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
Some Minnesota farmers could feel the government shutdown well after it ends
The wind is a threat to any farmer’s land. The topsoil could blow away, taking its valuable nutrients along with it. Vance Johnson, a Breckenridge farmer, can’t have that, which is why he’s got a plan. “I’ve got something growing here with a root that’s got it tied to the ground,” he says.
Read More Some Minnesota farmers could feel the government shutdown well after it ends
Red River Valley farmer among those still waiting for NRCS payment, as potential end to shutdown nears
Delayed NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program payments due to the federal government shutdown have impacted the way farmers budget properly.
Read More Red River Valley farmer among those still waiting for NRCS payment, as potential end to shutdown nears
Federal shutdown delaying USDA funds for farm improvements
In February, farmers across the U.S. voiced confusion about whether they would be paid by USDA for the approved improvements on their farm operations. Nine months later — with the government shutdown on its 35th day as of Tuesday and on track to become the longest in U.S. history — staffing furloughs at USDA agency
Read More Federal shutdown delaying USDA funds for farm improvements
VIEWPOINT | When conservation funding dries up, so does rural progress.
We have been hearing about USDA staff cuts and office closures that could impact the help we get from NRCS, and when the government shutdown began a few weeks ago, we got a preview of what the impact could be: producers in my area, who had completed large conservation water projects for livestock, were told
Read More VIEWPOINT | When conservation funding dries up, so does rural progress.
Farmers are missing checks USDA promised them as shutdown drags on
They’ve fronted expensive conservation projects. But they don’t know when the Trump administration will send reimbursements.
Read More Farmers are missing checks USDA promised them as shutdown drags on
Government Shutdown, Trade Wars Hit Farmers’ Bottom Line Hard
With commodity prices collapsing and costs of farming rising, the lack of government assistance adds to farmers’ worries about the viability of their operations.
Read More Government Shutdown, Trade Wars Hit Farmers’ Bottom Line Hard
Invest in Our Land in Action
Invest In Our Land is committed to bringing farmers and policymakers together to protect the future of American agriculture.
