Funding for Farmers:

Those within Maricopa County all the way to Washington D.C. have been affected by the same policies put in place by our government. Funding is a major resource for United States agriculture as it becomes more and more expensive to provide food, but the necessity of food and clothes become more imperative. Input costs continue to rise, regulations are stricter, and money is needed to ensure a sustainable supply chain. Fortunately, the United States Department of Agriculture is not the only program used to help farmers. Maricopa County has many other grants solely for those in this bountiful county.

Budget Cuts and Restraints:

With the new administration in place a few agricultural programs were affected. One of these programs was REAP, Rural Energy for America Program, a program used to incentivize the building of energy efficient farming practices such as "installing solar panels, upgrading to energy-efficient equipment, or improving building insulation"(Zaks, 2025). The funds through this program were frozen leaving many farmers worried about how they would continue to pay for projects they had already started. This new infrastructure was built to lower energy costs, boost development of energy efficient practices, and help the transition towards using less energy. A farmer spoke on this issue and said, "I don't think I would have done it without the grant, because the payback would have been so much longer that it wouldn’t have made sense"(Alexander, 2025). The funds from REAP are no longer frozen, those who were told they would be awarded their grants have received the money if they took the correct steps, but as of now the funding from this program has ceased.

The Climate Smart Commodities initiative was also recently cancelled. The new administration felt the administration fees for the program were astronomical and did not leave nearly enough money to the actual farmer. Instead, it was decided to rebuild this program to ensure most of the money went to the producer. This new program will be named Advancing Markets for Consumers and the government plans to "identify changes to align the initiative with current Trump Administration priorities"(Alexander, 2025). Through the new program those who were a part of Climate Smart Commodities are encouraged to reapply, but most meet the new requirements set forth.

USDA Current Monetary Funds:

Not all resources are being taken away in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). One of these programs that is still running strong through the USDA are the farm loans. Those who cannot get loans through a bank, financial institution, or farm credit are able to go through the USDA. They can use the money to "purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed, supplies, make farm improvements, and construct buildings"(USDA Loans and Grants, 2025). Through the Farm Agency Service, they also help young farmers and ranchers fresh in their journey of strengthening the agricultural industry. Every year a specific amount of money is put aside to go directly into helping these new leaders in the agriculture community.

Starting an agricultural business is hard enough but sustaining one is even harder. The USDA helps mitigate risks through insurance, product management, and risk compliance. The official program name is the Risk Management Agency. Farmers and ranchers may never know what disaster could hit their business and the USDA helps to prepare them for almost anything. The USDA said this program is put in place to "promote, support, and regulate sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic stability of America's agricultural producers"(USDA Loans and Grants, 2025). This program is here to stay and will help those in agriculture for years to come.

Two programs within the USDA currently help with marketing initiatives. The Federal State Marketing Improvement Program was implemented to use funds to research marketing strategies that will increase revenue for those in agriculture. The Farmers Market Promotion Program helps market and sell products through improving and increasing the amount of direct producer to consumer stands (USDA Loans and Grants, 2025). This money goes towards farmers markets, roadside stands and more of that sort.

The last bit of programs through the USDA is for crop production and those in organic food production specifically. The Specialty Crop Block program is used to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. This is done by putting money into "improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems; assisting all entities in the specialty crop distribution chains in developing “Good Agricultural Practices”, “Good Handling Practices”, “Good Manufacturing Practices”, and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems for small farmers, packers and processors; investing in specialty crop research, including organic research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes; enhancing food safety; developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops; pest and disease control, sustainability," and even more (SCGBP, 2025) . This is an incredible opportunity especially for those in Maricopa County which is known for the production of specialty crops such as pecans and dates. Specific to organic crops is a program by the name of Organic Cost Share. By obtaining a certification of a USDA accredited certifying agent which allows them to "share assistance, through participating States, to organic producers and/or organic handlers"(USDA Loans and Grants, 2025).

Specific to Maricopa:

Arizona and Maricopa County specifically have programs used to support local farmers and ranchers. The Arizona Economic Resource center can be used to "research and simplify grants and stimulus opportunities, identify funding sources for large and small projects", and more (Food Finder, 2025). The Arizona Natural Resources Conservation Services offers funding resources to help increase productivity of Arizona farms as well as help conserve the natural resources. They offer three different programs to suite the needs specific to your farm. The Central Arizona Land Trust "offers several services such as land protection (conservation easement), education, tax benefits, and technical support" (Food Finder, 2025).

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center and Local First Arizona are working together to use large grants to help Arizona agriculture. Grants can be applied for and gifted all the way up to one hundred thousand dollars (Food Finder, 2025). The CEO of Local First released a statement stating, "Local First is becoming a national model for success at supporting rural and tribal communities, revitalizing our food system through regenerative practices that respond to climate change and growing investment capital in our state to create a more prosperous Arizona"(Arizona Digital Free Press, 2025).

By going to the website Food Systems Grants | City of Phoenix, there are two grants readily available for Maricopa County farmers and ranchers to apply to. The first grant is the Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture Grant. This program will be used to "provide awards of up to $30,000 to implement new practices and infrastructure that help growers adapt to extreme heat and drought"(City of Phoenix, 2025). The second grant is the Service Eligibility Partners Grant. This grant "will provide awards of up to $10,000 to help improve growers’ capacity and business operations"(City of Phoenix, 2025). Both applications can be accessed directly through the link provided.

It is true that the new administration has frozen funding and cut programs, leaving some uncertainty for farmers and ranchers. Fortunately, programs are still available through the USDA and new ones are being created. They are doing so to align more closely with the values of the new leadership in place rather than the old leadership. Arizona agriculture has many opportunities to earn more funding as well to help with sustainability, risk mitigation, loans and more. Policies may change but by staying up to date on local and federal initiatives, farmers in Maricopa County will have ample resources to thrive.

Works Cited:

Alexander/Floodlight, A. (2025, June 10). Trump’s USDA resurrects One climate grant program, kills another. Floodlight. https://floodlightnews.org/trumps-usda-resurrects-one-climate-grant-program-kills-another/

Food Systems Grants. City of Phoenix. (2025, August). https://www.phoenix.gov/administration/departments/oep/oep-programs/food/food-systems.html

Funding for farmers and local growers. Good Food Finder. (2025, August). https://www.goodfoodfinderaz.com/access-to-capital

Gilpin, L., & Horn-Muller, A. (2025, August 20). Following the USDA’s food and farm funding: Here’s what’s been canceled and frozen, and resources for those affected. Grist. https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/following-the-usda-food-and-farm-funding/

Grants and loans. USDA. (2025, September). https://www.usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/financial-resources-farmers-and-ranchers/grants-and-loans

Specialty crop block grant program (SCBGP) | Arizona Department of Agriculture. (2025, August). https://agriculture.az.gov/about-us/divisions/agriculture-food-systems-support/specialty-crop-block-grant-program-scbgp

USDA Southwest Regional Food Business Center makes grants up to $100k available for Arizona Farms and food businesses. Arizona Digital Free Press. (2025, January 31). https://arizonadigitalfreepress.com/usda-southwest-regional-food-business-center-makes-grants-up-to-100k-available-for-arizona-farms-and-food-businesses/

Zaks, L. (2025, April 3). USDA begins releasing frozen reap funding. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/usda-begins-releasing-frozen-reap-funding/