12 Apr 2025 2:15 pm
--------------------------------------Fuelman » 9 minutes ago » wrote: ↑ There's not much I can say about that. We receive government subsidies for crop insurance, thanks for your contributions.
https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/02/19 ... reign-aid/
WASHINGTON — Farmers across the United States are finding themselves in precarious economic positions, as they attempt to navigate a strained farm economy and a barrage of executive orders from the Trump administration that put some farm programs in limbo.In his first month in office, President Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders to pause or cancel federal funding on a range of programs and grants — some of which go directly to farmers.Even though the administration said it would not stop payments to individuals and courts have ordered the administration to resume the programs, many farmers are awaiting payments on their contracts and have not been told when or if they can expect to receive expected funding. Billions of dollars are at stake.Missouri cattle producer Skylar Holden signed a $240,000 cost-sharing contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve water systems on his 260-acre cattle operation. After getting approval in January for the next phase of the project and investing upwards of $50,000 in pipes, equipment and labor, Holden says he got a call a week later from his field agent telling him the payments from USDA were on hold.“I instantly asked … what does that mean for all this money that I just spent, that I’m relying on these funds to come through?” Holden recounted in a TikTok live on Feb. 13.He said he was told the money was frozen and that it was not clear when or if the payments would happen.“Then to be honest with you, I just kind of zoned out. I just started running numbers in my head … I was trying to figure out how I could make this work,” Holden said.He already works another job to try to make ends meet on the farm and cares for his cattle after work. He says the debt on this project could mean disaster for his farm.When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 what his confidence was that the payment would come through eventually, Holden, who voted for Trump, rated the possibility a “one.”“I guess I have maybe a little bit of hope I will see the funding, but I am not too confident,” Holden said in the TikTok live. ‘Farmers are left wondering’Representatives from farm advocacy groups and cooperatives say they are hearing similar stories from their members, but most are unwilling to speak publicly for fear of retribution. Many large farm organizations backed Trump’s successful presidential campaign.