Iowa Small Farmers Decry Trump USDA Cuts
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- Lawrencia Rogers, 33, began a USDA-funded two-year farming fellowship through Iowa Valley RC&D in March, only to have the $2.5M grant canceled 2.5 weeks later as 'wasteful spending' tied to DEI, even though a federal judge later ordered $127M in similar grants reinstated nationwide.
- USDA has lost 20,000 employees since Trump returned to office—17% of its Iowa staff—while canceling the Local Food Purchase Assistance, Local Food for Schools, and minority farmer support programs under Secretary Brooke Rollins.
- Iowa farm bankruptcies jumped 220% in 2025 to 18 farms, one of the highest raw totals in the country, per the American Farm Bureau Federation.
- China's pullback on US soybeans following Trump's tariffs hit Iowa, the country's second-largest producer of the crop, while the war with Iran has driven up fertilizer, gasoline, and diesel costs that anchor the agricultural supply chain.
- Anna Pesek, who farms poultry, pigs, and flowers in eastern Iowa, estimated the canceled programs cost her operation 10% of its income and nearly all of her large buyers, while fellow farmer James Nisly said refrigerated-truck grant funds were frozen three days after his first purchase.
- Iowa Democrats are targeting November midterms including the open US Senate seat, governor's mansion, and three House seats, with the first congressional district featuring Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks versus Democrat Christina Bohannan in a rematch decided by roughly 800 votes in 2024.
- The fellowship program was part of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, a $300M Biden-era effort to assist "underserved producers"—typically military veterans or farmers with limited experience or money—at a time when Iowa's average farmer age nears 58 and rural populations have declined for years.
Why it matters: Iowa draws a third of its economic output from agriculture, making the 220% spike in farm bankruptcies and canceled USDA grants a direct threat to Trump's hold on the state—and a clear opening for Democrats targeting November's open Senate seat and three House seats. The canceled training programs also remove a pipeline for replacements as Iowa's average farmer nears 58 and rural populations shrink.
