A whirlwind of policy changes and funding cuts have left rural America on shaky ground: 'Billions are at stake.'

As USDA funds are frozen, U.S. farmers face uncertainty
and possible big financial losses. (Adobe Stock photo)

A whirlwind of policy changes from the Trump Administration has left many people in rural America unprepared to navigate agricultural spending cuts that target farming income and investments.

"Billions of dollars in funding are at stake," report Linda Qiu and Julie Creswell of The New York Times. "One executive order targets. . . money for farmers to conserve soil and water and to complete energy projects. Other directives touch on grants to states and producers. Another temporarily left hundreds of millions of dollars worth of food and supplies sitting in ports and has stopped future purchases of grains and goods."

The loss of income and promised funds from the Department of Agriculture puts farmers and farming communities in a "potentially precarious position," the Times reports. "Even as courts have halted many of the orders, rural communities are reeling from the effects, setting off confusion and panic among one of President Trump’s core constituencies."

Once inaugurated, Trump "ordered an indefinite pause on funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. . . . Though a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze the funds, it is unclear when and whether it will follow suit," Qiu and Creswell explain."Asked if it would release the money, the USDA did not directly respond, saying only that it had ordered 'a comprehensive review' of its contracts, work and personnel.'"

When farmer pocketbooks took a hit from Trump's first-term tariff wars, the administration tapped the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation and sent checks to farmers to cover losses. That isn't happening now. "Trump has also paused payments made by the CCC," Qiu and Creswell add. "It is unclear how much of the funding has been frozen."

When U.S. farmers overwhelmingly voted for Trump, it's unlikely they thought his policy changes could force some farms into bankruptcy -- but that could happen. The Times reports, "If funds remain frozen, that could affect more than 25,000 conservation contracts worth $1.8 billion funded by the climate change law, potentially involving thousands of farmers nationwide."