The federal funding freeze in agriculture programs has left many farmers facing difficult decisions, with a direct impact on their livelihoods. The angst is building as they don’t know when or if the pause will end on specific financial resources that support their farming operations.
President Donald Trump has halted the distribution of some federal funds, even those already approved by Congress. His actions have triggered lawsuits that question whether a president has that authority to disregard promised payments, even if it is temporary.
One of the president’s executive orders explained the purpose of his unprecedented action to freeze billions of dollars.
The order stated, “To act as faithful stewards of taxpayer money, new administrations must review federal programs to ensure that they are being executed in accordance with the law and the new President’s policies.”
The results of the actions contradict what the Trump administration stated in the executive order, one of dozens that the president issued since returning to office.
One line of the executive order stated, “…any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process.”
Another line stated, “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused.”
These three agricultural programs are among those affected:
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): helps farmers implement conservation practices.
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities: funds projects to lessen farming’s environmental harm.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR): provides grants for agricultural entrepreneurs.
Some farmers are going public with their struggles. Trump’s federal funding freeze does impact programs that directly benefit them, they say.
RELATED: WPTZ-TV in Burlington, Vermont, looked at how the federal funding freeze – and the uncertainty about how much of the funds will resume – could hurt the viability of smaller producers. Watch that here.
Skylar Holden -- a farmer from Lonedell, Missouri -- has become one of the most well-known farmers speaking out about the potential financial hardship Trump’s funding freeze has caused his family and his farming operations, Cattlemen Family Farms. He has a 125 head operation on 260 acres and works full-time off the farm to sustain his family of five.
He clears about $20,000 per year from his farming operations, which is why he said that he works off the farm after purchasing his $1.2 million property. The Farm Service Agency helped him with a lower interest rate to help finance the purchase, Holden said.
Holden is a regular contributor on TikTok and shared what is at stake because of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze. Holden said that he already began work on a $240,000 project to improve his water infrastructure including water lines, fences, and a well.
"I've already done a bunch of the work, already paid for the material and the labor, so I'm out all that cost.
RELATED: Some Oklahoma farmers were hopeful that federal financial commitments would eventually be honored by the Trump administration. Watch that story from KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City here.
Holden expected to get federal assistance through the Inflation Reduction Act, administered through the USDA. But he no longer knows how much, if any, of the financial assistance his family will receive for the improvements.
“We are possibly going to lose our farm,” Holden said in a TikTok video.
Holden said that he has reached out to elected officials in Missouri to stress the importance of the federal funding to his farm’s survival.
He supported Trump for president in the election last November but now wonders whether that decision has put his family’s financial stability at risk.
Has your farming operation been impacted by the federal funding freeze? Email me at dprice@americanfarmlandowner.com to let us know.
