On a Monday morning in early February, Diane Choplin wheels a bale of hay to a paddock on Bel Avenir, her farm east of Ashland, Oregon. Snow drapes the distant hills and birds chatter from the bushes as ewes crowd around; a few bleat softly as Choplin loads the feeder.
鈥淭hese ladies were bred in November; they鈥檒l lamb in April,鈥� says Choplin. She鈥檒l spend the spring moving the animals from paddock to paddock, making repairs, and booking the ewes鈥� 鈥渟pa appointments鈥� with the hoof trimmer. 鈥淗opefully there won鈥檛 be any vet bills.鈥�
Each ewe bears two or three offspring; in a good year, Choplin raises around 30 lambs. A mobile butcher comes to her farm to process the animals, which she sells directly to customers. She also sells pastured eggs.
Choplin started farming in 2012 because she wanted to provide a certain lifestyle to her son and produce sustainable, high-quality meat for her family and others. She never had any delusions about getting rich.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a lucrative business,鈥� she says. 鈥淢ost farms are supported by off-farm income, including mine.鈥�
Over the years, Choplin has taken advantage of conservation programs through Jackson County and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Grant funding helped her install fencing so she can practice rotational grazing; another grant helped her restore a portion of Myer Creek, which runs through her property.
This year, thanks to a five-year grant through the Conservation Stewardship Program, Choplin was planning to hire an apprentice through Rogue Farm Corps. This incubator program allows young aspiring farmers to earn an hourly wage while gaining hands-on experience.
Just as she was interviewing candidates, Choplin learned that executive actions had frozen or terminated millions of dollars in USDA grants. The funding freeze is tied to two executive orders signed by President Trump in January. One called for an immediate pause in the disbursement of funds appropriated through two laws passed during the Biden Administration. The second terminated any federal program or mandate tied to 鈥渄iversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.鈥�
Choplin thinks her grant might be funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the Biden-era laws. She also worries certain 鈥渢rigger words鈥� in her contract could put her funding in jeopardy. 鈥淚t mentions conservation and climate change, and it also prioritizes underserved producers,鈥� she explains. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a lot of language in there that is risky right now.鈥�
Choplin was looking forward to having full-time seasonal help. Among other things, she wants to remove invasive blackberries and launch a composting enterprise. This year鈥檚 grant pay-out was going toward her apprentice鈥檚 salary, but because funds aren鈥檛 disbursed until October, she鈥檚 decided not to proceed with hiring.
鈥�I would be drawing from my savings to pay for the Rogue Farm Corps intern,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚f I don鈥檛 get that payment, I can鈥檛 pay my property taxes or hay.鈥�
A diversity of producers and practices
Choplin is just one in Southern Oregon鈥檚 wide range of agricultural producers. While many grow hay and raise pasture animals, others grow mixed vegetables, fruit, seed crops, and flowers. There are also some small dairies.
The biggest struggle for small farmers and ranchers in this region is staying profitable, says Maud Powell, assistant professor at OSU Extension鈥檚 Small Farms Program. Sales increased for some producers last year, but those gains were offset by the rising cost of inputs like equipment, fuels and fertilizers, says Powell. 鈥淪o the profitability is actually lower than it has been in the past, even though the markets are increasing.鈥�
Federal conservation programs are offered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. These popular programs help farmers implement practices that are better for the land, water, and wildlife鈥攑lanting cover crops or preserving pollinator habitat, for example. These programs can also help farmers save costs or boost income. The , for instance, helps growers install hoop houses so they can extend the season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a lucrative business. Most farms are supported by off-farm income, including mine.鈥�Diane Choplin, of Bel Avenir Farm, in east Ashland.
Federal conservation programs are typically funded through the Farm Bill, but starting in 2023, several received a significant boost of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Some of the new funding was used to hire more county agents, who work one-on-one with producers, helping them navigate grant applications and implement practices on the ground.
The funding freeze has plunged thousands of producers like Choplin into uncertainty鈥攁nd in some cases, debt, says Jesse Womack, policy specialist at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. 鈥淭hese programs by and large don't hand out money to farmers upfront. [Producers] are being told that they might not be reimbursed for expenses they've already incurred.鈥�
The freeze has not only frozen grant contracts, but any technical assistance tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. On top of that, USDA staff have been fired as part of the government-wide purge across federal agencies.
About 1200 NRCS staff have been laid off so far, says Womack. 鈥淭his is an agency that has been fighting tooth and nail to build up staff over the last four years, plus to try to recover from historically low staffing levels prior to the last administration.鈥�
Supporting land stewards
Conservation programs don鈥檛 just support farmers and ranchers; they also help owners of forested property steward their land. Several years ago, the Greensprings, a rural mountain community southeast of Ashland, was identified as a priority for reducing 鈥渉azardous fuels.鈥� Many property owners have taken advantage of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, to thin trees, improve forest health and create wildlife habitat.
Last year, extra funding through the Inflation Reduction Act opened up the program to more landowners. Greensprings residents Rachel Knight and Jacob Alheid purchased a forested tract two years ago. The 168-acre parcel was logged in 2017, and cedars and shrubs had grown in thickly.
鈥淲e snapped it up, knowing that it was a nice piece of land that could be really well managed if done right,鈥� says Knight. 鈥淭hat's where NRCS comes in.鈥�
The couple was awarded a $14,000 grant to create a firebreak along the road that bisects the property. Knight was hoping to hire local labor to help with her project, but now, her funding is on hold. She worries about neighbors who may not be reimbursed for work they鈥檝e already begun.
Jesse Womack with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says the funding freeze affects entire communities. Grant money isn鈥檛 just used to purchase equipment or seeds, but to hire labor and expertise, he explains. 鈥淭his is going to have huge economy-wide ripple impacts and really yank money out of the pockets of a lot of professionals in rural America.鈥�
In the Greensprings, for example, many landowners have hired experienced local contractors like Lomakatsi or Brierville Fire & Forestry to carry out their contracts. It鈥檚 also unclear when or if Greensprings landowners will be able to apply for new grants, which could check the community鈥檚 collective effort to reduce the wildfire risk there.
Projects on hold
Not far from Diane Choplin鈥檚 farm, Chris Hardy walks along the road at Eagle Mill Farm in Ashland, checking on damage after a recent rare snowstorm. A large oak branch has snapped off near the road, but Hardy鈥檚 rows of grain seedlings look unscathed, aside from some nibbled plants at the end of one row. Tiny green shoots peek through straw.
Hardy is no stranger to extreme weather. 鈥淟ast year we had 115 degree temperatures that hit our farm over in Talent and one of our other farm sites,鈥� he says.
Hardy owns Hardy Seeds and has spearheaded the Rogue Valley Heritage Grains Project since 2019. Thirty local growers are helping him grow and propagate extremely rare grains gathered from all over the world. These include over 200 varieties of wheat, barley, oats, rye, emmer, spelt, einkorn, quinoa, sorghum, millet, upland rice, and other ancient grains. In some cases, they鈥檙e starting with a mere teaspoonful of seeds.
鈥淲e are working with drought tolerant, bio-regionally adapted varieties that can withstand the intense heat,鈥� says Hardy.
鈥淭hat's just leaving us in a really challenging position right now. (The government is) saying, 'Oh well, all that work you did, we can't pay you for it.'鈥�Chris Hardy, of Eagle Mill Farm in Ashland.
These growers were about to acquire processing equipment that would make their job easier. But, Hardy recently learned, a $200,000 grant that was going to be used to purchase the equipment is now on hold.
A second grant that Hardy Seeds was awarded through the is also frozen. The grant supports a demonstration project where Hardy is testing a dozen varieties of heritage grains for drought resistance. He鈥檚 already planted out a quarter acre and acquired sensors that track moisture levels in the soil.
鈥淎nd that's just leaving us in a really challenging position right now,鈥� says Hardy. 鈥淭hey're saying, oh well, all that work you did, we can't pay you for it.鈥�
On February 20, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that $20 million of frozen funds has been released, and that the agency will continue reviewing contracts tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. In a statement, NSAC notes that this tranche of released funds only represents about one percent of IRA-funded contracts for two popular conservation programs signed in 2023.
On February 24, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a to Secretary Rollins demanding that all of the funds be released and to restore 鈥渄edicated public servants鈥� to their jobs.
Producers around the country, including Choplin and Hardy, have taken to social media to share their stories. Choplin hopes this crisis helps raise awareness of the value of conservation programs.
鈥淔arm assistance programs allow a lot of small producers to keep producing,鈥� says Choplin. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have afforded to do infrastructure and things that I did if these programs didn鈥檛 exist.鈥�
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that Rogue Farm Corps apprentices are paid an hourly wage, not a stipend, and that Bel Avenir Farm also receives money from Jackson County.
