The USDA Canceled $300M in Farm Grants, Citing Fraud. Did It Make up the Evidence?

Farmers accuse Trump admin of making up evidence to cancel $300 million in grants

Leah Atwood was rattled. It was the tail end of March, and for days she and her colleagues at Agroecology Commons had been fielding dozens of emails alerting them to grant terminations targeting a $300 million U.S. Department of Agriculture program. One after another, within a single week, 49 of the...

The USDA Canceled $300 Million in Farm Grants, Citing Fraud. Did It Make Up the Evidence?

The agency pointed to gazebos, massages and a $20,000 budget for pens to justify the cuts. But the groups that lost funding say those claims don't add up.

The USDA canceled $300M in farm grants, citing fraud. Did it make up the evidence?

Leah Atwood was rattled. It was the tail end of March, and for days she and her colleagues at Agroecology Commons had been fielding dozens of emails alerting them to grant terminations targeting a $300 million U.S. Department of Agriculture program. One after another, within a single week, 49 of the 50 grantees received notices from the USDA informing them that their grants were canceled.  By the end of the month, Agroecology Commons still hadn’…

Lawsuit seeks restoration of $127 million in canceled USDA farmland-access grants

Organizations prepared to help farmers buy land and expand their operations are taking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to court after the agency canceled more than $127 million in grants awarded through a program aimed at helping beginning and underserved producers. Twenty-four groups from across the country have joined a federal lawsuit challenging USDA's decision to terminate funding through the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access p…

USDA Cancels $300 Million in Sustainable Farming Grants Based on Questionable Fraud Claims

The U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly terminated nearly $300 million in grants supporting sustainable farming and land access programs, citing instances of fraud and wasteful spending. In a single week in March, 49 of 50 grant recipients received cancellation notices with just two business days’ warning. The agency specifically cited purchases of gazebos, massages, camping equipment, and a shocking $20,000 budget for ink pens as evidence o…