Deanne Boyer stands in what was once the path of rushing water. When 10 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in July 2023, it flooded Willow Creek, damaged 60 homes, and took acres of cropland with it.
Her plan to plant willows, poplars, honey locusts and American persimmons on her farm—Willow Run Farmstead—in Berks County, Pennsylvania would help prevent similar events in the future. By expanding a streamside buffer and improving the land's ability to soak up water, the multi-functional project would mean less flooding—and pollution—would go beyond where Deanne stood and reach the creek during extreme rainstorms.
The project would have benefited the environment, Deanne's bottom line, and the cattle she raises. And it was under review and backed by a program with funds to help pay for it.
But the federal government stepped in and then stepped out.
In March, the Trump administration froze federal funds and canceled contracts for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program created by the Biden administration. It is this program that provided funding to PA Sustainable Agriculture (Pasa) for an array of farm conservation projects, including putting those trees onto Willow Run Farmstead.
In April, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that USDA was canceling the Climate-Smart Commodities program and replacing it with a new program with different criteria for awarding grants.
Deanne and others think the program may have been doomed by its label.
"If it hadn't been named "climate,' would it have been okay?" Deanne wonders. "That is a hard pill to swallow because these are things that are advantageous for my farm to be viable in the future."
"We can disagree on why [the climate is changing], but it is changing, and farmers need to be able to pivot to accommodate that change," says Amanda Lee-Milner of Highfield Hollow Farm.
Projects to Benefit Climate, Water, and Farms Canceled
In 2024, the USDA said the Climate-Smart Commodities program would invest $911 million in federal funding nationally to support projects, including in Pennsylvania.
Pasa was awarded $59 million and was processing projects on smaller farms like Deanne's, across Pennsylvania and 14 other states.
When the USDA grants were put on hold, Pasa exhausted the last of its Climate-Smart Commodities funds, roughly $500,000, to make unfulfilled contracts with farmers whole. At the time, Pasa said the federal government owed it more than $3 million in grant reimbursements.
With offices in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pasa then had no choice but to furlough about 60 of its 70 employees on April 2.
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Pasa signed on to a lawsuit against the federal government, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Public Rights Project, to have funding restored. Pasa Executive Director Hannah Smith-Brubaker called the cuts "nonsensical" and made for "arbitrary and erroneous" reasons.
Secretary Rollins said the Climate-Smart Commodities program would be renamed the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative. Stipulations for funding would include that a minimum of 65 percent of federal funds must go to producers, and that grant recipients must have enrolled at least one producer as of Dec. 31, 2024.
A Tough Toll on Small Farms
Deanne is a third-generation farmer on a farmstead that dates to the 1850s. She has 50 cattle on 75 acres of pasture and markets grassfed beef directly to consumers.
Through Pasa, she was finalizing details to get $13,539 to plant 12 acres of trees for silvopasture, a practice that integrates trees into pastures to provide cooling shade and additional food for livestock. The money also would have helped her get buried water lines to improve her ability to rotationally graze her cattle, which helps improve the health of pastures and their ability to store carbon and water.
After the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) canceled the environmental review contract for her plan, and the Climate-Smart Commodities program was canceled, a maximum of $45,000 in grant funding available to farms was no longer available to Deanne.
"I am concerned that I am going to end up being stuck with the bill [for these programs], which is not something that I as a small business owner can sustain," says Deanne Boyer of Willow Run Farmstead.
"When cattle are overheated, they aren't grazing throughout the day. They won't gain as much weight as possible under the stress. It hurts their health and is a loss on my end," she says. "It's discouraging," Deanne adds, "to recognize that these programs are no longer valued by our federal government and not supported."
Helping Farms and the Environment is "Not a Waste'
In Adams County, second-generation sheep and goat farmer Amanda Lee-Milner feels the same way.
"There are a variety of ways to farm, and helping farmers maintain the environment—to not put extra carbon in it, to reduce the use of fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides, to help our environment and food sources and waterways—is not a waste of money," Amanda says.
At Highfield Hollow Farm in Gardners, Amanda tends to 25 goats and 75 sheep on 90 acres, producing pastured meat and honey.
She applied through Pasa and was awarded a $45,000 grant of Climate-Smart funds. She was within a week or so of getting a contract before DOGE froze the funds.
Amanda wanted to fence 10 acres of unused, established forest into four paddocks. It would have provided more food and a cooler foraging area for the goats. In the forest, browsing off the ground means healthier goats and less veterinary and medicine expenses.
Amid the trees, soil in the paddocks would retain moisture during droughts, while capturing and storing climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Without the new fencing and with no grass in the summer, the sheep must go into the barn and dip into the winter stash of hay at about $3,000 in expense.
Stuck With the Bill—And the Problem
The economic value of federal grants through Pasa and elsewhere extends beyond the farm, benefitting contractors and others who will be paid to do the work.
For Amanda's project, about 93 percent of the funding was going directly to a small business in Lancaster County to build the fence. The rest would have been used to hire a heavy equipment operator for site preparation.
If I did this as a business owner, I would be considered untrustworthy and unreliable.
Deanne is also devastated to see her support system torn down, as Pasa staff and others are no longer available to help. "Those who offer technical assistance have the knowledge and experience to help us make the best decisions for our farms," she says. "That loss is something I feel more than the funding."
The loss of both the staff and the funding could have long-term consequences for the environment, as fewer conservation practices will be put in place to help restore local streams and the Chesapeake Bay downstream.
Lost, too, is trust in the federal government.
The USDA said it would honor all eligible expenses grantees incurred through April 13, 2025.
Smith-Brubaker says she was told that Pasa could reapply under the newly named program. As of early May, she had not received any information about options.
"I know farmers that were further along in the process and now they are stuck with a bill that they can't necessarily afford," Deanne says. "If I did this as a business owner, I would be considered untrustworthy and unreliable. So, how would I do business with a government that is doing the same thing to me?"
