In the News
‘Like a ghost town’: Employee exodus hammers farm conservation agency
A federal agency that provides critical land management assistance to American farmers has quietly gone dark in swaths of rural America. Agriculture Department offices for the government’s Natural Resources Conservation Service are operating with skeleton crews across the country — or no staff at all, in some cases — at a time when farmers want
Read More ‘Like a ghost town’: Employee exodus hammers farm conservation agency
Regenerative Ag and MAHA Now Linked | By Chris Clayton, DTN Ag Policy Editor
USDA will spend up to $700 million to help more farmers use regenerative agricultural practices as part of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. The pilot program will use $400 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $300 million from the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and will also leverage private funding to promote conservation practices such as cover crops while helping farmers reduce the use of chemicals such as pesticides. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the pilot program on Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Read More Regenerative Ag and MAHA Now Linked | By Chris Clayton, DTN Ag Policy Editor
Editorial: Congress should work to protect Louisiana’s farmers
[Conservation] programs may not have generated a lot of headlines, but they were popular: In 2023, for instance, more than 3,700 Louisiana agriculture producers applied for grants under the two programs, according to reporting by Stephen Marcantel for this newspaper. Only a fraction — 825 — of those applications were successful, but those provided more than $50 million to local farms to make improvements.
Read More Editorial: Congress should work to protect Louisiana’s farmers
Louisiana farmers in limbo after Trump freezes $363M in reimbursements: ‘Really shocked me’
David Smith of DeRidder couldn't justify the cost in the current agricultural economy with its high input costs and low commodity prices. So he looked at applying for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service program that would have partly covered the cost of seed. The agency helps farmers identify conservation concerns on their operations and works to ensure availability of resources for future generations.
Read More Louisiana farmers in limbo after Trump freezes $363M in reimbursements: ‘Really shocked me’
Iowa farmers stand to lose over $350 million in conservation funds amid USDA freeze
Iowa farmers stand to lose up to $356 million in future conservation funding through 2031, following a freeze on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) payments by the Trump administration, according to a university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study.
Read More Iowa farmers stand to lose over $350 million in conservation funds amid USDA freeze
EQIP seen as investment in rural America
A northwestern Arkansas farmer says the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) is an investment in rural America. Jared Phillips, who raises sheep and forages at Branch Mountain Farm in Washington County, says he utilized the program to completely alter his operation. “It let us make some key investments in our farm.”
Read More EQIP seen as investment in rural America
Frozen USDA funds hurting all levels of ag – Sioux County Radio
The director of the Gardner Agricultural Policy Program at the University of Illinois says the Trump administration’s freezing of USDA funding is having far reaching consequences. “If those are not fulfilled, then that’s a breach of the contract.” Jonathan Coppess says, “Those are farmers oftentimes that invest their own money in expectation of reimbursement out of the contract. So, it’s a double loss for that farmer.”
Read More Frozen USDA funds hurting all levels of ag – Sioux County Radio
Arkansas farmers could lose $665 million in conservation funding
“Cutting conservation funding at a time when we’re already dealing with so much uncertainty isn’t the answer. These funds help us make valuable improvements that protect our land against extreme weather while also boosting our business. It’s a win-win all the way around, and I hope our leaders don’t take these valuable tools away when we need them most" farmer Jared Phillips of Prairie Grove.
Read More Arkansas farmers could lose $665 million in conservation funding
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