The funding came through the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program (ILCM), the result of years of advocacy. It was the federal government’s most ambitious effort to address the compounding barriers that young, underserved, and first-generation producers face in starting and sustaining a farm.

In March, the USDA ended those projects, terminating the ILCMA contracts and effectively abandoning the next generation of farmers.

I have spent nearly a decade fighting for that generation, while trying to realize my own farm dreams. I’m the manager of the Land, Capital, and Market Access Network, so the USDA’s decision to end the contracts hits me twice: as an advocate and as a farmer.

I own and operate Maple Urban Farm in Saint Paul, Minnesota, producing eggs, vegetables, fruits, and herbs to feed my family and my neighbors. I’m a homeowner, the owner and operator of two successful businesses, and a graduate of a farm business management course. I have the skills, drive, and commitment to grow my urban farm into a robust, profitable operation.

Despite all of the advantages I have, I don’t have the capital to purchase farmland. Across the country, including here in Minnesota, that barrier is nearly insurmountable without help. And I am far from alone.

It provided grants and low-interest loans for farmland down payments, on-farm infrastructure, and agricultural equipment; farm business management training and technical assistance; programming to build relationships between retiring landowners and new farmers seeking access to land; and more.

The program served farmers and ranchers facing the steepest barriers: Black, brown, Indigenous, immigrant, refugee, LGBTQ+, limited-resource, women, and veteran producers. People without inheritable land or generational wealth.

The need was overwhelming. According to the National Young Farmers Coalition, applications submitted in 2022 totaled over $2.5 billion in requested funding—more than eight times what was awarded, proving how real and widespread the crisis is.

On March 23, the USDA sent termination notices to 49 of 50 ILCMA projects, with just two business days’ notice. Termination letters cited a lack of progress, “DEI preferences,” and accusations of waste, though without evidence.

The termination letters omitted how USDA leadership, under the Trump administration, spent over a year systematically undermining the program. They froze funding for nearly four months in 2025. Even after funds were unfrozen, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) program officers were unable to respond to awardees’ inquiries for several months, stating that they were awaiting further guidance from leadership. And most impactfully, USDA stalled providing required pre-approvals for awardees to move forward with planned land acquisitions, micro-grants to producers, low-interest loans, and other core project activities.

Over the past year, I witnessed this play out first-hand as I have provided grant management, advocacy, communications support, and guidance to a cohort of most of the program’s awardees across the country. Awardees didn’t fail to make progress. The USDA prevented them from making progress, then cited the absence of progress as grounds for termination.

In termination letters, USDA called the projects wasteful, but the waste here was theirs. As a brand new program, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff—funded by taxpayer dollars—took a couple of years to properly design, fund, and launch the ILCMA program. Awardees also spent years building partnerships, hiring staff, and laying the groundwork—work that will now go unrealized.

Moreover, a leaked internal USDA memo revealed that staff were given a list of banned words, including “Black,” “Indigenous,” “underserved,” and “equity,” that would flag a grant for cancellation. But labeling it a DEI issue masks how widespread the consequences are.