Many Kansas farmers are in limbo and waiting for promised payments under contracts they signed with the federal government. It comes after a federal directive from the Trump administration paused payments at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farming in Kansas can be clouded with uncertainty, like harsh weather and limited natural resources. But current funding freezes have added a new variable and left some of them with empty hands.
Some farmers have not been paid out for work they already completed under contracts signed last year. At least millions of dollars are left in limbo.
After the administration of President Donald Trump ordered a funding freeze of the Inflation Reduction Act from the Biden administration, waves of federal funding have ceased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had funding tied up under that act. Some programs were put on pause, leaving Kansas farmers and rural communities looking for answers.
Rural renewable energy projects and conservation funding have also been stalled on the High Plains.
Bill Shaw, owner of Shaw Feedyard in Ashland, has a contract worth $600,000 for rural energy development. He said he never thought twice about the government holding up its end of a contract, until now.
“Now the USDA is telling me I may not get paid and I don’t understand how that’s possible,” Shaw said. “If I have a contract with the government they hold me to it. I’m doing the same.”
The freeze has paused payments from the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP. The program was meant to help ag workers become more energy efficient and produce renewable energy. This would cut their energy costs while offsetting some of the negative environmental impacts farming can produce.
Shaw was one of many rural Kansans who saw the opportunity to go green and save money. He installed solar panels on his feedyard operation to cut down on his electric bill and offset the carbon emissions produced by his operation.
The program requires the work be done upfront. Farmers pay for the project, like installing renewable energy or planting cover crops with their own money, and the government reimburses them up to 50%.
“If Trump doesn’t want to have a solar energy program in the future, that’s his business. But this is a deal that was already done long before he ever came into office,” Shaw said.
The USDA wouldn’t confirm how many REAP grants are paused in Kansas.
The funding freeze impacts programs that incentivize farming practices that could help the environment and reduce climate change. But Kansans will likely need those new options as drought becomes more frequent and water more scarce.
The USDA has since released the first wave of funds from the $20 million that were being held for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.
Kansas had 46 contracts worth $480,000 with the Natural Resources Conservation Service which deliver conservation solutions to agricultural producers and improve the quality of air, water, soil and habitat.
Some of those funds may have been resolved with the release of funds. But rural renewable energy projects are still paused.
In the release, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, said that some funding from the IRA went to programs that have “nothing to do with agriculture, so it is still under review.”
The release also said that additional announcements are forthcoming and the USDA is committed to honoring obligations with taxpayers, but not funding climate focused programs or programs that include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, often called DEI.
“We honor our sacred obligation to American taxpayers—and to ensure that programs are focused on supporting farmers and ranchers, not DEIA programs or far-left climate programs.”
A spokesperson for the USDA said in an email that the Trump administration rightfully has asked for a comprehensive review of all contracts, work and personnel across all federal agencies. Anything that violates the president’s executive orders will be subject to review.
The freeze also had locked up funds and gutted the Kansas City Farm School.
Lydia Nebel with the school said that 50% of their budget is based on federal contracts left up in the air.
The school focuses on teaching young farmers climate smart practices like no-till farming and they also focus on producing local food for people in Wyandotte County.
“Farmers are really being impacted by climate change,” Nebel said. “The federal government, because of politics, is not addressing the hurt.”
Smaller farms and younger farmers are more likely to utilize conservation program funds. The freeze left a lot of smaller operations like the farm school in complete limbo, unable to plan for this year or continue feeding local Kansans.
Not just farmers are left confused. Farm agencies are also scrambling for answers to provide local farmers across Kansas.
Greg Doering for the Kansas Farm Bureau said they don’t have answers for farmers yet.
“We’re in the same boat as everyone else. We’re looking for answers,” Doering said. “I think if those come sooner rather than later it is best for everyone involved.”
Doering also wants to remind Kansas farmers that this freeze is supposed to only be a pause, and he hopes funding will be reviewed and move forward quickly.
Calen Moore covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can email him at [email protected].
