Behind the Scenes: Government Farm Programs Stuck in Limbo
Today’s blog post is going to be about some government farm programs that we participate in and that help farmers and farms like ours and are being affected by executive orders in D.C. I’m going to try to keep this as matter-of-fact as possible and allow you space to judge whether or not these programs should exist and to what extent they should exist. I’m also only going to write about programs that we have direct experience with. Here we go.
Alright so the first program I want to talk about is tucked away in the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) called EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program). As usual, there’s enough alphabet soup in government agencies to feed a family of 5. I digress. EQIP has whole host of management practices that it provides funding for and one of the management practices is the use of high tunnels. NRCS through EQIP provides funding to construct high tunnels for farmers across the nation. We applied for an EQIP high tunnel in December 2024 and the application seems to be stuck. We’re guessing that the funding was frozen as a result of the recent executive orders but we aren’t able to get information other than our application is pending. We’ve reached out to our congressperson to try to get more information.
One of the high tunnels on our farm. High tunnels allow us to grow more and for a longer period of the year.
The second program I want to talk about is called “produce bucks.” Here’s how it works. Produce Bucks is a way that folks who receive SNAP benefits can further their benefits. When participants use their SNAP benefits at the farmers market they get matching “produce bucks” to spend at the market. So if they spend $10 of SNAP benefits they get an additional $10 in produce bucks for a total of $20 that they can spend on healthy produce from local farmers. It’s a win for everyone. Sadly, “produce bucks” is frozen as a result of the executive orders from D.C. This means that SNAP recipients (who, as far as I know, are still able to use SNAP benefits) don’t get that additional matching money for fresh fruits and vegetables. A loss for both them and farmers.
Broadband. I’ll be upfront and say I don’t have all the information here. What I do know is that one of our local Internet Service Providers received a grant to install fiber for our house among many others in Waseca County. There are several potential sources of funding from both state and federal government. We don’t know for sure but there is a good chance that the funding for this project is frozen as a result of executive orders from D.C.
How is broadband a farm program? Well technically it’s not but if you think about modern life and modern farming you soon realize that the internet is another necessary utility to run a farm. We have internet connected temperature sensors. We use the internet to communicate with our community in various forms including social media, emails, website updates & more. Having fast, reliable internet is necessary for modern business.
My take on all of this is as follows: the funding for all of the programs mentioned here was ALREADY appropriated by congress through various acts including the infrastructure plan, the Inflation Reduction Act and others. If the executive wants to remove this funding then, per the constitution, congress needs to vote to remove or change that funding.
I think these programs are good. They help rural communities be stronger. They help farms and farmers build their businesses so we can feed our community. They help both farmers and folks with food insecurity. These are all wins for our communities.