USDA funding cuts hit Iowa small farmers, growers say

Programs for new and underserved farmers among those canceled

Lawrencia Rogers, 33, started a two‑year fellowship with Iowa Valley RC&D in March, a program she said provided land, equipment, advisers, a living wage, health insurance and paid time off. Two and a half weeks later, the USDA canceled the nonprofit’s $2.5 million grant, calling it “wasteful spending” that ran afoul of the administration’s policy against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The fellowship was part of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, a $300 million effort created under the Biden administration to assist “underserved producers” — typically military veterans or farmers with limited experience or money.

Rogers told the Guardian the cancellation felt like “an extra slap in the face.” Her father is Egyptian, and the second fellow hired had immigrated from Sudan. Both got the job, Rogers said, because they were the best qualified. “People are not begging to be farmers in the grand scheme of things, but we are,” she said.

In June, a federal judge ordered the USDA to reinstate $127 million in grants that had been awarded to Iowa Valley RC&D and other organizations nationwide. The nonprofit’s executive director, Jason Grimm, said the fellowship was placed on hold and plans to build out the curriculum and take on more trainees were set back. “You feel like a slingshot,” he said. “You’re just getting bounced back and forth.” A USDA spokesperson declined to comment on the land access program, citing pending litigation.

Small‑scale livestock and food producers across Iowa described broader disruptions from USDA policy shifts. Anna Pesek, who farms poultry, pigs and flowers in eastern Iowa and serves on the board of Iowa Valley RC&D, said the canceled funding is “the cherry on top for many organizations and farmers that are already up against really hard times.”

James Nisly, who produces chicken, fresh vegetables and dairy products south of Iowa City, said he lost 20% of his cashflow and many of his buyers after the USDA canceled the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), Biden‑era initiatives that purchased locally produced food for schools and food banks. “All of the policy activity that I’ve seen is hugely beneficial to the very large corporations, and detrimental to the small‑business operators,” Nisly said.

A USDA spokesperson described the LFPA as “a pandemic‑era program” that was not intended to be permanent, and said other food‑purchasing programs remain active and funded.

Pesek estimated the cancellations cost her farm 10% of its income and nearly all of its large buyers. “These are programs that we see a return on investment in, because small and mid‑sized businesses and new farmers put money into our communities,” she said.

Farmers also described an unreliable pattern in USDA grant management. Nisly said he was awarded a grant last year under the Resilient Food System Infrastructure program to buy refrigerated trucks. “Three days after I made my first purchase on that program, they froze those funds,” he said. The money was unfrozen weeks later. A USDA spokesperson declined to comment on why the program’s funds were frozen.

Carly McAndrews, a vegetable farmer in Iowa City, said she was unable to apply for a $1 billion assistance program for growers of specialty crops because local USDA staff had just learned about it and the deadline was that Friday. “It was a functionless program, in my experience,” she said.

A USDA spokesperson said in a statement that “the department has experienced no lapse in service to the American people” and that its employees “continue to deliver high‑quality services and programs without interruption, ensuring that our commitments to farmers, families, and rural communities remain fully met.”

The population of Iowa’s rural areas has been declining for years — the average age of its farmers is just shy of 58, according to the USDA’s most recent agricultural census. Matt Russell, a former top USDA official in Iowa under Biden and now executive director of the Iowa Farmers Union, said the previous administration had prioritized expanding the base of farmers and addressing the department’s own history of discrimination. “Can we get more farmers, can we get more Americans farming, can we get more diversity in Iowa, in American agriculture?” Russell said.

Iowa is a Republican‑dominated state where Democrats believe they may have a shot in November’s midterm elections at winning its open US Senate seat, the governor’s mansion, and three House seats. The first congressional district around Iowa City, where Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller‑Meeks won re‑election two years ago by roughly 800 votes, is expected to be competitive, with Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan again seeking the seat.

Rogers has access to her plot until December, but without the instruction she believed would have helped her make the most of it. “I have never had a decision on such a level impact my life literally overnight in such a drastic way,” she said.