President Donald Trump’s rural base is suffering as his administration keeps yanking critical funding, according to a new report.
Iowa farmers are decrying the Trump U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cancellation of millions of dollars’ worth of grants because of “wasteful spending” and cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to reporting by The Guardian.
“You feel like a slingshot,” Jason Grimm, the executive director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development, told The Guardian. The Iowa Valley RC&D is a non-profit that used USDA funding to set up and train new farmers.
The Guardian noted a federal judge ordered the USDA to reinstate $127 million in grants awarded to organizations like the Iowa Valley RC&D after pulling the funding.
However, Grimm said he already had to cut programming, and the reversal left him and other farmers feeling like, “You’re just getting bounced back and forth,” he told The Guardian.
“The continued cancelled funding that we’re seeing from USDA continues to be the cherry on top for many organizations and farmers that are already up against really hard times,” Anna Pesek, who farms poultry, pigs and flowers in Iowa, told The Guardian.
Farmer Lawrencia Rogers told The Guardian that she was being laid off because of the Trump administration’s cuts to DEI programs, describing it as a “slap in the face,” and said it made her realize the Trump administration’s hostility to farmers.
“I have never had a decision on such a level impact my life literally overnight in such a drastic way,” Rogers said. “If that wasn’t a rude awakening to pay more attention and, I don’t know, maybe be more vocal or take more action, I don’t know what could be.”