On Friday, February 28, 2025, we held a press conference in South Portland, Maine, to hear from Maine farmers who are among those directly impacted by the federal funding freeze of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) payments. Millions of dollars in USDA funding, including funding for a variety of innovative, science-based programs that support farmers across the country, is now in question. Despite USDA stating that some payments are moving forward, the farmers who spoke today have not had their payments resumed.
“The impact of bringing our tax dollars home to invest in our farms, our community resilience, and our rural economies is significant,” says Sarah Alexander, executive director of MOFGA. “These programs can mean the difference between a farm succeeding or failing.”
And the ripple effect of these dollars reach well beyond the farm.
“Taking these funding opportunities away from farmers, breaking existing contracts with farmers — it affects all of us,” says Janelle Plummer, co-owner of New Spoke Farm in West Paris, Maine. “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.”
Please contact members of Congress and urge them to advocate for farmers. USDA must honor its contracts and pay the farmers!
