A tale of two agendas: Trump’s contradictory approach toward small farmers

On May 19, 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture released the Farmers First Small Family Farms Policy Agenda followed shortly by the proposed Presidential Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget. Taken together, these two documents lay bare the hypocrisy of this administration's approach to nutrition security and agriculture.

Death by a thousand (funding) cuts

The Farmers First Agenda highlights ten strategies-many of them worthwhile, albeit overly simplistic-for supporting small and mid-sized farms. It also rightly uplifts existing programs that are essential to the success of small farmers, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fruit and vegetable incentives funded through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), the Senior and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (FMNP), and the Local Agriculture Marketing Program (LAMP). According to the USDA, these programs are designed to bolster small farm viability and have stated goals of improving healthy food access for families, children, and older adults.

Yet even as USDA Secretary Rollins praises these programs in the Farmers First Agenda, the president's FY26 proposed budget leaves them with the lowest funding levels in decades: just $29 million in total for the WIC and Senior FMNP-a sharp drop from $40 million last year-and slashed funding for LAMP. The contradiction is stark and troubling, and consistent with a pattern of mismatch in this administration's rhetoric and actions.

Farming has never been easy, and the odds have long been stacked against small producers. The number of US farmers has plummeted from over 6 million in 1935 to fewer than 2 million today, while the average farm size has more than doubled. Meanwhile, just 6 percent of farms account for more than 75 percent of all agricultural sales, underscoring the growing concentration of agricultural wealth and opportunity. Even the Farmers First Agenda acknowledges that "it can be difficult for small farmers to establish and maintain markets, particularly for lower-volume producers." It specifically cites LAMP as a solution, noting its role in providing "grants and resources aimed at improving infrastructure and market access for small producers." From our work with farmers markets, we've seen these challenges firsthand-and we don't disagree with the premise. But as always, actions speak louder than words, especially when the administration is cutting these programs in the next breath.

The Trump administration's actions betray rural supporters

This administration's policies betray small farmers who were among Trump's strongest supporters in 2024, with farming-dependent counties backing him by an average of 77.7 percent. The Farmers First Agenda makes clear the administration understands the challenges facing small producers-but it refuses to address them meaningfully. It is disingenuous to claim support for small farms and nutrition security while dismantling the very programs that sustain both.

The hypocritical nature of the administration is further emphasized by the recently released Make America Healthy Again report, which specifically calls out the large subsidies for commodity crops like corn, wheat, and soy, while underscoring the need for healthier specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Instead of supporting specialty crop producers and expanding nutrition access, the administration continues to favor large-scale commodity operations-most notably by increasing subsidies and reference prices through the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, recently signed by the president. Collectively, these actions do not demonstrate a genuine commitment to make Americans healthier and put farmers first.

Across the board, the administration is making it harder for small farms to stay afloat: slashing programs that support them, firing USDA staff who help farmers, deporting vital agricultural workers, pausing the GusNIP RFA, and sparking additional trade wars. The cumulative impact is not accidental.

How the Trump administration could actually support small farmers

While the president alone doesn't control the budget, Congress has clearly taken its cue from the White House, with current appropriations proposals mirroring the budget cuts. To support small farmers, we would have seen record investments in LAMP, FMNP, and GusNIP-not historic disinvestment. We need USDA leadership that stands with all farmers and stands true to its words. We call on Congress to fund programs supporting small farmers and nutrition security at their maximum discretionary funding levels in the current appropriations negotiations and to increase mandatory funding for all these programs in the next Farm Bill.

Tags

• Commentary
• Threats to Public Health
• USDA
• SNAP
• WIC
• Farm Bill

Topics

• Advocacy
• Government Accountability
• Sustainability
• Healthy Eating