Recent Current Events Affecting Farmers and Why You Should Care

How are Farmers Affected by two of the most recent activities of the new Administration – the hold on some USDA grants and the USAID collapse?

No matter your politics, the two actions above can have serious, negative effects on the farmers of America. And as you know, as goes the farmers, so goes the consumer.

Many farmers have been actively spending money on infrastructure as a result of USDA grants intended to reimburse them for these significant outlays of cash – a precarious cashflow venture, especially at this time of year when farmers have the least revenue. However, the USDA was ordered to freeze funds for several programs funded under the 2022 inflation Reduction Act. Estimates of funding due to farmers is reportedly in the millions of dollars. Reinstatement is pending review by the new Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who was confirmed last week.  In the meantime America’s farmers are caught in the middle.

The USAID collapse is significantly more critical to the overall health of America’s farmers.  In truth, the adage of “follow the money” couldn’t be more on point. The billions that USAID spends to feed starving children worldwide is spent right here at home to purchase those agricultural commodities from America’s farmers.  What happens when that outlet for farmers dries up?  Who do they alternatively sell those crops to?  This may be a secondary concern to what happens to those children, but it’s hard to see that cancelling these programs supports an America First agenda, unless we mean America First for everyone but farmers.

So as a consumer, why should you care?  Without a steady outlet for selling product, farmers may cut back on production, or go out of business altogether in some cases.  That could mean unacceptable fluctuations in the supply and demand algorithm.  And that’s never good for American consumers.

America’s farmers are so skilled and dedicated to their calling that we often take for granted they will always be there to feed us no matter the hardships in their path– that’s a dangerous and unfair assumption for all of us.