Trumps Funding Freezes Bruise a Core Constituency: Farmers

Skylar Holden, a cattle rancher in Missouri, had signed a $240,000 cost-sharing contract with the Agriculture Department to add fencing and improve the watering system for his property.But after the Trump administration abruptly froze federal funding, Mr.

Holden said, he was suddenly out tens of thousands of dollars and on the hook for tens of thousands more in labor and material costs, and risked losing his farm.“Whenever my farm payment comes due, there’s a good chance that I’m not going to be able to pay it,” he said in an interview.Mr.Holden’s situation underlines the potentially precarious position of farmers across the country, as a rapid-fire array of directives by the Trump administration have paused federal funding on a range of programs and grants.

Even as courts have halted many of the orders, rural communities are reeling from the effects, setting off confusion and panic among one of President Trump’s core constituencies.Billions of dollars in funding are at stake.One executive order targets the Inflation Reduction Act, including money for farmers to conserve soil and water and to complete energy projects.

Other directives touch on grants to states and producers.Another, which froze U.S.

foreign aid spending, temporarily left hundreds of millions of dollars worth of food and supplies sitting in ports and has stopped future purchases of grains and goods.Farmers, who voted overwhelmingly for Mr.Trump, have already had a tough stretch.

In the last two years, falling prices for corn, soybeans and wheat from 2022 high levels have resulted in declines in net farm income.While that figure is projected to rise sharply this year, largely because of government farm payments, the administration’s high-speed policymaking has left many farmers and some agribusinesses wary.“Farmers don’t need any more uncertainty than they already have,” said Nick Levendofsky, the executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, which represents about 4,000 fa...