What’s Happening
Bill Fosher writes in his substack, “If you signed one of these contracts, it appears that payments are currently suspended. Farmers and forest stewards across the US are being told, one contract at a time, that, yes, they have completed the work items in the contract according to NRCS standards and specifications, but no, they will not be receiving the promised cost share payment because the funds (or payment process, same outcome) have been frozen.”
I encourage you to read both of Bill’s posts for more information:
Check your NRCS Agreements
Stop work now
You can also read more about this from these sources:
https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/…/usda-freezes…/
https://sustainableagriculture.net/…/release-unlawful…/
But wait, there’s more…
Lost Contracts to Canada
SOURCES:
https://x.com/cturnbull1968/status/1886862409798967425
https://www.cbc.ca/…/as-more-people-buy-canadian-these…
Increasing Input Prices
SOURCES:
https://thehill.com/…/5123701-us-imposes-tariffs-on…/
Cancelled Government Grants
The Trump Administration canceled all of Biden’s Climate Smart grants to farmers to help them offset their adoption of soil health practices like no-till and cover cropping.
SOURCES:
https://soygrowers.com/…/soy-growers-urge-climate…/
https://www.bloomberg.com/…/soy-farmers-urge-trump-to…
$2 Billion In Annual Commodity Crop Sales Lost
USAID’s cancellation cuts $2 billion straight out of U.S. farmer’s pockets from the Food for Peace program which purchased rice, wheat, corn and soy from U.S. farmers and distributed them to hungry nations. In some states and for some crops, USAID was their primary buyer.
SOURCES:
https://www.dtnpf.com/…/02/03/usaid-tie-agriculture-usda
https://www.wbur.org/here…/2025/02/06/usaid-kansas-farmers
https://www.cjonline.com/…/what-does-usaid…/78300587007/
Organic Farmer Funds Frozen
SOURCES:
https://www.eenews.net/…/usda-pauses-2-organic…/
Sustainable Agriculture Health Research Funds Lost
K State University lost up to $50 million that was pledged through a USAID Program over the next five years to advance research in “sustainable intensification,” an approach focused on increasing crop yields without expanding agricultural land use, expected to directly benefit Kansas (and U.S.) farmers.
SOURCES:
https://thisistopeka.com/…/k-state-losses-50-million…/
Forewarned is forearmed so I hope this information is useful to you.
There is a lot going on within the NRCS, USDA, Federal Government. Many/most contract holders are unable to say what the funding source for their contract is. Half (roughly) of all contracts that are in place are not paused. Contact your local NRCS/USDA office to find out the status of your contract and hat you need/should/can do.
Please quit spreading this kind of rhetoric..I dont need this from my Ag friends….yes the funds are frozen but contracts will be honored once the sec of ag is confirmed, which has not happened yet! once she is confirmed, assuming she will be, things will come around…may be delayed a bit…i have two of these contracts and am not worried at all, if they go away, i have aligned my finances so as NOT to depend on Gov. handouts….to a certain point i am glad they are diving deep and removing the slop, even if it affects me personally….we will be much better off in the future, and my kids future is brighter…so if need be ill take one on the chin for them!
Hi OP Readers,
Mike is the Program Administrator (the person in charge) for the Crawford Soil and Water Conservation District in Ohio. As the person in charge of that office, he has some inside knowledge about what is going on with EQIP-IRA and CSP-IRA funds that most of us don’t. His comment confirms that the payments are indeed frozen.
I have asked him to confirm how he knows that the funds will be forthcoming as that might be helpful. I’ve also asked for information about how his clients are managing with this delay. Farmers I’ve spoken to in other regions say they are heading to tight spots where they may not be able to pay their bills or buy supplies for the upcoming planting season if they don’t receive payment for their completed work. I also find it interesting that he applied for EQIP or CSP funds that he didn’t really need as he’s structured his finances to not need “handouts.” Perhaps others of you can tell me if this is a common practice? I personally have never considered these contracts to be “handouts” from the government as they ensure that farmers complete practices that ensure healthy landscapes that grow the food we all need. But, to each his own.
Finally, I would add that freezing funds in this way is highly unusual. Federal programs, especially those tied to multi-year contracts like the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), generally continue operating unless explicitly restructured, defunded by Congress, or halted by a specific executive decision. None of this has happened so it is fair for those with contracts to expect payment in a timely fashion.
Thanks, Pal.
We finished two planting projects this week, one of them a CREP. We are scheduled to begin a major project this spring that will involve USDA/NRCS funding. All I’m trying to do is do good work, work that the American people want done.
I guess we’ll see what happens.
Thanks so much for the warning!
It’s a shame that the voters didn’t believe what he told them and also what he had put together in his project 25 program.