State Power to Protect our Farmers, Food, and Rural Communities.

State Power to Protect our Farmers, Food, and Rural Communities.

By: Kendra Kimbirauskas

The agricultural community has long been the backbone of our economy, but recent Trump administration policy decisions have placed unprecedented strain on farmers and rural communities across the country. In light of these actions—particularly the use of executive orders and the systematic dismantling of federal agencies—state legislators must be well-informed about the direct and indirect impacts on their states. These actions often create policy gaps, regulatory challenges, and funding shifts that significantly affect state governance.

The unprecedented decisions have had a significant impact on farmers and rural communities. Navigating these changes has been challenging, from the instability caused by tariffs to the USDA's cancellation of $1 billion in funding for local food purchasing programs that support schools and food banks. Additionally, funding freezes and plans to eliminate the EPA’s environmental justice offices have further compounded these difficulties. These decisions will have direct, serious, and long-lasting consequences for working families, with communities of color, rural populations, farmers, and farmworkers bearing the heaviest burden. However, this moment also presents an opportunity for state legislators to step up and take action in response to these challenges.

RRR rural communities 04 1 — Content summarized from our rural communities, farmers, and our food briefing as part of our bi-weekly federal rapid response series. Legislators and legislative staff can register here for this ongoing series.

The Growing Uncertainty in Rural Communities

The federal funding freeze has left farmers and rural people with a wave of uncertainty across the rural landscape. USDA local offices closing, employees being laid off, and critical conservation programs frozen have left farmers without the support they rely on. Contracts that were once secured are now uncertain, causing financial strain and distress. Many fear that these cuts will accelerate trends of farm consolidation, pushing out small and mid-sized family farms and favoring large agribusinesses.

The ripple effects of these policy changes extend far beyond individual farms. Community banks, rural businesses, and local economies are all feeling the pressure. Tariff threats and shifting market conditions have only exacerbated the situation, creating a "whiplash effect" that makes long-term planning nearly impossible for many farmers.

The Threat to Equity in Agriculture

There are deeply concerning effects of recent executive orders that have targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the USDA. These rollbacks are not just policy shifts but direct attacks on 40 years of the civil rights movement’s progress in agriculture. There have been harmful dog whistles and lies about these advances coming at the expense of white farmers. This false narrative is intended to undermine civil rights and interracial solidarity between family farm organizations, like the National Farmers Union, with predominantly white members, and those organizations working directly in communities with farmers of color. The result of these actions has been chilling and profound for community-based organizations. Many serve the most vulnerable farmers, who are now facing threats, seeing grant funds being delayed or withheld, and are being silenced by the fear of retaliation.

Additionally, the elimination of the Local Food Purchasing Program is resulting in funds being withheld that would have otherwise gone to food programs for purchasing local healthy foods directly from local farmers. This action is causing harm to the most vulnerable farmers and the communities that they serve.

Furthermore, these funding cuts and regulatory rollbacks are having a significant mental health impact on farmers. With Medicaid rollbacks occurring simultaneously, farmers are left without critical safety nets, compounding their daily stress and uncertainty.

Dismantling USAID’s impact on farmers and rural communities

While many view USAID as an international agency, the reality is that 83% of its funding flows through U.S. nonprofits, farms, and businesses, and is deeply integrated into the American economy. Less known is that USAID directed millions of dollars into university research and innovation labs, which are critical for farmers. Programs supporting food assistance and university research have been severely affected by the Trump administration eliminating the agency, and we can expect farmers and rural communities to suffer as a result.

While the future of the agency hangs with the courts, it is currently not operating on a day-to-day basis, which has led to layoffs and disruptions in critical food supply chains globally while impacting farmers here at home.

Representative Sonya Harper (IL) is Fighting Back

In mid-March, Representative Sonya Harper, who chairs the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee, held a hearing to uplift the stories of farmers who were being harmed by the Trump administration’s funding freeze. With a forum to lift up the voices of those most impacted, advocates were able to quickly mobilize their members to share stories. This hearing garnered considerable media attention and highlighted the severe repercussions of the USDA’s decision to remove funding for critical programs such as the Illinois Eats Program and the Resilient Food Systems Program. These cuts, coupled with mass layoffs at the USDA and looming threats of tariffs, have created economic uncertainty and disruption for many farmers across the state. Additionally, the closure of key research institutions like the Peoria Ag Lab and the termination of federal agreements, such as those funding the Soybean Innovation Lab, have only added to the instability.

Rep. Harper’s hearing underscored the real-world impacts of these decisions—farmers struggling to stay afloat, food banks unable to provide fresh produce, and conservation programs left in limbo.

Actions Legislators can take

Regardless of whether urban or rural, state legislators have an opportunity to use their platform to raise awareness of how Trump administration policies and actions are impacting farmers and rural communities while directly threatening the food security of so many Americans. Immediate action legislators can take:

Host a hearing: If you are a legislator in a position to request that your state’s equivalent of an agriculture committee hold an information hearing on how farmers feel about Trump administration policies, this can be a powerful forum to lift up the voices of those directly harmed. If you are unable to get an official hearing through your state’s agriculture committee, host an unofficial hearing at a local business or a public library and work with your local food and farming community to invite farmers and the media.
Introduce a resolution: Use your power in the legislature to call on the Trump administration to reinstate the funding to support farmers, food for schools, and reinstate USAID as a way to support farmers and rural communities in your state.
Write an Op-ed: Use your voice to tell the stories of the farmers, farm workers, universities, or rural communities that are impacted by the Trump administration policies. Continue to make visible the consequences of federal action at a local level.
Advocate for state-level policies: Continue to be a champion for state-level policies that support farmers and build resilient food systems. Stay in relationships and connected with community partners (outside of the corporate ag lobby), and continue to advocate for organizations working to support farmers of color in your state. Collaborate with tax advocates and allied Ways & Means legislators to identify new forms of sustainable revenue in your state.

Relevant Resources:

If you have farmer constituents experiencing stress, here are some resources for them. (Note this is currently housed on a USDA site. It would be a good idea to download and file this document in the event it disappears)

Use these graphics to lift up the impacts that the elimination of USAID has caused to your state. Use these graphics to tell the story of how your state’s universities will be affected by losing resources from the program.

Keep this resource handy from our partner Dãnia Davy, who has been holding office hours about the funding freeze called What the Funding?!?!

Keep up to date on recent Trump administration actions and the impact to food and farming by bookmarking Civil Eats’ Policy Tracker.

The SiX Ag team has been following some of the recent federal administration’s actions in our CROP HOT Takes emails. You can find more information here. Additionally, we’ve created several new toolkits on dangerous state policy trends this session including on the pesticide preemption “Bayer” bills and the impacts of the Immigration Executive Orders on farmworkers. With the extreme attacks on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, we’ve also compiled a messaging toolkit for state legislators to support Black farmers.

Here is a briefing with the State Revenue Alliance on budget threats and revenue opportunities in 2025, which can serve as a resource when working with allies to identify new opportunities for revenue.

New Series: Federal Rapid Response Strategy Sessions

New Series: Federal Rapid Response Strategy Sessions

In light of the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration—particularly the use of executive orders and the systematic dismantling of federal agencies—state legislators must be well-informed about the direct and indirect impacts on their states and how to respond. These actions often leave gaps in policies, create new challenges, and shift funding, which can make things harder for state governments.

To help state lawmakers stay informed and ready, SiX and State Futures are hosting bi-weekly Federal Rapid Response Rooms. These virtual meetings give state leaders the tools, strategies, and support they need to respond to federal changes and, when possible, push back.

In these sessions, state legislators and policy experts come together to talk about new federal actions, figure out how they affect states, and plan ways to respond. The goal is to make sure states aren't just reacting to federal decisions but are also creating their own strategies and a proactive vision for the future.

State legislators and staff, click here to join us for our next Federal Rapid Response Room!

So far we have covered:

Executive Orders and State Impact

Federal actions can quickly change state funding and priorities. This first session gave lawmakers important information about these fast-moving decisions, their impacts on states, and how to respond. Experts like Somil Trivedi from Democracy Forward and Michigan Senate Leader Winnie Brinks shared their insights. Lawmakers also joined small group discussions to talk about challenges, solutions, and ways to work together across states. The meeting wrapped up with a summary, helpful resources, and next steps.

State Power to Protect Public Schools

Federal Rapid Response Strategy Sessions 02.2

Florida Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the Education Law Center, and North Carolina State House Representative Lindsey Prather joined this session to talk about public education. Access to education is directly tied to economic and political power — and public education wasn’t handed to us, it was fought for. But for decades, there’s been a strong, well-funded push to privatize schools.

Click here for a recap of the public education session.

Agriculture, Rural Communities, and Food

The Trump administration’s latest moves are already hitting farmers, rural communities, and our food system. In this session, expert speakers broke down what’s happening, how it’s affecting farms and families in rural areas, and what it all means for the future of agriculture and food.

Click here for a recap of the rural communities, farmers, and our food briefing.

Federal + State Regulatory Attacks and State Response

In this session, experts and lawmakers covered DOGE, efforts to weaken federal regulatory agencies, state-level DOGE actions, and positive state responses.

Rapid Response: Social Safety Net Programs

In this session, we focused on Medicaid and social safety nets. Read more about defending Medicaid here.

Coming Soon:

May 15, 2025, 1 pm ET / 10 am PT
Register here

NEW VIDEO: SiX's Agriculture and Food Systems Program

Our rural, agriculture, and food systems programming is a cornerstone of the work that we do here at SiX.

In this new video, Kendra Kimbirauskas, senior director of agriculture & food systems talks about the importance of this work and why state legislators have the opportunity to be leaders in advancing rural, agriculture, and food systems policy that not only is good for people, the planet, rural communities and animals, but also advances economic and reproductive justice and our democratic values.

State lawmakers can be powerful advocates for change, and this video highlights the importance of their leadership in advancing a more just and sustainable future for everyone.

Video by: No Sudden Movements.

Middle-Out Economics: Communicating Policies The Empower Workers

Middle-Out Economics: Communicating Policies The Empower Workers

SiX and the Rural Democracy Initiative co-sponsored a webinar on new polling from the Winning Jobs Narrative Project, a working people-centered narrative architecture for talking about jobs, work, and the economy that resonates across race, geography, and issues.

Following an ambitious research agenda, the Winning Jobs Narrative team has developed a narrative architecture that progressive advocates and leaders can draw from to frame a broad range of issues.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization SiX works in close coordination with legislators, advocacy groups, think tanks, and activists to provide the tools and information legislators need to be successful. SiX’s resources are free of charge to state legislators and staff.

COVID Resources: Rural Communities

The spread of COVID-19 took longer to reach rural America, however, once it did, it highlighted some basic infrastructure needs that are lacking for rural residents. During COVID-19, rural people have faced many of the same challenges as urban residents, yet have struggled to access adequate information, medical services, food and medicine due to an erosion of public investment in rural infrastructure.

Resources:

General
- The CDC has compiled a list of resources that address the unique challenges of rural communities. You can find that list here.
- The CDC has also compiled a list of resources for tribal communities. That list can be found here.

Broadband
- Urge the Federal Communications Commission to take measures to secure broadband access for those impacted by COVID-19 like New Jersey did.
- Invest in broadband activity to significantly increase rural broadband capacity for distance learning, remote working, telehealth and other critical services like Vermont did.
- Invest in existing rural cooperatives in order to support the expansion of broadband to rural communities. This is what Mississippi did.
- Establish a grant program for broadband expansion like was done in Minnesota and Mississippi.

Rural Health Care
- For background, see this paper that looks at the urban - rural mental health disparities in the US During COVID-19. You can access it here.
- Designate funds specifically for rural health care and services. North Carolina did this as part of an omnibus bill.
- Appropriate funds to cover the costs incurred by rural hospitals as a result of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what Mississippi did.
- Reimburse rural health care providers for expenses incurred for telehealth services. This is what Colorado did.

Rural Small Business
- When creating small business loan or grant programs, prioritize applicants who come from rural areas, women- or minority-owned businesses or businesses owned by veterans. See this bill in Colorado as an example.

Rural Homelessness
- The National Healthcare for the Homeless Council has a list of resources that are unique to addressing homelessness in rural areas. You can access the resources here.
- For background, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness has a pre-COVID report that discusses the unique challenges of addressing homelessness in rural communities. You can access the report here.
- Ensure that supportive housing services are extended to rural communities, where people have less access to nonprofits and other easily accessible social services. This is what Colorado attempted.