Farmers across western Massachusetts are voicing frustration over federal actions stonewalling and even cutting funds they are relying on. With hope fading those dollars could return, some have been banding together in protest.
It's not unusual to see a tractor or two on the road in Hadley, Massachusetts - home to acres and acres of fields, plus the region's Asparagus Fest.
But on Sunday, a caravan lined up outside town hall, joined by an estimated 300 farmers, supporters and locals as they rallied over moves being made in Washington.
“It’s shameful, it is cruel and it is downright un-American,” said Congressman Jim McGovern represents the 2nd District, one of several lawmakers to speak. “They are launching a full on assault on the people who feed this country - our family farms, our small farmers, our women farmers, our farmers of color, our young and beginning farmers, and for what? So a few billionaires can get richer, while the rest of us get screwed. Give me a break.”
Previously, the Trump administration has overseen freezes and reviews to various programs and grants supplied through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's included a review of programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted by the Biden administration.
While some grants are now being released, the process has been slow and some are still up in the air. All the while, the USDA has moved to cancel program funding elsewhere, including about $660 million meant to help schools purchase food from nearby farms - the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program.
Cuts to that program and similar initiatives sew chaos and sizable losses, says Harrison Bardwell, owner-operator of Bardwell Farm in nearby Hatfield.
“Our farm estimates over $200,000 in lost revenue this year due to these funding cuts. We estimate this being 20-30 percent of our overall sales in 2025,” he said. “We have planned our season already, we have ordered and paid for our seed, our fertilizer and our field supplies. We've ensured our workers that they'll have a place to work this season and a fair wage paid. We have bills to pay, we have loans and we have employees to support.”
Annie Diemend of Diemend Farm in Wendell says a freeze placed on the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, put a sizable grant given to the family farm on hold - money that would cover half of a $250,000 solar array project she and others embarked on, bringing more sustainability to the farm that dates to the 1930s.
"The reason that we chose to do such a big array was because this $139,000 was going to help us a lot, pay it down,” she said, adding that the farm is paying over $1,000 a month in interest alone. “It just kind of sucks that we're stuck here: we started this project, we're committed to doing it, but to know that we're going to possibly have to pay that $139,000 on top of what we were already going to pay - it's hard.”
Drivers passing by on Route 9 honked non-stop in support of the rally, which had backers standing across the intersection with banners reading "NO NRCS, NO FARMS," "TRUMP HURTS FARMERS" and more.
Since Sunday, the USDA has announced that it would release “previously obligated funding" allotted via REAP, as well as the Empowering Rural America and Powering Affordable Clean Energy programs.
The Tuesday press release also stated "recipients will have 30 days to review and voluntarily revise their project plans" to align with the "Unleashing American Energy" executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January.
The USDA says the process allows “rural electric providers and small businesses the opportunity to refocus their projects on expanding American energy production while eliminating Biden-era DEIA and climate mandates embedded in previous proposals.”
Speaking with WAMC before that announcement, rally co-organizer and Brookfield Farm General Manager Kerry Taylor says regardless of recent USDA moves, frustration over the cuts and freezes is boiling over. It's what led, in-part, to the rally.
“I think right now, what we're really struggling with is just the uncertainty - we already, as farmers, experience tons of uncertainty, especially with the weather and pests, and so, just adding more uncertainty to our business climate is, is really challenging,” she said.
Taylor adds her Amherst farm was able to secure dollars from the Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS - but not before a lot of door-knocking and calling officials.
She says it's not out of the ordinary for farmers to have to go with "Plan B" when things go awry - but the thousands of dollars vanishing with little warning is a hurdle no one wants to be dealing with.
That was echoed by co-organizer Abby Ferla of Foxtrot Farm in Ashfield. She, along with other farmers like Ryan Voiland of Red Fire Farm in Granby and Montague, say farmers often operate on razor-thin margins to begin with.
Ferla tells WAMC she had plans to put $45,000 in grants to use on her 107-acre farm, which grows everything from elderberries to botanical herbs. Funds from the Climate-Smart Commodities program would have helped with a deer fence and alley crops, which promote and support the production of perennials.
She says now, she's docking her own pay while scaling back crew operations. But, she adds, even if federal funds for it dry up, sustainability remains a priority.
“I think the thing that's keeping me going is that I know how vulnerable our industrial agricultural system is to climate change,” she told WAMC Sunday. “Large farms in the Midwest and farmers who use conventional tillage methods are really vulnerable to things like flood and drought and I want to make sure that there's food in the future. So, the number one thing on my mind is how can we plant trees and shrubs now that in 10 years will be meaningful food sources for our community.”
In a previous statement to WAMC, the USDA has said agency leadership has been reviewing all funding that comes by way of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, releasing tranches of funding over the past month or so. Ferla says the IRA is one of the sources funding her grant program.
