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 CoppessNEWS RELEASE: Statement from Invest In Our Land Executive Director Rebecca Bartels on Congressional Letter Urging USDA to Address NRCS and FSA Understaffing
Today, Invest in Our Land Executive Director Rebecca Bartels issued the following statement in response to a letter led by Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA), signed by 14 other House Members, to Richard Fordyce, the Undersecretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation, asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address understaffing at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Read More NEWS RELEASE: Statement from Invest In Our Land Executive Director Rebecca Bartels on Congressional Letter Urging USDA to Address NRCS and FSA Understaffing
Farmers push for restored USDA staffing
Invest in Our Land’s Executive Director Rebecca Bartels explains why farmers nationwide are urging Congress to rebuild USDA staffing to protect conservation programs and support agriculture.
Read More Farmers push for restored USDA staffing
Farmers and Ranchers Urge Congress to Restore USDA Staffing After Major 2025 Workforce Losses and Proposed Additional Cuts in FY27 Agency Budget
Washington, D.C. — Today, more than 500 producers from across the country urged Congressional leaders to prioritize funding and staffing for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agency that delivers federal conservation programs to America’s farmers and ranchers.
Read More Farmers and Ranchers Urge Congress to Restore USDA Staffing After Major 2025 Workforce Losses and Proposed Additional Cuts in FY27 Agency Budget
‘Like a ghost town’: Employee exodus hammers farm conservation agency
A federal agency that provides critical land management assistance to American farmers has quietly gone dark in swaths of rural America. Agriculture Department offices for the government’s Natural Resources Conservation Service are operating with skeleton crews across the country — or no staff at all, in some cases — at a time when farmers want
Read More ‘Like a ghost town’: Employee exodus hammers farm conservation agency
Critics angry over Trump budget cuts to food
The Trump administration has released a budget that Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said “has made historic progress on righting our fiscal ship” and “returned accountability to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” among other accomplishments, but critics said it would take away food from poor people in the United States and abroad.
Read More Critics angry over Trump budget cuts to food
Under Trump, the Department of Agriculture Has Ditched Conservation and Climate Efforts
The NRCS staff “work in extremely close partnership with farmers on a day-to-day basis,” said Rebecca Bartels, executive director of Invest in Our Land, a newly formed group focused on protecting conservation dollars for farmers. “We see a lot of concerns, both on the delivery of the programs and also for farmers’ ability to navigate
Read More Under Trump, the Department of Agriculture Has Ditched Conservation and Climate Efforts
Invest in Our Land in Action
Invest In Our Land is committed to bringing farmers and policymakers together to protect the future of American agriculture.
