SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Farmers remained uncertain about the status of funding for key government-funded conservation programs and research programs at press time for Farm World, weeks after a sweeping federal funding freeze was announced by the new administration.

Almost immediately after taking office, President Donald J. Trump instructed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to freeze funds for several established programs available to farmers as well as those enacted through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The freeze paused some funding for the department’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which helps farmers address natural resource concerns, and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides financial assistance for farmers to improve their infrastructure, according to multiple news sources.

“Farmers who signed contracts with the USDA under those programs paid up front to build fencing, plant new crops and install renewable energy systems with guarantees that the federal government would issue grants and loan guarantees to cover at least part of their costs. Now, with that money frozen, they’re on the hook,” the Washington Post reported.

Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on, Feb. 5 that farmers nationwide had already been missing payments from USDA conservation programs. “Having USDA delayed with a lot of uncertainty about whether or not it will actually come through is adding to that economic pressure in the countryside,” Larew said.

Around a dozen farmers were reportedly among those who attended a House Agriculture Committee hearing on Feb. 11, some three weeks after Trump’s order, to try and gain some clarity on what’s going on with funding for programs delivered through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA). Also seeking clarity was House Committee on Agriculture member Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), who hosted a virtual town hall later that day to discuss the meeting, among other topics related to the federal funding freeze. 

“This freeze has extended to the IRA, which is a huge problem for us here in southern and central Illinois,” said Budzinski, whose 13th Congressional District encompasses 5,800 square miles of Macoupin County and parts of St. Clair, Madison, Sangamon, Piatt, Macon and Champaign counties, most of which are zoned as rural. “The IRA put $14 billion on the table for farmers that employ conservation programs. From what I’ve heard from my Republican colleagues the $14 billion is now going to be moved to the Trump tax cut plan, because they are looking for sources to fund that lower corporate tax rate.”

On Feb. 10, the American Soybean Association (ASA) urged USDA to resume processing payments to farmers and grant recipients under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program (PCSC) established by the IRA. Grant recipients had been notified that funds associated with the PCSC program were paused while the Trump administration reviews various grant programs, according to ASA President Caleb Ragland, a soy farmer from Kentucky.

“The American Soybean Association and other agriculture groups think it is important for USDA to honor the contractual commitments made to farmers and recipient organizations who are administering these grants. Under the grants, farmers have implemented practices to make their operations more resilient and improve environmental outcomes. These projects are integral to the continued success of the agriculture industry by advancing efficiencies in our farming practices and tapping potential new markets while also improving environmental outcomes,” Ragland said in a news release. Since PCSC’s inception two years ago, USDA has invested $3.1 billion in 141 selected projects, according to the ASA.

In addition to freezing funding for climate-smart practices under the IRA, the administration also announced a temporary freeze on agricultural research, including money for USAID. “At the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign the Soy Innovation Lab, which was working with funding from a competitive Seed-to-Future Grant, their important work served not only USAID’s global hunger and food security initiative, but also provided access to new markets for Illinois farmers, Illinois processors and Illinois equipment manufacturers. Due to the president’s executive orders, funding for USAID had halted and the Soybean Lab announced they will be forced to shut their doors in April,” Budzinski, of Springfield, reported. 

Missouri cattle rancher Skylar Holden, who said he signed a contract with USDA-NRCS to receive some $240,000 in IRA funding and was told the money was on hold with no clear timeline for its release, took to Tik Tok to tell his story. Holden said he invested $80,000 in a new water line project, secure in the knowledge he would be reimbursed in time to make his June farm payment. Holden, who said he’s now concerned about losing his farm, has spoken to his local FSA office, congressional representatives and a lawyer about not receiving the payment. 

There were 55 pending lawsuits against the Trump administration related to executive orders, access to the treasury system by unauthorized parties and federal funding freezes as of Feb. 11, according to Budzinski, including one brought by the state of Illinois. 

Budzinski said she is concerned that current partisan rancor over Trump’s cuts to agriculture and funding freeze will serve as yet another stumbling block to passage of a new farm bill. “That being said, if I’m being hopeful, the House Agriculture Committee (is) one of the places where Democrats and Republicans can still work together, so I am not going to give up hope. We had a good committee meeting today, and I am eager to get back to (the farm bill),” she said. 

An email and phone call to the USDA media relations office seeking comment on the status of the funding freeze were not acknowledged as of Farm World press time on Feb. 14.