Farmers on the hook for millions after Trump freezes USDA funds
The White House had repeatedly said the funding freeze would not affect benefits that go directly to individuals.
February 10, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. ESTToday at 6:00 a.m. EST
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A farmer prepares equipment for planting corn in Hull, Iowa, in 2011. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
By Daniel Wu, Gaya Gupta and Anumita Kaur
Farmers report missing millions of dollars of funding they were promised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, despite promises from the Trump administration that a federal funding freeze would not apply to projects directly benefiting individuals.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump ordered the USDA to freeze funds for several programs designated by President Joe Biden’s signature clean-energy and health-care law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The freeze paused some funding for the department’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which helps farmers address natural resource concerns, and the Rural Energy for America Program, which provides financial assistance for farmers to improve their infrastructure.
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.
Laura Beth Resnick, who runs a Maryland flower farm, said she signed a contract for the USDA to cover half of a $72,900 solar panel installation. In late January, she said, she was told her reimbursement payment was rejected because of Trump’s executive order.
“I really don’t know what we would do,” Resnick said. “It just feels like I can’t even really think about it.”
The USDA has also halted funding for other programs, including scientific research grants in agriculture and producing climate-smart crops, according to a letter sent to the agency Thursday from House Democrats on the Agriculture and Appropriations committees.
“Pulling the rug out from these recipients runs counter to the mission of the USDA and will quickly and significantly cripple economic development in rural America,” the letter says.
The White House repeatedly said the freeze of agriculture funding and other federal financial assistance would not affect benefits that go directly to individuals, such as farmers. The administration rescinded the pause after a federal judge temporarily halted its implementation.
But over the weekend, farmers reported that their funding remained frozen — another blow to farmers who are also facing threats of tariffs and freezes to foreign-aid spending that involved food purchased from American producers.
In a statement, a USDA spokesperson said the Trump administration “rightfully has asked for a comprehensive review of all contracts, work, and personnel across all federal agencies.”
“Anything that violates the President’s Executive Orders will be subject for review,” the statement said. “The Department of Agriculture will be happy to provide a response to interested parties once Brooke Rollins is confirmed [as secretary of agriculture] and has the opportunity to analyze these reviews.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The disruption to funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act takes aim at one of Biden’s flagship legislative accomplishments. Most of that funding was doled out in the last month of his presidency, according to a Washington Post analysis. But grants worth $32 billion authorized under the act remain vulnerable to being frozen.
The USDA made $3.1 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act available in the 2024 fiscal year for climate-smart agriculture activities, according to the department, including grants and loans for initiatives such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Rural Energy for America Program.
On Wednesday, National Farmers Union President Rob Larew testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee that the Trump administration’s sweeping decisions on federal funding were creating concern for farmers across the country.
“No one knows what funding will be available or if key programs will have the staff needed to operate,” Larew said. “Freezing spending and making sweeping decisions without congressional oversight just adds more uncertainty to an already tough farm economy.”
Skylar Holden, a cattle farmer in eastern Missouri, said he signed a $240,000 contract in December under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to share costs on investments for his farm.
With the funding, Holden erected new fencing and installed a well. He had planned further improvements to his farm’s water system and spent $80,000 on materials and labor contracts that he expected would be partly paid back by the government.
This month, a USDA representative told him the funding was paused because of Trump’s executive order.
“I asked her, ‘Is there any word on when they’re going to be unfrozen?’” Holden said. “‘Is it going to be frozen indefinitely?’ She didn’t have any answers for me.”
The department suggested that Holden’s only recourse was to contact his congressional representatives, he said.
With the money promised in his contract on hold, Holden said he’s in a bind. Up-front payments for the construction and materials he arranged for are due soon, on top of his regular operating expenses. The terms of his contract also stipulate that he must pay back the money he has already received from the department, plus interest, if he does not complete all the development outlined in the contract within five years. If the freeze continues, he said, he will have to take out additional loans or sell his farm equipment and cattle.
“If I sell them out to make this payment, I’m hurting myself years down the line,” Holden said. “I’m robbing myself of the future.”
Resnick, the flower farmer in Maryland, received a grant from the Rural Energy for America Program last year, she said. The initiative provides loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to make energy efficiency improvements.
The grant was slated for solar panel installation on Resnick’s farm — an improvement she said would save her farm $5,000 a year and be better for the environment. Now, with the contract seemingly suspended, Resnick doesn’t know what to do.
“We don’t have a whole lot of capital to hire a lawyer,” she said.
The funding freezes have also paused large projects across states. The Iowa Soybean Association said Thursday that USDA payments had been suspended for a five-year Midwest Climate Smart Commodity grant that the organization secured in 2022. The $95 million deal supports more than 1,000 farms in 12 Midwestern states and encourages conservation practices in producing corn, soybeans, wheat and sugar beets, the association said.
Hundreds of participating farmers are owed $11 million after investing in new farming practices and crops because of the program, the association said.
Resnick said she’s at a loss for what to do next with the government’s promised payment of around $36,000 on hold. She is already paying back a loan she took out to launch her farm. Taking out another one would be unimaginable.
“It scares me for the future of farming,” Resnick said. “Not just that funding won’t be available for new farmers that need it, but that farmers won’t trust the government going forward.”
