Grabbing the electric fence for no reason: The damaging shock to the farm economy in the Trump Administration’s first month

Farmers are used to uncertainty — they are used to tracking markets, weather and fixing things that break unexpectedly. The most stable thing farmers should deal with, theoretically, is the federal government — the entity most able to take the long view regardless of the day-to-day. This has historically been true with 5-year Farm Bills and far-sighted administrative actions. That stability is no sure thing these days, and it seems like we’re not just accidentally bumping into the electric fence, our leaders are grabbing it on purpose. 

Over the past several weeks, President Donald Trump announced and then temporarily rolled back tariffs on our most important trading partners, fired thousands of federal workers, and left farmers on the hook for thousands of dollars via paused, and potentially canceled, contracts. There was hope that confirming Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture might put the brakes on this tear through the farm economy, but any hope was dashed with Secretary Rollins’s first official act. On Feb. 14, Rollins announced the elimination of 78 contracts plus the review of 1,000 more because of connections to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The projects highlighted in U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) press release were hand-picked to stoke outrage, but the reality is that many of these projects aim to address decades of harm to farmers of color and ensure the needs of all farmers are being met across the country. 

About 1,200 staff at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are believed to have been fired, exacerbating the understaffing issue there. Recent reporting by Agri-Pulse showed that NRCS would need 14,000 total staff to keep up with demand for conservation programs, reaching a high of around 11,700 late last year. The agency had been making progress hiring staff despite relatively low pay and stressful working conditions. In addition to shrinking the number of rural jobs, these indiscriminate firings take away the people who meet face to face with farmers and work with them on conservation plans that make sense for each farm. This mass firing was not paired with a streamlining of applications, a reduction in paperwork or any kind of modernization effort. What this means is that local NRCS staff will be even more overworked, applications for farmers will take even longer, and small farms will not receive the targeted outreach they need in order to fully participate in USDA programs.  

Speaking of outreach, some of the money promised to farmers most at risk of being canceled are contracts under NRCS’s “climate smart” umbrella. $20 billion in funding for conservation programs was created by the Inflation Reduction Act, and it has paid for overwhelmingly popular practices related to soil health, rotational grazing, and other practices that both address emissions and can build resilience on farms. Aaron Pape, whose story was covered by the New York Times, is owed $30,000 for fencing and water infrastructure for his livestock operation in Wisconsin. Aaron’s story is not unique. Many farmers, especially small-scale operators, cobble together multiple sources of funding to make a living. In some cases, farmers may not realize a local partnership with a food pantry is federally funded, or that their fencing contract comes from the Inflation Reduction Act. Farmers who are trying to make a living are punished for using “climate-smart” funding, even when they have no idea the IRA is funding their conservation program contract. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) underscored this point repeatedly in meetings with Members of Congress in Washington, D.C., this February with Minnesota farmers and farmer-serving organizations.  

IATP has also written about the need for more NRCS staff in order to connect farmers with funding for conservation projects, and included this concern in questions directed at Secretary Rollins before she was confirmed. In Fiscal Year 2023, between two thirds and three quarters of applicants to popular conservation cost-share programs were turned away. Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, some progress has been made. For example, in Minnesota between Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024, the rate of applicants awarded contracts for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) went up 15% and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) up a little less than 6%.ⁱ This progress has been important for chipping away at a years-long backlog while keeping soil in place, water cleaner and enabling farmers to address unique needs on their farms.  

On top of the weakening of NRCS, many other recent actions have the potential to hurt farmers, the global poor, and many who think their connection to federal food and farm policy is small. The evisceration of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) takes away an important market for many crops while increasing food insecurity across the globe. It is not hyperbolic to say that people will die because of the destruction of this agency. 

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has also been affected by mass layoffs. FSA is the agency within USDA that is the “lender of last resort” — a way for farmers to finance their operations even when for-profit banks turn them down. While large-scale operations will likely still be able to access capital to grow their operations, small-scale operators and farmers of color are likely to be hurt most by a drop-off in staff and capacity at FSA.  

United States Forest Service employees who manage forests to reduce wildfire risk and keep carbon dioxide from being released were let go just weeks after wildfires leveled large sections of Los Angeles and as wildfires are expected to grow more severe and frequent. USDA’s ag research and inspection branches were gutted, not only taking away important information on risks facing farmers, but also yield data that influences planting decisions, improvements to crop health amid droughts, and food safety risks to the general public. In a time of spreading avian influenza, this is a disastrous choice.  

Secretary Rollins needs to sit down with farmers and hear how this unnecessary chaos hurts them. Meanwhile, Congress should reassert its authority over spending decisions and pass a Farm Bill that truly addresses the needs of farmers and eaters. The Trump Administration’s illegal and reckless destruction of farmer-serving offices and breaking of contracts helps no one while further weakening rural economies that haven’t had a fair shake for decades. As many folks who’ve worked with livestock know, you only have to touch the electric fence once to learn your lesson. Today, we are seeing a governing philosophy of grabbing onto the wire and not letting go. This is a choice that will hurt everyone.