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JD, Usha Vance visit Greenland as Trump administration eyes territory; Maine nurses, medical workers call for improved staffing ratios; Court orders WA to rewrite CAFO dairy operation permit regulations; MS aims to expand Fresh Start Act to cut recidivism.

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The Dept. of Health and Human Services prepares to cut 10,000 more jobs. Election officials are unsure if a Trump executive order will be enacted, and Republicans in Congress say they aim to cut NPR and PBS funding.

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Rural folks face significant clean air and water risks due to EPA cutbacks, a group of policymakers is working to expand rural health care via mobile clinics, and a new study maps Montana's news landscape.

Funds to be released for some IN farmers' conservation projects

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Monday, February 24, 2025   

It looks like at least some Indiana farmers will be getting the federal dollars they have been counting on for farm conservation and soil health.

The Inflation Reduction Act included almost $20 million in funding for popular initiatives like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. More than 1,100 Indiana farms are part of the programs to help fight climate change.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would release funds for farmers who already have contracts.

Russell Taylor, vice president of Live Earth Products, which makes natural soil amendment products, said the funding freeze has forced the U.S. Senate to pivot on some big issues still to be resolved.

"Some of these freezes for funding, those items are really causing things that should have been working or in the works to be halted, such as the Farm Bill," Taylor explained. "Some of these things are just going to be delayed a little bit further out in the year but there still should be optimistic progress for things like getting a Farm Bill passed."

In releasing the funds, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins blamed the delay on the Biden administration, saying it "rushed out" money which was supposed to be spent over multiple years. She stated her agency is reviewing whether any of the funding so far has gone to programs which, in Rollins' words, "had nothing to do with agriculture."

Taylor cautioned farmers should also ensure they have what they need now to plant their crops should Trump's threats to impose tariffs become reality. And no matter the future of federal farm assistance, he said there are some steps farmers can take to ensure their soil health.

"In those regards to climate change, there are some things that you should be planning as far as the long game, and that is, building your soil organic matter," Taylor emphasized. "That's something that a farmer can address every year after year, and have it be useful for them to reduce their inputs and make a better utilization of those inputs."

He noted soil organic matter is a farmer's reservoir for storing water and nutrients, and it can always be improved regardless of current federal policies. U.S. Department of Agriculture research has found farms can boost their soil health within 10 years by using conservation practices.


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