BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Standing Tuesday morning in the greenhouse of The Monocacy Farm Project, Eli Stogsdill said seedlings already have started popping up.
“We have things that we've already started, and they need to get planted,” Stogsdill, project manager and farmer, said. “We're going to do it, but it means that how we're going to pay for it is up in the air.
“We have to keep going. We have to work with the seasons and we have to work with the weather when it's time. This is the time to start seeds and put them in the ground.”
The Monocacy Farm Project is among five Lehigh Valley farms feeling the impact of the federal funding freeze enacted by President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.
“It's a very challenging position to be in, because if we stop working on it, then we're in breach of contract, but they're technically in breach of contract for not paying us.”Hannah Smith-Brubaker, Pasa’s executive director
The farmers were working with Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit that in 2022 was awarded a $55 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant.
Now, with that money frozen, farmers who planned their seasons with it have been scrambling to make up the deficit or adjusting their plans for the upcoming season.
In Lehigh County, there are six eligible applicants, with two currently enrolled. While $30,760 in funding previously was approved, just shy of $18,000 was disbursed prior to the freeze.
Almost $13,000 in approved funds now are frozen, according to data from Pasa.
There are three eligible applicants in Northampton County, with three currently enrolled.
Just more than $90,000 in funding previously was approved, and $19,500 was disbursed prior to the freeze, leaving almost $71,000 in approved funds frozen.
And Pasa officials said they’re headed for furloughs starting next month.
“They've said that we are to continue working on these programs, but we aren't going to be reimbursed until they're ready to reimburse us,” Pasa Executive Director Hannah Smith-Brubaker said.
“It's a very challenging position to be in, because if we stop working on it, then we're in breach of contract, but they're technically in breach of contract for not paying us.”
‘Make it more viable’
Lizzy Beller, owner of Bubbly Hills Farm in Emmaus, is in her third year of growing flowers, renting land from The Seed Farm, a nonprofit aimed at supporting beginner farmers.
“We really focus on sustainability and organic practices, because I really care about not hurting the Earth or my local community in any way,” Beller said.
“I just know the impacts of everything that can happen using conventional practices.”
Last year, she applied for grant funding through Pasa to cover the costs of the work she already was doing — and costing her more — than conventional methods.
“I was trying to do a lot of the practices that they listed when they put up the Climate-Smart program. And so it was just a great opportunity to be reimbursed for all the time that I was putting into that and make it more viable.”Lizzy Beller, owner of Bubbly Hills Farm in Emmaus
“I was trying to do a lot of the practices that they listed when they put up the Climate-Smart program," Beller said.
"And so it was just a great opportunity to be reimbursed for all the time that I was putting into that and make it more viable.”
The grant money is earmarked for farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners to implement climate-smart production practices.
And from those practices, to build soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, enhance productivity and build revenue.
‘Changed some of the goals’
As of October, USDA had invested $3.03 billion in 135 projects through the program.
“We were awarded the funding, and we distribute the funding directly to farmers, along with some technical support to help advise them on which practices to choose,” Smith-Brubaker said.
"I feel bad for the [larger-scale] farmers. I know a bunch of flower farmers who were not relying on the income, but already had projects and so much put into it, and they aren’t getting the half back they paid in for.”Lizzy Beller, owner of Bubbly Hills Farm in Emmaus
“We give them money up front for the installation. They then can do work themselves or pay a contractor, and when it's completely done, and we sign off on it, then they get the final reimbursement.”
With the grant in place, Beller could have budgeted $4,000 to $5,000 toward the costs of farming flowers sustainability. But now, Beller’s working with about $1,000, she said.
“I haven't set up my business to rely on it as much, because I am so small,” Beller said. “But it has changed some of the goals I have for this year — that I have to switch a little bit.
“But honestly, I feel bad for the [larger-scale] farmers. I know a bunch of flower farmers who were not relying on the income, but already had projects and so much put into it, and they aren’t getting the half back they paid in for.”
‘A financial burden’
Similar to Beller, Anton Shannon, co-owner of Good Work Farm, started at The Seed Farm. Five years ago, he started his own vegetable farm in Nazareth.
This season will be his 15th farming.
“We've been members of Pasa for a long time, probably since the farm got started,” Shannon said. “They've always been a great organization that has focused on farmer education and building community among sustainable farmers in Pennsylvania and regionally.”
Last year, Pasa officials came out to the farm, walked the land and talked about conservation and climate risks, and came up with strategies to mitigate them.
“I don't think there's a lot of dispute in the agricultural community. Farmers, I think, acknowledge and are trying to adapt to climate change, because it affects our bottom line."Anton Shannon, co-owner of Good Work Farm
“I don't think there's a lot of dispute in the agricultural community,” Shannon said. “Farmers, I think, acknowledge and are trying to adapt to climate change, because it affects our bottom line.
“I think a lot of folks further down the economy are a little bit more removed from it, and it just means wacky weather or something.
"But for farmers, it really affects our bottom line, and so it's really important that we identify what risks are here now and are going to affect our farms in the future.
"And do what we can to mitigate those risks.”
Some of the practices at which they looked included increasing cover crops and longer-term crop rotations, reducing the amount of time throughout the season soil is exposed.
However, Shannon’s only received about 15% of the money for the practices implemented on the farm, he said.
"If they're not willing to stick to their word and fulfill a contract with me because political winds shift, why would I want to engage in practices with the USDA in the future?”Anton Shannon, co-owner of Good Work Farm
“We don't write our budget for the upcoming year in March,” he said. “We do that budgeting in the winter. This is a multi-year investment in our farm that we were counting on a stable relationship with the USDA on.
“This funding freeze will definitely put a financial burden on us for this season, and it certainly brings up questions for me on whether I should partner with USDA in the future.
"If they're not willing to stick to their word and fulfill a contract with me because political winds shift, why would I want to engage in practices with the USDA in the future?”
‘Removing the support’
The Monocacy Farm Project had a contract with Pasa last fall for the sustainable practices already at work, Stogsdill said.
It also was on the cusp of negotiating a much larger, tree-planting project.
Without the funding, it “probably won't be able to prioritize and spend the time on” it, he said.
“On April 2, 60 staff are going to be furloughed. And that's the majority of our staff.”Hannah Smith-Brubaker, Pasa’s executive director
“Those are funds that basically go to support practices that we're going to need in order to protect air, water and soil quality for a livable future,” Stogsdill said.
“So that our kids and our grandkids might be able to have access to some of the same sort of resources that we have and that we're not depleting them in the meantime.
“And they were, ultimately, far less than what is really needed to address the huge scale of the overlapping crises that we're facing in terms of ecological and social problems that we're looking at and trying to address by growing food and getting it to people.”
Because of the funding freeze, Pasa said she is starting furloughs next month.
In addition to the Climate-Smart grant, the organization has four other federal grants that are frozen, too.
“On April 2, 60 staff are going to be furloughed,” Smith-Brubaker said. “And that's the majority of our staff.”
‘Very unfortunate’
They’re been reaching out to legislators, hoping to get the funding released.
“Yesterday, I sent out 148 emails, sort of sending an impact paper to all the legislators across the 15 states that are enrolled in our grant, and I’ve reached out to the governor, have reached out to USDA and encouraging farmers to reach out,” she said.
“So, so many small farms were able to access this funding, which was really important for a lot of new and beginning farmers and farmer training programs. And the next generation of agro-ecological care work that needs to happen in order to cultivate a living ecosystem that we can all participate in and that can feed us for the long term.Eli Stogsdill, The Monocacy Farm Project manager and farmer
“If we found a lawsuit that seemed a good fit for us — obviously, it had to be pro bono, and be something that would be worth investing staff time in — we would definitely consider that, because at this point, we don't really have any other options.
“But then again, I don't know that it's going to change anything, even if we won the case.”
While the grant money came from the federal government, it was having a local impact, not only in the Lehigh Valley, but in communities across the United States, Stogsdill said.
“So, so many small farms were able to access this funding, which was really important for a lot of new and beginning farmers and farmer training programs," he said.
"And the next generation of agro-ecological care work that needs to happen in order to cultivate a living ecosystem that we can all participate in and that can feed us for the long term.
“And removing the support for that is going to have an effect for so many different local communities in a way that, yes, it's hard to really predict what it's going to look like.
"But it’s definitely very unfortunate.”
