Some small rural farmers in Maine are warning of rising prices, job losses and an insecure food system if expected USDA grant funding isn't restored.
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association said farmers are waiting for at least a million dollars in reimbursements from USDA contracts approved by Congress during the Biden Administration.
At a press conference in Portland Friday Carl Johanson of Goranson Farm in Dresden said jobs will vanish.
"As one of the largest employers in Dresden the impacts to our farm will have ripple effects in our community," Johanson said.
Farmers said without confidence in their income they will produce less, which will drive up prices next year.
Andy Smith, who produces dairy on his farm, the Milkhouse was among about a dozen farmers who spoke and said farms will go out of business without USDA support.
"Farmers have no control over the prices we receive. If we lose these subsidy programs we're just going to go out of business. The number of dairy farms closing in Maine is going to go up exponentially if we don't get the support we need," Smith said.
The Milkhouse also supplies Maine schools and colleges with yogurt and Smith's partner Caitlyn Frame said she worries about what the dismantling of the Department of Education could do to subsidies schools get to buy their products.
"In this chaos everything is on the table. We just imagine that our sales to schools and colleges could be impacted by further frozen funds or the absence of whole departments," Frame said.
Alyssa Adkins said she quit her full-time job to scale up Farthest Field Farm in Freeport, a goal she fears is now in jeopardy.
"Maine's food security depends on small farms. Without historically available support to get farms off the ground the number of farms will shrink," Adkins said. "I ask Maine's delegation to stand up for farmers and Mainers and do what they can to stop the impoundment and cuts to USDA grants and the mass firing of USDA staff."
Former USDA Maine State Director for Rural Development Rhiannon Hampson said in 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing the USDA, an agency that he would later call "The People's Department."
Hampson said that's because USDA funding impacts critical services for all of Maine residents.
"When you are in a place with less than 10,000 people in Maine and turn on the faucet and clean water from a municipal source comes out, that is likely USDA. If you call 9-1-1 for an ambulance, that is likely USDA," Hampson said. "We invest in public infrastructure with our shared tax dollars because we recognize the value and the need to do so."
