The Agriculture Department is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from a program aimed at helping farmers buy and retain land, three people familiar with the decision confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday.
The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, awarded roughly $300 million to about 50 projects across the country for five-year contracts beginning in 2023.
Nonprofits, tribal governments and other organizations applied for the funding to address land access issues for underserved farmers — including access to capital, market expansions, succession planning and efforts to prevent land loss.
The projects were especially targeted to address land access issues facing Black farmers, immigrant farmers, Indigenous farmers, veterans and other underrepresented groups.
