PROJECT 2025: Bad for farms

Farmers and ranchers should know about Project 2025, especially Chapter 10’s plans for U.S. Agriculture. The reforms to farm subsidies include eliminating Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, and cutting the Farm Service Agency along with the Federal Crop Insurance program. It eliminates Conservation and Easement programs and repeals the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development.

Chapter 10 of Project 2025 specifies that USDA nutrition programs be severed and administered by the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Except when I look at Chapter 14 of Project 2025 regarding the Trump Administration’s plans for HHS, the nutrition programs aren’t there. Cut the farm subsidies to grow the food, cut the mutual benefit of feeding people, I suppose. Goodbye FDR’s New Deal. Goodbye Farm Bill.

I’m curious as a consumer, how much will the cost of food increase if farmers are forced to purchase unsubsidized insurance for their crops? How many uninsured farms (because who can afford privatized unsubsidized farm insurance?) will we lose?

I could not find plans for U.S. Agriculture in the Trump campaign’s Project 47, nor in the current RNC platform. Just plans for up-do’s on cities.

Democrats have plans for rural folks and farmers (Farmers.gov and Rural.gov). President Biden has proven better for farmers than Trump: Net farm income has increased since the Democrat took over. On average, net farm income has totaled $165 billion between 2021 and 2023, compared to $94 billion between 2017 and 2019.

Trump’s farm non-plan is a plan for farm failure. 

JANET MARUGG

Clarkston, Wash.