Already fighting the Trump administration’s turmoil, climate-smart agriculture has a new headwind to manage: a souring farm economy.
Conservation advocates say they expect financially stretched farmers to put off investments that protect topsoil or offer other environmental benefits as fears grow that finances won’t improve in the coming months.
Environmentally friendly practices like planting cover crops when the cash crop isn’t in the ground are some of the first to go during a downturn, since they’re expensive up front and can take years to improve a farm’s returns, said Rebecca Bartels, executive director of the advocacy group Invest In Our Land, established in 2024 to protect conservation programs.
The slump couldn’t have come at a worse time for groups like Bartels’.
