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
IRA funds appear to be headed to conservation programs
Money set aside for climate-smart agriculture may be included in farm bill.
Read More IRA funds appear to be headed to conservation programs
Congress must stand up for America’s farmers by protecting conservation funding
An Iowa farmer explains why agricultural conservation programs are crucial for farmers' resilience and profitability, urging Congress to protect this vital funding.
Read More Congress must stand up for America’s farmers by protecting conservation funding
OPINION | TIM WELLS: Protect agriculture Honor commitments to U.S. farmers
As both a banker managing a $65-million farm lending portfolio and a multigenerational farmer, I witness agriculture’s current struggles firsthand. Rising input costs and falling commodity prices are squeezing farmers, while crucial programs keeping farms viable face potential cuts.
Read More OPINION | TIM WELLS: Protect agriculture Honor commitments to U.S. farmers
Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Halts American Farmers’ Conservation Efforts
For decades, the agency has funneled support and funding for conservation projects through hugely popular programs that are so in demand each year, the agency turns away applicants. These farm practices make the soil healthier and more productive.
Read More Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Halts American Farmers’ Conservation Efforts
South Dakota farmer weighs in on repealed USDA funding
Virgil Two Eagle is a buffalo rancher from the Pine Ridge Reservation. USDA funding such as EQIP brings critical opportunities for Native American ranchers like Two Eagle. Ranchers on Pine Ridge have historically experienced financial hardships and struggled with implementing essential projects, and cost-share programs from USDA allow ranchers to make these improvements.
Read More South Dakota farmer weighs in on repealed USDA funding
Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Anna Jones-Crabtree and her husband spend sunup to sundown — plus hours of time before and after — nurturing 20 crops through tight margins on their farm in Montana. Federal grants have long helped ease those tight margins, enabling farmers like Jones-Crabtree to survive and even thrive despite droughts and fires, market swings and crop failures.
Read More Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
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Invest In Our Land is committed to bringing farmers and policymakers together to protect the future of American agriculture.
