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. 

The freeze is tied to two executive orders signed by President Trump in January. One halted the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—signature legislation passed during the Biden administration. The other terminated any federal program or mandate tied to “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.” 

Geier says their NRCS agent doesn’t know when or if the money will be available. He doesn’t think he’ll be reimbursed for any work he does now, but halting the fencing project is not an option. “We need to build a fence before the sheep have lambs nine weeks from now,” says Geier. “You can't pause nature.” 

All around the country, farmers and organizations are scrambling to respond to the freeze. Many have tabled projects and cut back on staffing. Some, including Geier, are fighting back, lobbying their lawmakers and taking to social media with their stories. 

Every day, the ripple effects compound.

The role of federal conservation programs

Conservation programs help farmers implement practices that are better for the land, water, and wildlife. These programs fund a huge array of practices, from rotational grazing and “high tunnels” that extend the growing season to cover crops, hedgerows, and the creation of pollinator habitat. Some of the incentives help private landowners steward their forested land. 

In 2022, the Biden administration distributed an additional $1.9 billion to several conservation programs through the Inflation Reduction Act. Jesse Womack, policy specialist at National Sustainable Farming Coalition (NSAC), argues this boost was a necessary step. 

Abby Ferla of Foxtrot Farms. | Photo by Stephanie Craig

“We are nowhere near helping every farmer in America that wants to do voluntary conservation at this time,” says Womack, adding that even with the boost in funding from the IRA, only 25 percent of farmers have been able to take advantage of conservation programs.

“The IRA pause is functionally a second firing wave that will reduce the amount of experts available to farmers on the ground across the country.”

Geier says that, according to data he obtained through the USDA portal, between $24 million and $26 million was paid out to farmers in Indiana last year, just in grants from a single program funded through the IRA. 

The freeze is not just affecting farmers’ access to funds, says Womack. “There's also the freeze of all conservation technical assistance funding made available to NRCS through the IRA.” Some of this went to hiring more NRCS agents, who are the on-the-ground contacts for farmers, ranchers, and landowners; some also funded third-party experts who help farmers write conservation plans and design practices.

These losses compound the effect of the federal purge in federal workers that’s been taking place across agencies.

“The IRA pause is functionally a second firing wave that will reduce the amount of experts available to farmers on the ground across the country,” says Womack. 

According to Agri-Pulse, a news outlet focused on ag and food policy, about 1,200 NRCS staff had been laid off as of February 14. More recently, 5,700 probationary employees were temporarily rehired on orders of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Mike Nolan's Mountain Roots Produce. | Photo courtesy of Mountain Roots Produce

DEI in the crosshairs

Mike Nolan, president of Mancos Conservation District in Colorado, received an unwelcome Valentine’s Day surprise when he learned a $630,000 grant contract had been terminated. 

The grant was awarded to his district through the NRCS Equity and Conservation Outreach program, which was designed to reach underserved producers. These include new farmers and ranchers, veterans, and those with limited resources or who are socially disadvantaged. In a letter, NRCS stated the award “no longer effectuates agency priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities.”

The district planned to use the grant to develop and distribute a rural living handbook and to introduce high school students to natural resource careers. They were also planning creative ways to engage landowners, from workshops and movie screenings to a water education festival.

Mancos Conservation District is located in Montezuma County in southwest Colorado. The region is seeing an influx of new residents who may not be familiar with the special challenges of the high desert ecosystem, says Nolan. 

“A big chunk of our county is at 7,000 to 8,000 feet; the soils are really fragile, and water is really limited,” he says. “Education and outreach about conservation practices, even to normal landowners, not just farmers and ranchers, is really important.” 

Nolan understands that administration changes often bring with them a shift in priorities. “We knew that,” he says. “What we weren’t prepared for is something we’ve been spending down for 10 months being pulled out from under us. You’re not saving money at that point; you’re just causing chaos.” 

Sign up to receive Sierra News & Views

Get articles like this one sent directly to your inbox weekly.

With this action you affirm you want to receive Sierra Club communications and may vote on policy designated by the Sierra Club Board.

Sign up is Processing

Whoops! Something went wrong. Please email website.help@sierraclub.org

Thanks for joining the millions of Sierra Club supporters who are fighting to protect our world, and our future!

Mike Lavender, policy director at NSAC, says that no matter what, the sudden freezing and termination of contracts has eroded trust in the US Department of Agriculture and NRCS. “If the message to farmers and stakeholders at large is those contracts don't mean anything—we can just change them at will—what does that do for the government’s, in this case, the USDA’s, long-term relationship with stakeholders?”

Abby Ferla of Foxtrot Farms. | Photo by Stephanie Craig

A challenging climate for producers

NRCS was established in 1935 in the wake of the Dust Bowl to help farmers conserve soil and water. Today, farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of climate change. Some of the practices incentivized in conservation programs help producers adapt to extreme heat, drought, and other challenges.

Abby Ferla, farm manager at Foxtrot Farms in Ashfield, Massachusetts, is witnessing more intense heavy rain events and damaging windstorms on her small farm. “Every other year at this point is either a drought year or a flood year,” she says. “When we do get rain, it comes in intense bursts.” A recent nor’easter brought with it 75-mile-per-hour gusts.

Foxtrot Farms is a certified organic herb farm that produces elderberries, garlic, and dried herbs; among other things, it offers a “botanical baking club” and pick-your-own herb memberships.

Ferla says they’re motivated to “grow climate-resilient crops in climate-resilient ways,” in part to help boost regional food security. They practice no-till agriculture, don’t use any chemical inputs, and plant a mix of perennial and annual plants to minimize erosion. Foxtrot Farms has taken advantage of NRCS and other programs in the past. Thanks to an NRCS grant, they were able to install a high tunnel; funding through Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources allowed them to plant an elderberry orchard.

The operation secured a grant through the Climate Smart Commodities Program in 2024. Ferla was planning to use this year’s funding to plant and fence “alley crops”—incorporating perennial fruit and nut species with rows of botanical herbs—but on February 14, contracts with hundreds of small farms, including hers, were put on hold. This is because DOGE canceled the contract with the company that provides third-party reviews for some of the practices covered by the Climate Smart Commodities Program. Without these reviews, practices can’t be approved, and farmers can’t be reimbursed.

“Farms are not just producing food on certain portions of our farms. We are producing things like habitat for endangered species or the capture of agricultural runoff before it reaches a stream in order to improve water quality.” 

Ferla calls the freeze a “very frustrating piece of bureaucracy that is holding up funding on adaptive but expensive practices.” DOGE bragged about the cancellation in a post on X, calling it a “perfect Valentine’s Day gift to all taxpayers.”

Ferla isn’t overly hopeful that lobbying the USDA will change the outcome of her farm’s grant, but she does see the crisis as an opportunity to educate people about the connection between what farmers do on their land and the greater good. 

It’s a fact that industrial agriculture has degraded soil and water and wildlife habitat. But it’s also a fact that many farmers and ranchers take their roles as land stewards seriously. 

“Farms are not just producing food on certain portions of our farms,” says Geier, the Indiana farmer. “We are producing things like habitat for endangered species or the capture of agricultural runoff before it reaches a stream in order to improve water quality.” This is particularly urgent in a state like Indiana, where two-thirds of land is actively farmed.

On February 20, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that $20 million of frozen funds has been released, and that the agency will continue reviewing contracts tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. Lavender says this tranche of released funds represents less than 1 percent of all IRA-paused contracts.