The Trump administration is putting an end to a COVID-era USDA program.
The department launched Regional Food Business Centers in 2023 to help small and mid-sized farmers.
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says that they were created with one-time funding from Congress.
However, the previous administration says that they were meant to build lasting resilience in our food system.
Jenny Lester Moffitt, senior fellow at the American Farmland Trust and a former USDA Undersecretary, played a key role in launching those centers.
She spoke with RFD-TV’s own Suzanne Alexander about her understanding of the program, what the end of the centers means, and how their goals changed post-COVID.
Related Stories
In the U.S. and Canada, reduced planted acres—not yield losses—led to a decline in potato production, while Mexico saw modest gains due to increased yields and harvested areas.
Alaska Congressman discusses his new role as Executive Vice Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus and his priorities for the West in the 119th Congress.
Farm legal expert Roger McEowen discusses the EPA’s rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding on greenhouse gases and what it could mean for agriculture and rural America.
The USDA says the framework is about “ending abusive government overreach” and “protecting farmers, families, and private property.”
Farm numbers still favor small operations, but production, resilience, and risk management are increasingly concentrated among fewer, larger farms.
The USDA opened a new sterile fly-dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas to prevent a potential outbreak of New World screwworm and protect the small U.S. cattle herd.