The Agriculture Department is cutting millions of dollars in funding for a program aimed at helping farmers buy and maintain land, three people familiar with the decision confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday.
Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access ProgramFunded by the American Rescue Plan Act, nearly $300 million was awarded to about 50 projects across the country for five-year contracts starting in 2023.
Nonprofits, tribal governments, and other organizations applied for funding to address land access issues for disadvantaged farmers—including access to capital, market expansion, succession planning, and efforts to prevent land loss.
The projects were specifically targeted to address land access problems faced by black farmers, immigrant farmers, indigenous farmers, veterans, and other underrepresented groups.
According to one of the cancellation letters shared with POLITICO, the USDA determined that the program contained “discriminatory preferences based on diversity, equity and inclusion” as well as “wasteful spending.”
The letter also cites a March 2025 directive from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins USDA to review existing grants To ensure that they do not promote DEI and are “free from fraud, abuse, and duplication.”
“USDA will prioritize integrity, equity, merit, and color-blindness in furthering the Department’s mission,” Steven Peterson, Associate Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, wrote in a March 23 letter.
Peterson said in the letter that the grants are discriminatory, inconsistent with congressional intent and “unacceptably exposing taxpayers to waste.”
USDA spokesman Alec Versamis said in a statement that the program was an example of a “serious misuse of taxpayer dollars” and did not have the minimum requirement of “direct producer support.”
“Under this administration, USDA programs will maintain market principles, engage in fiscal discipline, and provide adequate funding to support farmers,” he said.
Cancellation comes after more than a day A dozen Democratic state attorneys general filed suit Against USDA, alleging that Rollins’ new grant spending requirements — which were released late last year and take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion provisions — violate congressional intent.
The cancellation of funding continues to pose challenges to farmers – especially young and novice farmers. Most agricultural land is owned by non-agricultural landowners, According to an annual survey Released March 12 by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The price of agricultural land, along with other agricultural inputs, continues to rise, According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Amanda Kohler, manager of the Land, Capital and Market Access Network, said in a statement that USDA “actively blocked award winners” from implementing the grants, including cutting off communication and delaying approval of key activities, and “then cited the absence of progress as grounds for termination.”
“After years of public investment in this program, the Administration is canceling contracts because it is finally ready to meet its capacity and calling it fiscal responsibility,” Kohler said, confirming that 49 of the 50 contracts had been cancelled. “The garbage here is theirs.”
Democratic lawmakers immediately condemned the funding cuts.
“If we want our nation’s agricultural production to continue, we need to support new and emerging farmers. Otherwise, large corporate ag entities are happy to continue gobbling up small and independent farms as more farmers retire,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told POLITICO in a statement. “Removing these grants for new farmers will make the problem worse.”
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member angie craig (D-Minn.) said the cuts are unlikely to face a lawsuit, criticizing the administration’s decision “to refuse to enforce a law with which it does not agree.”
