In the News
USDA Staffing Shortages Strain FSA and NRCS Services Across Rural America
WASHINGTON (DTN) — Farmers in Polk County, Iowa, still have a Farm Service Agency office to visit. But when they arrive, four out of five days, that office will be closed. Calls are rerouted and employees from other counties come in to staff the office.
Read More USDA Staffing Shortages Strain FSA and NRCS Services Across Rural America
STUDY | The Unfinished Farm Bill: First Reading of Proposed Senate Legislation by Jonathan Coppess
On June 23, 2026, Senator John Boozman (R-AR), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (ANF), released legislative text for the unfinished provisions of the traditional Farm Bill. Chairman Boozman is calling the legislation “Farm Bill 2.0” (Senate ANF, “Farm Bill 2.0” and Press Release, June 23, 2026). This article provides a first
Read More STUDY | The Unfinished Farm Bill: First Reading of Proposed Senate Legislation by Jonathan Coppess
OPINION | TIM WELLS: Protect agriculture Honor commitments to U.S. farmers
As both a banker managing a $65-million farm lending portfolio and a multigenerational farmer, I witness agriculture’s current struggles firsthand. Rising input costs and falling commodity prices are squeezing farmers, while crucial programs keeping farms viable face potential cuts.
Read More OPINION | TIM WELLS: Protect agriculture Honor commitments to U.S. farmers
Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Halts American Farmers’ Conservation Efforts
For decades, the agency has funneled support and funding for conservation projects through hugely popular programs that are so in demand each year, the agency turns away applicants. These farm practices make the soil healthier and more productive.
Read More Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Halts American Farmers’ Conservation Efforts
South Dakota farmer weighs in on repealed USDA funding
Virgil Two Eagle is a buffalo rancher from the Pine Ridge Reservation. USDA funding such as EQIP brings critical opportunities for Native American ranchers like Two Eagle. Ranchers on Pine Ridge have historically experienced financial hardships and struggled with implementing essential projects, and cost-share programs from USDA allow ranchers to make these improvements.
Read More South Dakota farmer weighs in on repealed USDA funding
Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Anna Jones-Crabtree and her husband spend sunup to sundown — plus hours of time before and after — nurturing 20 crops through tight margins on their farm in Montana. Federal grants have long helped ease those tight margins, enabling farmers like Jones-Crabtree to survive and even thrive despite droughts and fires, market swings and crop failures.
Read More Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Editorial: Congress should work to protect Louisiana’s farmers
[Conservation] programs may not have generated a lot of headlines, but they were popular: In 2023, for instance, more than 3,700 Louisiana agriculture producers applied for grants under the two programs, according to reporting by Stephen Marcantel for this newspaper. Only a fraction — 825 — of those applications were successful, but those provided more than $50 million to local farms to make improvements.
Read More Editorial: Congress should work to protect Louisiana’s farmers
Louisiana farmers in limbo after Trump freezes $363M in reimbursements: ‘Really shocked me’
David Smith of DeRidder couldn't justify the cost in the current agricultural economy with its high input costs and low commodity prices. So he looked at applying for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service program that would have partly covered the cost of seed. The agency helps farmers identify conservation concerns on their operations and works to ensure availability of resources for future generations.
Read More Louisiana farmers in limbo after Trump freezes $363M in reimbursements: ‘Really shocked me’
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Invest In Our Land is committed to bringing farmers and policymakers together to protect the future of American agriculture.
