This was originally published as a guest essay in the PA Environmental Digest on March 27, 2025
The federal government has frozen grants awarded to Pennsylvania farmers, leaving behind unpaid contracts, people out of work, and obstacles to reducing pollution to local waters and the Chesapeake Bay.
In Montgomery County, a proposed new grass waterway bypassing Dorene Pasekoff’s farm field would reduce polluted runoff going into Fishing Creek. In Adams County, Amanda Lee-Milner’s plan for fencing on her farm would establish rotational grazing for livestock and maintain 10 acres of forest. In Berks County, new trees at Deanne Boyer’s farm could absorb and filter runoff that flows over 12 acres near Willow Creek.
But sadly, the flow of money and support for these projects and others through Pasa Sustainable Agriculture (Pasa) has been shut off by the Trump Administration. It comes at a time when Pennsylvania has recommitted itself to cleaning up its 28,000 miles of local waters harmed by pollution, which eventually flow to the Chesapeake.
Despite having reviews and approved grants, without signed contracts, projects that farmers like Dorene, Amanda, and Deanne want to install are now dormant.
“By planting these trees, we’re increasing our water infiltration in our pastures, which in our area particularly, we’ve been seeing a lot of heavy rainfall and storms such as in 2023 and a lot of water runoff,” Boyer said.
Freezing of federal funds and canceling contracts by the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is not an official government agency, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are a serious blow to Pennsylvania’s momentum toward cleaner waters. Pasa has five federal grants that are frozen and are subawardees in several more.
Seeking to have funding restored, Pasa signed on to a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Public Rights Project. Pasa Executive Director Hannah Smith-Brubaker called the cuts “nonsensical,” made for “arbitrary and erroneous” reasons.
Doing the right thing for clean water costs money up front. To do that, the agriculture community needs federal support it can depend on.
Since 2023, Pasa has received $59 million in USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant funding for five years of projects on smaller farms across Pennsylvania and 14 other states. Eligible projects include innovative, effective methods not normally covered by USDA funding, such as silvopasturing, cover-cropping, hedgerow planting, fencing, and reduced tillage.
When the federal government put the grants on hold, Pasa exhausted the last of its Climate-Smart Program funds, roughly $500,000, to make whole unfulfilled contracts with farmers.
Now, Pasa says the federal government owes it more than $3 million in grant reimbursements. Pasa has not received payments for more than 60 days—double the 30-day contract term agreed upon with USDA.
That leaves Pasa, with offices in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, no choice but to furlough about 60 employees on April 2.
It makes more challenging Pasa’s efforts to build bridges between farmers, businesses, policymakers, and communities. That work advances local and regional food systems that center on environmental sustainability, public health, and social equity.
Rise up with us now.
Contact your members of Congress and urge them to do the right thing:
Protect environmental funding! Protect agency staffing!
Take Action
At risk is training, mentoring, apprenticeships, soil health and marketing expertise, grant writing, project reviews and other Pasa services that benefit farmers.
Lost are dollars that would have circulated through local economies, affecting employees working on fence installation, seed supply, nursery stock, and other essential agricultural efforts on potential projects.
If Pasa is forced to furlough dozens of its staff, it will lose expertise on regenerative farming practices. That will make it harder for farmers to navigate the challenges of extreme weather events from a changing climate.
Under another premise of the USDA grant, Pasa was training 10 technical assistance providers to give vital support in the field. That benefit is also on hold.
It creates a sad situation, because farmers in Pennsylvania have demonstrated that sustainable agriculture benefits the environment. They deserve great credit for their actions. For farmers, the federal grant freeze also leaves barriers to building healthy soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing productivity, and generating revenue.
Doing the right thing for clean water costs money up front. To do that, the agriculture community needs federal support it can depend on.
The USDA needs to do its job and live up to commitments so that farmers like Dorene, Amanda, Deanne and others can finish their work to create cleaner rivers and streams for all Pennsylvanians.
