Funding Freeze Hobbles Farm Conservation

By Marc Heller

​The Trump administration’s freeze on grants and contracts is hitting rural Iowa especially hard, and a farm conservation group laid off nearly all of its staff last week after the flow of money from the Department of Agriculture stopped.

“I’m a one-man show right now,” said Dien Judge, executive director of the Conservation Districts of Iowa, after he was forced to lay off all but one — himself — of a staff of 39.

The association, a nonprofit organization that works with conservation districts throughout the state, has three major grants through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service totaling slightly more than $12 million, Judge said.

We're coming to you this week from Fillmore County, where flooding rains and damaging hail created new challenges for area producers last weekend. We spoke with Jared Kempf about the damage, the recovery effort, and what comes next for farmers as the growing season moves forward.