USDA, Beginning Farmers, and Broken Promises
From At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast by From the Iowa Food System Coalition
April 7, 2026 · 13 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the abrupt withdrawal of USDA funding for a program aimed at supporting new farmers in Iowa, highlighting the impact on individuals like Lawrencia Rogers.
The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program was slated to bring millions of dollars into Iowa, while supporting new farmers. Contracts were signed, fellows quit their jobs, and we were off to the races. Until suddenly, we weren’t. USDA abruptly pulled the funding in March with two days notice, deferring the dreams of new farmers like Lawrencia Rogers and eliminating the jobs created to help them. Please “like” this podcast or write a review! Share it with a friend too. Voices Lawrencia Rogers—Farmer Jason Grimm— Executive Director of Iowa Valley RC&D Katie Das—State Coordinator at the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) Breanna Horsey—Executive Director at SILT At the Iowa Farm Table is brought to you by the Iowa Food System Coalition . Edited by John Hogeland and Tommy Hexter . Photo: Fellow Lawrencia and Farm Manager Malik doing tractor work at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. Courtesy Iowa Valley RC&D . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit attheiowafarmtable.substack.com
People in this episode
Guest: Lawrencia Rogers
Topics covered
- farming
- USDA funding
- beginning farmers
- land access
- capital access
- market access
- agriculture policy
Keywords
- USDA
- funding
- new farmers
- Iowa
- agriculture
- land access
- capital access
- market access
- farming policy
Sponsors
Iowa Food System Coalition
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: USDA, Iowa Valley RC&D, Sustainable Iowa Land Trust
Places: Iowa, Johnson County Historic Poor Farm
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