"The Trump administration, with DOGE, is pulling the rug from under growers and producers across the country"
"Brian Geier and his wife, Elizabeth Tobey, are farmers in Harrison County, Indiana, where they grow corn, soybeans, hay, and flowers on their 55 acres. Last year, they added sheep to the operation.
Like many producers, the couple has taken advantage of federal conservation programs available through Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. In 2024, they used grant funding to remove invasive trees and brush that had moved into the forested part of their acreage. This year, thanks to a second contract, they were planning to expand their rotational grazing operation with new fencing and water lines.
Typically, landowners spend their own money and are reimbursed once a year. Geier is using the advanced payment option, which is available to beginning farmers.
“You can spend a little bit of the money, turn in receipts, and then get repaid for it,” he explains. But in mid-February, Geier learned that the second grant, which is funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, is frozen indefinitely.
He’s not alone. Thousands of NRCS conservation contracts across the country have been frozen; some have been terminated altogether."
Advertisement 
