Key trade agreements, the legality of the global trade war, Agri Stats’ antitrust case, more USDA moves, and rulings on dicamba and glyphosate predicted to grab industry headlines.
Thousands of Oklahomans got payments from a Biden-era program to help address generations of farm lending discrimination. Now the Trump Administration wants to end programs that could be labeled as DEI. Some Oklahoma programs have already seen funding freezes.
This story was originally published by Grist.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist, BPR, a public radio station serving western North Carolina,WABE, Atlanta’s NPR
Institutional investors helped fuel soaring land values, but economic conditions are changing. From Kansas to Iowa, states that once saw double-digital farmland price increases are experiencing a cooling market.
More than a dozen recently fired USDA employees told Investigate Midwest that mass terminations have stalled irrigation projects, rural housing aid and efforts to combat invasive crop diseases. Remaining staff are overwhelmed; farmers may not receive much needed timely help, former staff say.
Farmers invested in federally-backed programs now worry about delays, rising costs, and financial uncertainty, with critical infrastructure projects, conservation efforts, and climate disaster relief funding left in limbo.
