ICYMI: Michigan agriculture on the MAGA chopping block

Lansing, Mich. – As billionaire Elon Musk continues to cut programs Americans rely on, Michigan’s farmers have not been spared – and the worst may be yet to come.

As reported this week in The Detroit News:

“Funding cuts, grant freezes and staff layoffs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have led to cancellations or delays of Michigan food, farming and conservation projects, officials and project managers said, opening up another front in the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government.”

The cuts and freezes include:

• “Some Michigan farmers haven’t received promised reimbursements for the cost of planting soil-saving cover crops. A $25 million contract to protect farmland in southern Michigan faces an uncertain future.”
• “Tree-planting projects are on hold in cities across Michigan, and funding for a statewide agricultural pest management program is delayed. Food bank leaders are afraid they’ll lose funding they are planning on.”
• State Agriculture Director Tim Boring noted that “a lot of farmers with cost reimbursement grants under USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service have been put on pause, without any clarity on when or if the funding might resume.”
• “USDA also hasn’t released $10 billion in economic relief payments to farmers affected by natural disasters that Congress passed in December.”

Added to the devastating impact of Trump’s tariffs  – and the reciprocal tariffs imposed by Canada and Mexico on billions of dollars worth of Michigan agricultural exports – farmers across the state are understandably nervous about what the future may hold. For example, this chart highlights 2,252 Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants across the nation – many of them in Michigan – that have not yet been paid.

It is important to note that Michigan exports nearly $3 billion in agricultural and food products annually. Michigan is a top agricultural exporter to Canada, which is by far the state’s No. 1 export destination for agricultural and food products.

In February, the Michigan Agri-Business Association issued the following statement: “As a border state, leading agricultural exporter, and major North American trade and transit hub, Michigan deeply values our strong, long-term commercial relationships with Canada and Mexico. We are deeply concerned that across-the-board tariffs risk substantial negative economic consequences for Michigan agriculture and rural communities in our state.”

Stay tuned.

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