U.S. lawmakers are putting more pressure on the USDA to “honor frozen contracts” between the agency and U.S. farmers.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), introduced the Honor Farmer Contracts Act in hopes of pressuring the USDA and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to unfreeze all signed agreements and contracts and make all past due payments as quickly as possible. U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) is expected to unveil a similar measure in the house.
The bill – supported by more than 300 farming stakeholders across the U.S. — would also prohibit the USDA from cancelling agreements or contracts with farmers, or organizations providing assistance to farmers, “unless there has been a failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement or contract.
The Act would also prohibit the USDA from closing any Farm Service Agency county office, Natural Resources Conservation Service field office or Rural Development Service Center without providing 60 days prior notice and justification to Congress.
Billions in funding has been delayed while the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been reviewing USDA programs line by line. Many programs determined to be unhelpful to farmers or connected to diversity training have been axed. More than 100 agency office leases have also been terminated.
The Farm Action Fund said the frozen contracts cover a broad range of programs, such as cover crops for soil health, assistance for young and beginning farmers and investments in energy efficiency to lower energy bills for farmers facing rising input costs.
Rollins indicated during her statements at the Commodity Classic that the USDA would soon be releasing funding for contracts that were paid directly to farmers. An email sent to the agency’s press office requesting comment was not returned. [Listen to Rollins' discussions with reporters at Commodity Classic here]
Booker’s office acknowledged a “small portion” of funding has been released, but “billions” more remain frozen.
Farmers who successfully apply to USDA programs and spend their own dollars in reliance upon signed contracts with the agency expect that they will receive reimbursement, Booker said. Farmer-serving organizations are also facing imminent funding crises from not being reimbursed for completed or in-progress contracted work, he added.
“Farmers and the organizations that serve them operate on tight margins and cannot be left waiting for weeks and months without funding they rightfully planned for and need to keep operating,” Booker said Thursday.
“If not quickly made whole, these organizations will be forced to make agonizing decisions to lay off staff and stop helping farmers, destroying years of progress in advancing local food systems.”
Booker says recently the Congressionally-mandated Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program was canceled.
The Honor Farmer Contracts Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
