Federal Funding Response

Federal funding turmoil hurts farmers and everyday Americans.

Recent federal funding turmoil has created uncertainty for farmers, community members, MOFGA staff, and our partners. We’ve been navigating federal funding freezes and the uncertainty of the legality of executive orders that are having sweeping impacts.

MOFGA receives funding through 14 federal programs. In 2025, we have about $1 million in our budget that should come from these federal programs. Most of these funds are multi-year grants, and many of them include pass-through funds that go directly to farmers to help them sustain their businesses. There will be ongoing impacts for our farmers if these programs are no longer available.

MOFGA staff and board members have been working diligently to carry on the day-to-day operations of MOFGA while also making contingency plans and advocating for these United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that are critical to the future of food and agriculture in the United States.  

The uncertainty and the barrage of information and actions that are coming our way are meant to overwhelm us, take up our energy and resources, and pull us away from our mission-oriented work. We will not let that happen. We are not alone in our work, and we will come together with our community members, our partner organizations, and allies to protect and strengthen the critical tasks necessary to create an organic future.

Contact Your Lawmakers

We encourage MOFGA farmers and community members to contact members of Congress and urge them to do everything they can to protect the federal grants and loans that are so important strengthening a Maine agriculture that is healthy and accessible for all of us.

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Farmer Stories

A person sitting on a front porch stoop as someone stands in the doorway behind them

Alyssa Adkins

Farthest Field Farm, Freeport, Maine

A farmer smiling in the field holding a crate of vegetables

Rachel Chapman

Seven Moon Farm, Freedom, Maine

milkhouse

Caitlin Frame

The Milkhouse Farm & Creamery, Monmouth, Maine

Two people smiling in front of a red barn door

Rhiannon Hampson

Grace Pond Farm, Thomaston, Maine

Goranson Farm

Carl Johanson

Goranson Farm, Dresden, Maine

Crystal Spring Farm 14

Seth Kroeck

Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick, Maine

A farmer smiles near a truck door

Kevin Leavitt

Farmer Kev’s, West Gardiner, Maine

A farmer smiles holding a head of cauliflower

Michael Levine

Avalon Acres, Hollis, Maine

A farmer smiles sitting in the back of a truck bed filled with bins of vegetables

Janelle Plummer

New Spoke Farm, West Paris, Maine

A farmer stands between rows of flowers holding a handful of dahlias.

Krysten Powell

Suncatcher Flower Farm, Brunswick, Maine

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The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

Mailing Address:
PO Box 170
Unity, ME 04988
Physical Address:
294 Crosby Brook Road
Unity, ME 04988

Media Inquiries:
Contact Jennifer Wilhelm [email protected]

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The federal funding freeze and staffing cuts from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have had drastic impacts on farmers. According to Alyssa Adkins of Farthest Field Farm in Freeport, such federal actions “severely hampers our efficiency and ability to scale up our production as planned, which can be crippling for new farms like ours.” To scale-up a farming business requires upfront investment that many farmers don’t have access to; for new farmers with minimal track records of success, it can be difficult to get loans. For farmers like Adkins, support from the USDA in the form of grants to help cover the costs of high tunnels will allow them to expand production and increase sales. However, they have already spent over $30,000, and hundreds of hours working on these projects expecting to be reimbursed, but their funding is now in question. “Maine’s food security depends on small farms, and without historically available support in getting off the ground, the number of farms here and across the country will inevitably shrink over time.”

Watch Alyssa's Remarks

Food safety in the American food system is something most of us don’t give a second thought. And yet, the safety of our food supply is due in large part to the oversight of government regulation; producers are required to follow specific guidelines to ensure the food they sell is safe for human consumption. The Maine Produce Safety Improvement Grant (MPSIG), a program MOFGA manages with pass-through funds from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), helps farmers implement on-farm food safety practices in compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act and the Produce Safety Rule. Rachel Chapman of Seven Moon Farm in Freedom, Maine, is a MPSIG recipient who was planning to use the funds on her farm this year. The funds “would have provided up to $10,000 to update and improve our produce processing and sanitation infrastructure in our wash and pack station,” said Chapman. The federal funding freeze has put this project on hold and has also stopped the process of negotiating a farm ownership loan with the Farm Service Agency, which Chapman said, “has us feeling incredibly worried about our future.”

Watch Rachel's Remarks

There are a number of different federally funded programs that support farmers both directly and indirectly. For example, the Department of Education Local Food for Schools (LFS) program provides funding for K-12 schools to purchase healthy, locally produced foods. This funding has been instrumental in getting Maine-produced foods into secondary schools in underserved areas such as hard-to-reach towns in rural Maine, thereby supporting both healthy food access and farmers. Earlier this year, the federal government cut over $500,000 in funding for this program. “We currently supply eight school districts with our yogurt, helping to feed hundreds of Maine kids every day,” said Caitlin Frame of The Milkhouse Dairy Farm & Creamery in Monmouth, Maine. “We have plans to expand sales to school districts. However, it is likely that funding shortfalls will end these buy-local programs.”

Chip Dillon photo credit. 

Watch Caitlin's Remarks

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a long history. Abraham Lincoln established the USDA in 1862 and referred to it as “The People’s Department,” which both reflected the reality that over half of Americans were farmers at that time and that, true to this day, all Americans are directly affected by, and benefit from, farming. “We invest in public infrastructure and public services with our shared tax dollars because we recognize the value and the need in doing so,” said Rhiannon Hampson of Grace Pond Farm in Thomaston. “If you ask any one of these farmers where they spend a dollar when somebody gives them a dollar, they’re gonna tell you … it is not like taking that much hoped for vacation, or even putting it into a retirement account … they reinvest these dollars immediately in their business … so that they go back to work for our communities again.” Although only 1% of the USDA budget supports programs that directly help farmers improve farm management practices and increase yields, the benefits are outsized. The recent federal actions to freeze USDA funding, cut vital programs, and remove crucial staff will have lasting negative impacts on our farms and communities.

Watch Rhiannon's Remarks

“We were counting on receiving $45,000 dollars over the next three years from the USDA,” said Carl Johanson of Goranson Farm, one of the largest employers in Dresden, Maine. A multi-generational farm that produces hundreds of thousands of pounds of produce for their community, they have received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) since Johanson’s grandfather and grandmother ran the farm, allowing them to improve infrastructure and grow their business to increase yields and get more food to more people. These USDA funds have “generated work for local carpenters, electricians, excavation and concrete contractors, and well drillers… they’ve supported Maine grain farmers through the purchase of thousands of dollars of cover crop seed,” said Johanson. The loss of these appropriated funds doesn’t just affect the farm, it affects small businesses throughout the community.  

Watch Carl's Remarks

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is one of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s most important grant programs and is intended to help farmers improve conservation practices on the farm. While we know that certain farming practices, such as reduced tillage, increased mulching, and planting hedgerows, are best practices for improving soil health, reducing erosion, protecting water and air quality, and supporting wildlife habitat, the upfront cost and long return on investment can make them unattainable for many farmers. For example,spreading 20,000 cubic yards of wood chips on 70 acres of wild blueberries wouldn’t be possible for Seth Kroeck of Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick without an EQIP grant. Their contract, for $49,995, was intended to cover just a portion of this project over the course of four years. “Our blueberry lot soils are exceptionally sandy making them prone to erosion and drought,” said Kroeck. “In dry years we have minimal harvests and the stress impacts the plants and their productivity for several years afterward. This project is foundational to the success of our wild blueberry crop over the next decade.”

Watch Seth's Remarks

The federal funding that farmers receive to improve farm management and expand access to their products has benefits well beyond the farm. For Kevin Leavitt of Farmer Kev’s in West Gardiner, who has been growing food for his local community for 15 years, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant that his farm was awarded would have funded a solar project to reduce electricity costs of his farm. The installation of the array would also create jobs for other Mainers, keeping the dollars circulating in the local community. “Our reimbursement is for $48,000. No small amount,” said Leavitt. “For the last month we have had to make financial sacrifices. We have had to not pay others, not pay the contractor who in turn can’t pay his bills.” Leavitt said he is “distraught on how to come up with funds that we can no longer account for.” Programs like REAP, which make up just 1% of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) annual budget, have big impacts on our rural communities.

Watch Kevin's Remarks

We all know that farming is a physically demanding profession, and that the uncertainty of weather and pest pressures is taxing, but most people don’t think about the psychological toll these aspects of farming can have on farmers. “Honestly, some days you wake up in the morning and you’re like, well, why am I even doing this? You know, what’s the point,” said Michael Levine of Avalon Acres in Hollis. Support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff who provide technical assistance, and programs that provide resources and funding are a crucial safety net for farms and farmer wellbeing. The recent federal actions taken to reduce USDA staff, programs, and funding are not just hurting farm businesses, they are hurting farmers. “I’m concerned about the long term industry that farmers are just gonna toss in the towel because if the government’s not going to help you, it really makes you feel very isolated and alone,” said Levine.

Watch Michael's Remarks

For new farmers, finding affordable land and establishing markets is just the first step in building a successful farm business. Building the infrastructure necessary to increase productivity and protect crops has a big upfront cost. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities helps to defray some of these costs for farmers. “It was going to allow us to build permanent infrastructure like a deer fence, to protect our crops and hard-earned revenue,” said Janelle Plummer, New Spoke Farm in West Paris, Maine. The funding was also intended to help Plummer establish perennial hedgerows, increase pollinator habitat, and increase production, improving overall operational efficiency including hiring her first employee. “Taking these funding opportunities away from farmers, breaking existing contracts with farmers — it affects all of us,” said Plummer. “In the same way that food starts in a farmer’s field and ends on your plate, the repercussions of these political decisions will ripple out into all of our communities. The effect of this doesn’t end on my farm, it only begins there.” While programs like Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grants make up just 1% of the USDA budget, the impact on our farmers and communities is considerable.

Watch Janelle's Remarks

Farmers are stewards of the land they farm. The practices they employ can benefit soil health, water and air quality, and improve yields, but the cost of implementing conservation management strategies can be expensive and have a long return on investment, putting them out of reach for many farmers. “The work we do through these contracts directly impacts every aspect of our system, from working in cooperation with other farmers to improving land conservation and preservation efforts,” said Krysten Powell of Suncatcher Flower Farm in Brunswick. “When we lose these funds, the repercussions trickle down and out to everyone in the community.” Healthy farmland stewardship benefits all of us today and far into the future. Therefore, cuts to funding and staffing of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Services hurts all of us.

Watch Krysten's Remarks
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