In the first seven months of President Donald Trump’s second administration, the federal funding landscape has been radically changed — especially for the people who grow, harvest, and distribute food. Thousands of government staffers were terminated; entire programs have been stripped down; and a grant freeze has immobilized state, regional, and local food systems that rely on federal funding.
In all of the turmoil, the communication from the Department of Agriculture itself has lacked transparency and comprehensiveness. We’ve heard over and over from our sources — farmers, food organizations, agricultural networks, and advocates across the country — that they remain confused and in search of reliable information. Folks need clarity about what is happening, support during a difficult moment, and alternatives to the current faltering system.
So, in response to those needs, we’ve put together this information guide. Below you’ll find more details about the status of various USDA programs; resources for those struggling with financial and/or mental health hardships; and some conversation starters to help you envision a more resilient food economy.
The information below is based on Grist’s previous reporting on cuts to federal programs run by the departments of Agriculture and the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies; and compiled from sources including congressional documents and third-party funding trackers, in addition to reporting published by Civil Eats and Politico. This information guide was first published on August 6, 2025, and the lists of cancelled and frozen grants will be updated as the status of policies and funding programs change.
If you have information or tips regarding funding changes at the USDA, please contact ahornmuller@grist.org.
Cancelled USDA food and farming funding
The grants and programs below have been cancelled — in part or whole — by the Trump administration.
Regional Food Business Centers Program
This program was established by the Biden administration in 2023 with $360 million awarded to finalists to establish and boost regional supply chains through the implementation of 12 business centers, which would administer financial awards to farms and food businesses throughout the nation. This July, when the USDA terminated the program, a third of the centers were still in the process of launching and had not yet awarded grants — in part because the program’s funding had remained frozen since January. Those contracts were immediately cancelled. The USDA noted in a press release that the sites that have already awarded grants “will have the option to continue managing existing commitments” through May 2026.
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Grant
This program provided grants for projects that create market opportunities for agricultural and forest products produced using climate-smart practices and methods for quantification, monitoring, and verification of greenhouse-gas and carbon-sequestration benefits. About $3.1 billion in funding, authorized by USDA in 2023 as a linchpin of the Biden administration’s strategy to help farmers and ranchers mitigate climate change, was cancelled in April. After all of the initial grants were terminated, the funding pot was then repackaged into a new program without equity, climate, or sustainability benchmarks, and former grantees were invited to reapply — on the condition that their projects meet the new criteria.
Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program Grants
This program was created to address rising hunger and nutritional needs among school-age children by providing public schools with funding to source locally produced vegetables and fund food and agricultural education, supporting millions of students in tribal, rural, and urban communities nationwide. About $10 million in funding for 2025 was terminated in March, despite congressional authorization for the funding. As of now, funding awards are expected to resume next year.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program
This program was designed to supplement the diets of lower-income people by providing emergency food assistance at no cost to them. Recipients get actual food, not money. TEFAP also distributes “bonus” foods purchased by the USDA to support agricultural markets, with additional funding allocated by Congress under the statutory authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation. About $500 million of funding allocated for TEFAP was abruptly cut by the USDA in late March, which has diminished charitable food donations and undercut farmers across the country. It is not clear whether the USDA plans to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds for future food purchases distributed through the program.
Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program; and Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement
Together, these two programs provided funding for schools and state, tribal, and territorial governments to purchase food produced within local and regional ranges to source more nutritious food and help farmers in their area. In March, Trump’s USDA terminated both programs, halting about $1.1 billion in federal spending.
Working Lands Conservation Corps
This program, under the Biden-era American Climate Corps, provided technical training and career opportunities for young people, “helping them deliver economic benefits through climate-smart agriculture solutions for farmers and ranchers nationwide.” Last spring, the USDA selected 28 organizations nationwide to host members of the agency’s Working Lands Climate Corps, or WLLC, in partnership with the Corps Network. The Corps Network, which oversaw the funding for WLLC, was expecting $500,000 in annual IRA-authorized funding, before the federal funding freeze and a subsequent termination of funding in early March led to the cancellation of all sub-agreements.
How to find out where your money stands
If you’re having trouble finding more information about the status of your funding, these resources may help:
Full list of food and farming grants with payments frozen
The grants and programs below have, at one point in time, been frozen by the Trump administration. Though some grantees report that payments have resumed, other payments remained gridlocked. There is not yet any indication of whether or when all of the funding streams below will be reinstated. The USDA has not responded to multiple inquiries from Grist requesting status updates about these frozen funds. As one agricultural policy expert told Grist, the state of USDA communications around funding decisions has remained a “black box.”
What are the solutions?
In the short term, everyone is trying to find their own fixes and support systems. Here are a few we’ve heard about from a variety of food and farming organizations:
Erin Clark / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Community land trusts
There are local, regional, and national land trusts that are privately owned nonprofit organizations dedicated to conservation. Many offer economic aid to farmers and agricultural groups working to protect or better tend to local land. You can use digital resources like Land Trust Alliance to find one near you.
Finding support networks
- The Center for Nonprofit Excellence has a detailed list of tips to keep in mind if your nonprofit organization has been affected by a federal funding freeze, as well as a newsletter to stay updated. Learn more.
- Many states and regions have their own farming cooperatives and groups. For instance, the Carolina Farm Trust is a network of urban farmers in the Carolinas; Virginia has a host of cooperatives and associations; The California Food and Farming Network, in addition to hosting working groups on farmworker and food system issues, has a newsletter dedicated to sharing information about what’s happening to funding, programs, and more.
- Rural Advancement Foundation International, or RAFI, offers member resources such as the Farmers of Color Network and the Policy Action Network, and up-to-date advice for farmers with USDA loans or contracts, including flow charts for farmers who may be looking for guidance on how to navigate the USDA’s cuts and freezes.
- The Queer Farmers Network is a nonprofit organization that holds in-person gatherings, communicates via an online listserv, and shares information and resources for LGBTQ+ farmers, gardeners, and others working in the food system. (Read more about mental health among queer farmers here.)
- The Women, Food, and Agriculture Network offers resources, mentorship programs, and storytelling to support women and nonbinary farmers, landowners, urban gardeners, environmental educators, researchers, and community activists.
- National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is an alliance of more than 130 member groups working to advocate for sustainable food and farm policy at the federal level. NSAC is closely following the federal funding situation as it affects small and midsize farms, natural resources, rural communities, and food security. They regularly post updates to their blog.
- National Young Farmers Coalition is a farmer-led coalition that advocates for equitable land access and supports young and diverse farmers nationwide. The organization also works to advance and support farmer mental health and build solutions to address the impact of agricultural systems on climate change.
- HEAL Food Alliance is a multisector, multiracial coalition made up of 55 organizations representing rural and urban farmers, fishers, farm and food-chain workers, Indigenous groups, scientists, public health advocates, policy experts, community organizers, and activists. The BIPOC-led coalition advocates for worker, racial, and environmental justice, as well as public access to food-supply-chain data.
Local and regional food hubs
Hyperlocal food cooperatives and hubs also typically provide community-centric resources and support for small local farmers and food businesses. In the foothills of Appalachian Ohio, groups like Rural Action offer financial aid and other forms of support for a range of sectors, including food and agriculture, and is a founding member of the Central Appalachian Network. In West Virginia, Coalfield Development is another example of an organization focused on building local economic power throughout community-powered food networks, while the Northeast Tennessee Local Food Network is a nonprofit cultivating a stronger, more resilient local food system by connecting farmers, businesses, and schools.
University extension services
Initially established through a partnership with the USDA and universities across the country in 1914, extension services were formed to build a bridge between farmers and ranchers and the federal food and farming agencies. With the support of local and regional experts, those working in the ag sector with localized advice, trainings, and answers to their farming questions. Extension services operate in every U.S. state, and agents are typically housed at universities, though some services can be found with local offices of their own. Here’s a resource hosted by the Arkansas Extension Service to help find your closest extension service office.
Prioritizing your mental health
U.S. farmers are three and a half times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, so mental health services, like therapy, and building community are critical. (Here’s more information about the impact of farming on mental health.)
Here are some options if you or someone you know is struggling:
- Rural Advancement Foundation International, or RAFI, operates a hotline for farmers who may be in financial crisis or facing other distressing issues: Call 866-586-6746 Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.
- The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a program of the federal government, is available via text and phone call. (Please note: The Trump administration has floated the idea of defunding this program, but it is currently still operating.)
- Your state may have a hotline to call if you’re having thoughts of harming yourself, or if you just want to talk. For example, in Wisconsin, there are several resources specifically for farmers.
- The American Farm Bureau Federation offers a Farm State of Mind directory that aggregates a state- and regional-level list of helplines, alliances, and organizational resources for farmers and ranchers who may need mental health and wellness support.
- The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture operates the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, a program that “connects individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching, and other agriculture-related occupations to stress assistance programs.” (Please note that the changing federal funding landscape may have impacted the availability of government-backed resources like these.)
Imagining a sustainable future
A 2024 study found that environmental degradation, health impacts, and biodiversity loss all contribute to trillions of dollars of losses annually. Some of the solutions, the researchers said, include investing more in local and small farms and directing government subsidies to both farmers and consumers to support an equitable and resilient food economy.
The federal funding crisis is not without stories of hope and resilience. Here are stories to read as conversation starters about the possibility of building a more collaborative and sustainable food system. Follow Grist’s food and agricultural coverage for more.
Who are these budget cuts hurting?
There’s a wide range of people, organizations, and communities that rely on funding from USDA. Here are a few of their stories.
A farming network in Pennsylvania
Just days after President Trump’s Inauguration Day executive orders directed the temporary halt of all federal grants and loans, Hannah Smith-Brubaker, executive director at Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, or Pasa, reached out to the organization’s national program officer at the USDA. She was worried about the status of their largest grant — about $59.5 million that they were awarded in 2023 through the agency’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, which provides financial support and technical assistance to some 2,000 farmers in 15 states as they adopt sustainable agricultural practices like cover crops, silvopasture, and prescribed grazing. It wasn’t until April 14 that Smith-Brubaker received notice that the five-year grant was terminated.
The team at Pasa is currently fighting these decisions by the administration in federal court. “How is it possible that two years into a five-year grant, just because there was an administration change, everything that had been promised to these farmers can just be cut off?” asked Smith-Brubaker. “It’s been months of just utter confusion and roller coasters and thinking things were moving ahead and then finding out they weren’t.”
A charity supporting food-insecure households in Appalachia
After confronting months of frozen funding, followed by the news that one of the USDA programs they counted on had been abruptly terminated, Appalachian Sustainable Development was forced to shutter its food-box program in March.
Director of Development Sylvia Crum described the situation as “heartbreaking” for the thousands of people throughout central Appalachia they feed and the 40 farmers they work with who have now lost that income. “We don’t have the money,” said Crum. It costs them roughly $30,000 to fill the 2,000 or so boxes that, until March 7, they distributed every week.
The end of the program has impacted people like Mark Broyles, who used to drive 20 minutes from his home in Big Stone Gap to Duffield, Virginia, to pick up two boxes of free, fresh food. The boxes used to be filled with things like lean meat, milk, and an assortment of seasonal produce — a cherished supply in a time when skyrocketing prices have made buying groceries less affordable for Broyles.
“Mountain folk are very proud people,” Broyles said. “Mountain folk don’t usually ask for help, but sometimes when help is offered, we reluctantly go to get it. … I hope our president and our representatives can see how crucial this program is — instead of using a broad ax approach to cut some of these programs, that they would go more with the scalpel and trim off the fat.”
A small farmer in Indiana
Last year, a single bulk order of potatoes, green onions, and beans from a local food bank would earn Thomas Eich, owner of Kankakee Valley Homestead farm, about $3,500. That income was made possible through an assortment of USDA grants that are now cancelled.
To try and make up for the losses, which represent around 42 percent of the farm’s projected 2025 sales, Eich has bumped up the number of farmers markets his team sets up at. But the volume of sales isn’t close to the same, and the income nowhere near as consistent. “If we’re there on a Saturday and a thunderstorm comes through, then they shut the market down and we all go home,” he said. “And now I’ve spent money driving there and setting up to make no money.”
In order to pay suppliers and bills, Eich has been forced to take out private loans and turn to family members for financial help. If it wasn’t for that support network, he said, his business would have gone under by now.
For Eich, the USDA’s funding freezes have “definitely destroyed their credibility” in his estimation, and he’s unsure about how much he’d be willing to accept federal money in the future. Seeing the USDA continue to release subsidies for the biggest farm businesses, while curbing funding pots used to uplift local farming and food systems, only pours salt on the wound. “How is it going to be worth putting the faith into that, investing into them again, to have the rug pulled out from underneath you?”
A food business in Washington
After six months of uncertainty and frozen funding, the USDA announced on July 15 that the department will cancel the Regional Food Business Centers program, established by the Biden administration to support small farms and food businesses around the country. Kitchen Sync Strategies, an organization that helped establish one of the centers that were immediately shuttered, is a consultancy that works with food hubs and small farmers to supply institutions like schools with fresh food. The company was in partnership to help launch one of the 12 Regional Food Business centers known as Islands and Remote Areas RFBC — serving Alaska, Hawai‘i, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — that have now been shuttered.
Because of the cancellation, according to its founder Elliott Smith, Kitchen Sync will now be forced to pull the plug on the partnerships it had established with food hubs around the country that represent over a thousand small farmers. Revenue loss from the contracts alone amounts to about $400,000. “I got to find some other way next year to pay for health insurance, to pay for salaries, to cover the costs, and to continue selling the food,” said Smith.
The USDA, said Smith, is “saying very disingenuous things,” about why the agency terminated the program. “They love to beat their chest about this ‘Farmers First’ policy agenda that the agency has. I would love to know how they reckon with the dozens of farmers that are screaming right now, saying, ‘But you promised! You told me that this program was going to solve my market access problems.’
“By terminating the program and reneging on that promise, the agency is directly contradicting itself.”
If you have information or tips regarding food and ag funding changes, please contact ahornmuller@grist.org.
