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
Farmers hit by Trump’s federal funding freeze scramble to respond ahead of spring
With spring approaching, farmers are scrambling for backup plans after President Trump’s executive order froze billions in federal payments.
Read More Farmers hit by Trump’s federal funding freeze scramble to respond ahead of spring
Farmers worry about future of conservation assistance funds
Pete Youngblut is a Dysart, Iowa farmer and he says that some of the payments he counts on are in limbo right now, and he is worried about this year’s already tight budget constraints. He says that as a conservation farmer, those programs have helped his family’s operation be able to afford the upgrades they have needed to adopt a more conservationally minded focus on their acres.
Read More Farmers worry about future of conservation assistance funds
USDA funding freeze, job cuts affecting farmers
Less than 2% of the nation’s population are farmers, Rodney Koch is proud to be one. “I’m a fifth-generation farmer,” said Koch.Thanks to programs from the USDA, their farming practices continue to improve. USDA conservation programs help “reduce our tillage to involve other crops in our rotation, to find regenerative practices and implement cover crops, and to do different things,” said Koch.
Read More USDA funding freeze, job cuts affecting farmers
I’m a conservative farmer. We need to protect conservation funding
If you’re like me and running a family farm, getting started with conservation practices would normally be out of reach. But federal conservation programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) help close the gap, and provide necessary technical and financial support – helping to not only build our resilience in the face of extreme weather, but also boost our bottom line.
Read More I’m a conservative farmer. We need to protect conservation funding
New U.S. Farm Bill still out of reach, leaving programs unsettled
“We need to do it because America today is facing a farm and a food crisis nationally,” said U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Republican from Centre County and chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
Read More New U.S. Farm Bill still out of reach, leaving programs unsettled
Opinion: Farm bill conservation funding is vital to farmers
Farmers need as much predictability as possible, and federal support programs allow us to plan against the unpredictable and make long-term decisions about how to grow America’s food. Knowing that we can count on federal support for the long term allows us to plan, innovate, reduce costs, and increase yields, all while being better stewards of the land.
Read More Opinion: Farm bill conservation funding is vital to farmers
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Invest In Our Land is committed to bringing farmers and policymakers together to protect the future of American agriculture.
