Agricultural funds are still frozen or cut for many domestic programs – the Organic Cost Share program may not be coming back at all, it seems, and farm contracts related to anything from “Climate-Smart” programs are frozen indefinitely. As previously mentioned in other posts, this is a problem for so many farmers because these contracts are already in motion, and some folks have already put forth the money or taken out loans for project completion (federal grants are reimbursement based, so you receive the money when the project is finished).

This past week, “the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Public Rights Project jointly filed a lawsuit against the US government for unlawfully withholding approved federal funds. The plaintiffs include: The Sustainability Institute; Agrarian Trust; Bronx River Alliance; CleanAIRE NC; Conservation Innovation Fund; Marbleseed; and the cities of Baltimore, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; New Haven, Connecticut; and San Diego, California.” PASA Sustainable Agriculture is represented as a plaintiff in this case.  

Here is the full letter from PASA Executive Director, Hannah Brubaker-Smith.

If you are interested in learning more, my friend and fellow PA farmer, Lindsey Shapiro, will be speaking to Reimagine Appalachia this Tuesday on behalf of PASA. You can register to listen on to this call here.