STOP WORK NOW!

February 12, 2025

27

If you have a contract for a conservation or other project with the Natural Resources Conservation Service please check the funding source. If your contract was funded under the EQIP-IRA or the CSP-IRA, your funding is coming through the Inflation Reduction Act and you will not be paid for the work in the near future, and you may never get paid. You should do everything you can to stop work on those projects now.

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…

It seems a lot is going on in the Ag world that has farmers on edge. Another agriculture writer has collected a list of issues and concerns. Here are a few from her article:

Lost Contracts to Canada

Cotton and grain growers are losing contracts to long-time Canadian buyers because, even with the tariff pause, Canadian buyers don’t trust the stability of U.S. export commerce with Trump in office. Plus, Canadians are angry and avoiding U.S.-made/produced goods, including farm products.

SOURCES:
https://x.com/cturnbull1968/status/1886862409798967425

https://www.cbc.ca/…/as-more-people-buy-canadian-these…

Increasing Input Prices

Chuck Grassley is asking the Administration to exempt potash from any Canadian tariffs because U.S. potash (a major fertilizer in agriculture) mainly comes from Canada. Impending tariffs will shoot farmers’ fertilizer prices sky-high.

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

The USDA is also withholding funds for the Organic Market Development Grant program and the Transition to Organic Partnership Program. These funds typically go directly to organic farmers or to non-profits supporting organic farmers.

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.

STOP WORK NOW!

What’s Happening