A pair of articles in MinnPost and South Dakota News Watch illustrate complications the Trump administration is creating for farmers in Minnesota ans South Dakota.
First off, the MinnPost article by Forrest Peterson.
Delay in conservation grants adds another layer of uncertainty for Minnesota farmers
by Forrest Peterson, MinnPostFarmers and ranchers are accustomed to occasional drought. They try to hang on until the rains return.
Since the Trump administration took over in Washington on Jan. 20, however, farmers who participate in some projects that benefit the environment are facing another type of possible drought — the drying up of federal funding.
Federal grants have long been a major source of money that helps farmers install conservation projects and practices. Now they are uncertain as the U.S. Department of Agriculture has “paused” some disbursements.
In eight Minnesota counties, nearly 400 farmers and ranchers participated in the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. In December, they should have received a total of about $6 million in reimbursements for projects such as cover crops, reduced tillage, buffers, and pasture management. Funding for the program came from former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Instead, they received a letter informing them that, “We are writing to notify you that the USDA has paused payments to projects funded under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant.”
The letter came from the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which is administering the pilot program in four states: Minnesota, North Dakota, Arkansas, and Virginia.
Caption: Used tractor tires hold an alfalfa and silage mix that when moved around the field results in the manure being spread by the cattle themselves.The three-year, $80 million program would pay farmers and ranchers $100 per acre or animal unit for stewardship practices, such as carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, soil health and water quality projects.
Dale Anderson farms with his son, Justin, several miles south of Belgrade in central Minnesota. Their diverse farm includes row crops (corn, beans, peas), beef cow-calf pairs, finishing steers and custom feeding hogs.
“It’s definitely a serious thing,” Dale said. “If things are going to be paused, it would be nice if everything that’s already in place would be OK. Ones that have already spent the money should be paid.”
They had expected to receive about $16,000 for their work, which includes minimum tillage, cover crop and using strip till. Instead of plowing a field after harvesting corn last fall, the Andersons spent extra money to plant a cover crop throughout the corn stubble.
Caption: The cover crop that the Andersons planted after corn harvest last fall.During winter the cattle feed on the stubble, supplemented by forage dumped in old tractor tires used as moveable feeders. This spreads the manure as the cattle follow the feeders to a new location. “Weather is always a variable, although the warmth now is helping calving,” Justin said.
The environmental benefits include better soil health, reduced water runoff, more carbon sequestration — and even the natural tillage of the soil from livestock hooves in a process somewhat resembling the action of bison on the prairie prior to agriculture.
Program enrollment continues
Even though reimbursements have been paused, local agencies that administer the programs have been instructed to continue seeking participants for future work, according to Margaret Johnson, manager of the Kandiyohi County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
As the letter from Virginia Tech states: “Ongoing application and enrollment will continue uninterrupted. Nevertheless, we cannot issue any new producer agreement contracts or payments until we receive approval from the federal government to disburse the necessary funds.”
“There has been no communication from USDA regarding actions on the Climate-Smart Commodities grants,” said Tom Thompson of Virginia Tech. “We last heard several weeks ago that payments from USDA are ‘paused.’ We have not received a request for additional information nor any further guidance. I attended Commodity Classic in Denver this week and visited with individuals affiliated with several other CSC grants. No one I spoke to has more information.”
A similar situation exists with another program to implement innovative irrigation practices, Johnson said. Kandiyohi County is one of 20 counties in central Minnesota participating in projects to reduce adverse environmental impacts on water quality from irrigation.
In the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), the state had received $3.5 million for irrigation work through county SWCDs. All of the money has been spent and reimbursed; however, future funding has been paused, according to a statement from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA).
“The MDA was notified at the end of 2024 that we were approved for a renewal of the RCPP, meaning additional federal money would be added to the program,” the statement reads. “That renewal is currently paused, and no new agreement has been signed.”
Caption: Justin Anderson shows a handful of the alfalfa and silage mix placed in the
used tractor tire feeders.Minnesota is somewhat unique among states, having a separate agency that focuses on funding for work that benefits soil health and water quality. More than half of the budget for the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) — about $156 million in the current biennium — comes from the state’s Clean Water Fund. Much of that is channeled through the county SWCDs.
“We’ll be OK,” Johnson said. “We have local support. I hope things get straightened out in Washington.”
In addition to funding cuts, state agencies are experiencing the impact of federal staff reductions, said John Jaschke, BWSR executive director. This affects processing applications and also technical assistance from agencies such as the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, he said. “We speculate that landowners may lose interest in participating if there are fewer technical staff to guide them.”
With little official information coming from Washington, most of what they do hear comes on a day-to-day basis through the news media, Jaschke said.
The investment of public funds also provides economic benefits, according to a publication from the NRCS: “For every dollar spent by the NRCS and its partners, $1.81 was generated in the local economy.” In Minnesota, each $1 million of conservation funding creates about 11 new jobs for Minnesotans, according to BWSR.
Carbon emissions program
On Feb. 27 the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has restored about $200 million for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to move ahead with projects to cut carbon emissions.
However, in a statement received March 3, the MPCA said it “was awarded a $200 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that would create jobs, support farmers, provide food to communities and reduce food waste while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
“Unfortunately, the already-approved funding has not been reliably available to us to access since early February. This is deeply concerning and could have long-term impacts on our mission of protecting the environment and human health.”
Forrest Peterson is the former editor of the West Central Tribune and a former public information officer for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He is also the author of four novels, is working on a fifth, and posts a weekly column on Substack.
This article first appeared on MinnPost and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Photo top: Dale Anderson, left, and his son, Justin, view their beef cattle grazing on corn stubble with supplemental feeders on their farm south of Belgrade. They also custom feed hogs in the barn seen in the distant background. Credit: MinnPost photo by Forrest Peterson
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