in the fields and trenches, and we look back on the government and say, ‘Where are you?’
