Last June, record flooding hit the rural town of Rock Valley, Iowa. As a wall of water began to engulf Chelsea Vere Mulm's 10-acre property, she sprang into action, quickly evacuating her family's flock of cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, horses and goats to higher ground. When the floodwaters receded, Ver Mulm returned to find much of her family's farm, equipment and pastures destroyed. In the days and weeks that followed, more than a dozen animals died from stress and diseases contracted by the flood.
After that, restoration costs continued to rise. Because Flood devastated surrounding areasOrange Creek Farms also lost many of its customers, who were struggling with their own losses and could no longer afford to buy local food. All the while, Ver Mulm continued to apply for USDA emergency loans and disaster relief programs, but was turned down again and again as the tiny operation ran into difficulties. Onerous application issues and eligibility restrictions.
Due to the high cost of restoration, the farm was unable to pay its bills, and caring for the large herd became prohibitively expensive. Now Orange Creek Farms has seen its herd drop from 40 head of cattle to four. Overall, Vera Mulm said, the flood left businesses in a “very, very bad situation.” So in April, almost a year after the flood, she made one last attempt to turn things around by applying for aid. USDA Rural Development Grant she hoped this would help them recoup their losses and keep the business afloat.
When the government shutdown began more than a month ago, the USDA laid off the vast majority of its remaining workforce, and brought most of the services to a sudden stop. Ver Mulm has still not received a response regarding her application, and now the wait itself becomes a problem.
As the lockdown approaches a historic but grim milestone, Congressional Budget Office estimates that he has already suffered financial losses of at least 7 billion dollars for the US economy. Some of the most serious impacts of these losses are faced by those who grow and sell the food we eat—especially farmers and ranchers, who also face the worsening impacts of extreme weather and a crumbling federal safety net.
Approximately 20,000 Ministry of Agriculture staff lost their job this year — rapid and radical transformation of the agency resulting in administrative struggles, overburdened staff, and significant delays in processing payments and financial assistance applications. This summer, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins released controversial reorganization plan which, as experts expect, will lead to further staff cuts and skeleton workforce. The USDA announced last week that approximately 2,100 USDA Farm Service Agency offices will reopen at the county level. starting Thursday 23 October, two staff will be reinstated per office to help farmers access $3 billion in assistance from existing programshowever, more details about which programs, payments and services will be resumed and to what extent remain unclear.
Meanwhile, small farmers and ranchers have spent the last ten months facing increasing pressure from major administrative changes in food and agricultural policies that have worsened the situation in the country. extremely unstable farm economy.
The impact on growers whose businesses require advanced planning – a time of year that is typically filled with coordinating future growing plans, purchasing seeds and other inputs, and stockpiling winter supplies – will only increase the longer the shutdown continues.
And so will the broader economic and social ripple effects unfolding across the country: President Donald Trump's administration stated that he will not use the billions of emergency funds appropriated by Congress to maintain the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the shutdown. Without this emergency funding, the USDA said SNAP benefits, which benefit nearly 42 million Americans who struggle to afford groceries, will be suspended on Saturday, November 1st. (SNAP money is also the most important source of income for many small farmers.) A cohort of more than two dozen states sued The Department of Agriculture on Tuesday seeks to maintain SNAP funding during the shutdown. using USDA reserve funds are reserved to finance operations when regularly allocated money is not available. Two federal courts ruled Friday afternoon that the agency must use those reserve funds to cover at least some food program benefits for month of November. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
Prior to the ruling, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins blamed the democrats for the closure and possible loss of benefits for millions of Americans, while saying the department does not have the legal authority to distribute the agency's reserve funding. At Friday's press conferenceRollins criticized SNAP, noting that the closure revealed a program that, under the Biden administration's control, has become “so corrupt”
The USDA did not immediately respond to Grist's request for comment.
Meanwhile, Hill politicians continue to throw accusations on both sides of their budget standoff. over federal healthcare. Trump called on Republicans in Congress to unilaterally end the shutdown by getting rid of the filibuster, an unprecedented move by the president, although many GOP senators still support the rule. If Congress is still deadlocked, early next week it will mean longest closure in US history.
Every day of delay brings more uncertainty for farmers like Ver Mulm. Even if lawmakers manage to vote to reopen the government in the near future, the second-generation Iowa farmer is concerned that the work backlog faced by USDA employees after all the time spent on furlough, combined with an already strained workforce, will lead to further bottlenecks.
Over the past year, Ver Mulme has spent her savings to avoid selling her farm, living off her credit cards. Now her credit rating is damaged, and Orange Creek Farms is on the verge of bankruptcy. And every day that the government remains in limbo, the small window to save their farm gets smaller. Ver Mulm is emotionally preparing for what's to come – the growing possibility that her family will soon have to close the chapter on feeding their community.
“We have exhausted all our options,” she said. “This grant is our last chance to save the farm. It's our last lifeline.”
