Each week, the editorial team at Greenhouse Grower and Meister Media Worldwide will bring you the latest updates from the Trump administration’s policies and their impact on floriculture, from labor to the farm bill to funding for anything from federal loans to research and Extension. We also want to hear from you. What questions do you have about immigration enforcement, tariffs, or other topics? Let us know, and we’ll do our best to get you answers.
Here’s our update for May 1.
The Status of Public Ag Research
The May issue of American Vegetable Grower, which is published by Meister Media Worldwide (along with Greenhouse Grower), is featuring a cover story on what’s happening with public ag research at universities across the country. The story outlines how university research funding works, how it benefits the horticulture industry in the long term, and perhaps most notably, how growers benefit from this research.
As American Vegetable Grower Editor Carol Miller notes, “The Morrill Act of 1862 created the land grant system, providing practical education and research, especially in agriculture. The three core missions of the system are teaching, research, and Extension. Ongoing funding cuts have shut down many of these research projects midstream. And future funding is in question for a large portion of studies, with grant applications in review that would normally already be approved.”
You can read the full story here.
Young Farmers Call for Immediate Action on USDA Funding Freeze
This past week, the National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) hosted a congressional briefing to uplift the impacts of the USDA funding freeze on the nation’s young and beginning farmers. The Coalition and its farmer members are calling on Congress to immediately contact USDA to reinstate all USDA contracts and agreements affected by the freeze.
These USDA programs are congressionally authorized and vital to the survival of the new generation of farmers. At the briefing, Members of Congress, congressional staff, and partner organizations heard directly from farmers whose livelihoods and communities have been upended by funding delays and cancellations. These same farmers also spoke to a deepened loss of trust in federal agricultural programs.
The briefing highlighted how the abrupt halt in USDA reimbursements and grant disbursements has disrupted critical conservation projects, land access initiatives, market development programs, mental health care provision, and farm labor efforts. Testimonies emphasized that without urgent action, these delays will derail farm operations during the height of the growing season and will threaten long-term efforts to build a more equitable, sustainable food system.
Farmers shared that the funding freeze has compounded ongoing stress from volatile input costs, climate impacts, and tariff pressures that already threaten their financial stability. Several producers noted that business plans made in good faith with USDA support have now been thrown into disarray, creating severe financial uncertainty just as they head into one of the most critical times of the year.
In addition to economic fallout, farmers are experiencing a mental health toll, sleepless nights, stress-induced health issues, and growing anxiety about whether they can trust the government to support their future.
“We need members of Congress to hold USDA accountable for withholding critical federal resources from young farmers at a moment of compounding crises,” said Michelle Hughes, Co-Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Farmers across the country already deal with the uncertainties of the economy and the impacts of a changing climate on a daily basis, and now are unsure whether the contracts that they have signed with the government will be honored. Young farmers have upheld their end of the bargain. The future of our food system is dependent on the choices we make right now to either standby or disrupt what’s happening to the people who produce our country’s food.”
More Headlines
How Tariffs Work: Chris Higgins, President and co-founder of Hort Americas, recently posted an article on his LinkedIn page that details what people really understand, or don’t understand, how tariffs work.
“I realize that my focus and sensitivity on this topic is due to its impact on my Hort Americas business as well as its impact on my friends and clients business’, anyone buying ag-tech equipment, pr anyone currently or planning to build new production greenhouses (or other facilities.) I put this article together so that anyone could quickly learn about and understand the basics around tariffs, duties and incoterms,” Higgins says.
You can read his article, posted on UrbanAgNews.com, here.