Believe it or not, federal farm policy may not just fail in Washington. It can also fail if there is no one left in a local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) office to help farmers put programs into practice. I’ve seen that reality up close, having served producers for more than thirty years as a district conservationist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
It wasn’t my job to sit behind a desk. It was intended to sit across the table from farmers, visit their fields, help design conservation plans that fit their operations, and ensure that funding approved by Congress actually reaches farmland. These local offices and the people who staff them are the backbone of USDA’s conservation work.
I saw this firsthand early in my career. When I moved to a local NRCS office in the early 1990s, one of the first producers I worked with was an older farmer who was deeply skeptical of the federal government. We sat down together, walked his land, and drew up a grazing plan that included a deep pit, miles of pipeline, and cross-fences. The results spoke for themselves. His utilization increased, his surgery improved, and his skepticism disappeared – a pattern I would see repeated over the years.
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It wasn’t long before he was telling other producers about his experiences. Demand grew so quickly that our office went from a quiet outpost to one that required additional staff for the first time in years.
Nowadays that spine is under great pressure. A recent report from the USDA’s Office of Inspector General, which examined staffing levels in the department from January to June 2025, found that NRCS lost 22% of its workforce – 2,673 employees – in the first half of 2025, one of the largest workforce reductions in the department. Farmers throughout the interior already fear the worst.
I share these concerns, not only as a former district protector, but also as a farmer. Together with my son, I run a 200-cow cow-calf farm in South Dakota, combined with corn and soybean farming. Like other farmers across the country, I am juggling high input costs, volatile markets and increasingly destructive weather. These challenges are just the tip of the iceberg of what family farms like ours face.
Even the best-managed farms can’t go it alone under these conditions. That’s why voluntary, locally led USDA conservation programs are so important. These programs provide farmers with access to practical tools that help manage risks, improve productivity and build long-term resilience.
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In my own business, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contracts helped me install a deep well with miles of pipe, water tanks and cross fences. Our planned grazing system increased our stocking rate by 15 to 20% on the same acreage, producing more beef on the same land.
With results like this, it’s easy to see why these conservation programs are so popular with farmers. Polls consistently show broad support among farmers for conservation financing, but demand continues to far exceed available resources. Even with additional funding provided by Congress in 2022, USDA was unable to fund nearly 64% of applications for EQIP, CSP, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in fiscal year 2024.
Republican leaders in Congress recognize the importance of these programs. As a result of the efforts of House and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson and John Boozman, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act strengthened long-term conservation funding. More recently, under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, USDA recently announced a $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program – a clear recognition that conservation strengthens producer productivity and profitability, American health, and our food and fiber supply.
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These are important victories. But funding for conservation won’t help if there’s no one left to make it happen.
As a proud conservative, I applaud President Donald Trump and Secretary Rollins for their efforts to make USDA a Farmers First agency. But reforms should not come at the expense of the department’s main priority: serving farmers.
Such significant workforce losses have real consequences for farmers. Every lost employee means longer waits for applications to be assessed, contracts to be finalized and payments to be processed. Farmers are forced to bear more upfront costs, take on additional debt, or miss narrow windows to make improvements that protect their land and their livelihoods. If margins are already tight, those delays could mean the difference between survival and closing the stable doors once and for all.
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Efficiency means delivering results, not eroding the workforce that is crucial to the work of our producers. Simply put, without sufficient staff, even the strongest, most pro-farmer agenda cannot succeed.
Like countless farmers, I hope to pass on our family business to the next generation. Access to conservation programs – and the people who deliver them – is essential to making that possible. As policymakers continue Farm Bill negotiations and appropriations, and as the Trump Administration works to improve USDA effectiveness, they must listen to farmers. Protect these programs. Ensure USDA is staffed, equipped and funded to serve those who feed us all.
