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News is coming at us hot and fast these days. Below is an update on federal actions as of April 15th 2025 with information and analysis on the impacts to states and rural communities. The SiX ag program continues to monitor these situations and update this information as needed. If you are a state legislature and need assistance on any of these issues or others, please reach out to [email protected]

See other CROP HOT Takes from: January 28 | February 3rd | February 19th

NEW RESOURCE: State legislators across the country are fighting back against this administration’s authoritarian agenda. Find inspired action in SiX’s new playbook for legislators with examples from legislators who are responding to federal authoritarian actions in their communities and states.

DOGE Cuts/Funding Freeze + RESOURCES: 

• Funding freezes continue to impact thousands of farmers and ranchers and organizations working in the food and agriculture system, despite funding being Congressionally-mandated. Farm Aid has an updated overview and timeline of the situation.
• The Center for American Progress has a new interactive map of DOGE cuts by city, Congressional district, and state. Check out the impacts to your district here.  They are also collecting stories of folks impacted by the cuts. Share your story here. 

Congress revives the EATS Act, now the “Food Security and Farm Protection Act.” 

• Last week, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Food Security and Farm Protection Act, whose language is identical to the EATS Act, which has been pushed by multinational corporations and commodity groups over the past few years. 
• The new version is a classic preemption of state and local authority and, if passed, would have a direct impact on the ability of state legislators to pass critical policy related to food, agriculture, rural, and environmental issues impacting their communities. 
• More than 1,000 state and local laws would be in jeopardy of being overturned under this bill. Its broad language could target a wide range of state laws, including those regulating chemical and pesticide use in produce and baby food; permitting of CAFOs; child labor and work safety protections, puppy mill welfare standards and more. 
• For more information, check out our webinar on the EATS Act and abusive preemption from last year. You can also check out our more recent webinar on preemption in agriculture here. Password: 6CorporatePower! (case sensitive and requires registration). 
• What State Legislators Can Do: 
  • Be clear, the Food Security and Farm Protection Act is just a repackaged EATS Act. In reality, it would protect neither farms or food security, and would increase food insecurity and harm farmers. 
  • Reach out to your Congressional delegation and urge them to oppose the bill. 
  • Need additional help? Reach out to [email protected] 

FEMA is up next on the chopping block while the Midwest grapples with devastating storms.

• Over the past month, the Midwest has experienced some of the most devastating and deadly storms on record, resulting in widespread flooding, entire communities decimated and widespread loss of life and property. At the same time, the Trump Administration and President Trump himself has repeatedly indicated his desire to dismantle FEMA and turn disaster relief over to the states, going so far as to sign an Executive Order in March that seeks to shift disaster preparation and response to state and local governments.  
• The problem? In the face of increasingly frequent and destructive climate disasters and state budget shortfalls from federal funding cuts, states say they simply cannot fill the role of FEMA during a natural disaster. 
• What’s more, FEMA funds promised to states for disasters occurring months ago, including Hawaii’s Lahaina fire, have been caught up in the funding freeze chaos. 19 states are still waiting on the disbursement of 215 FEMA grants that remain frozen despite a court order from early March. Now, a group of half the country’s attorneys general have filed a lawsuit attempting to access the promised recovery funds. 
• In the meantime, hard-hit rural communities are reporting that it’s the same old situation – no one in the state or federal government is coming to help them recover and that they have to rely on themselves. We highly recommend this (12 minute) video from A More Perfect Union looking at the devastating flooding impacting rural west virginia communities. 
• RESOURCES: 
  • Which areas are most vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters? Check out this interactive map of the U.S.

Trump’s tariff war comes hard for the agriculture industry, creating more instability in an already fragile food system.

• As Trump’s tariff war continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, agriculture and farmers are particularly feeling the heat as they grapple with compounding crises of climate disasters, threats to immigrant farmworkers, and billions of dollars of grants frozen by the USDA. The trade policies of the second Trump administration again appear to be using agriculture as a pawn, leaving rural farmers exposed to swift market fluctuations and retaliatory tariffs from neighboring countries. 
• Many independent and small producers—already operating on slim margins—face mounting financial uncertainty, with ripple effects extending to rural economies dependent on the farming economy.
• Commodity groups that have been aligned with the current administration, have written four cabinet secretaries raising concerns about trade retaliation with the tariffs with the country’s three biggest trading partners: Mexico, China, and Canada. Last week, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the “retaliatory tariffs” he had promised just days before, temporarily cooling tensions. But uncertainty for U.S. farmers and producers remains. 
• For more information on tariffs, we encourage you to explore the resources from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: 
  • “The government could be harnessing one of tariffs’ predictable dynamic effects: increased domestic production and sales. This outcome is one that many U.S. farm organizations would support: tariffs in support of fair market prices and stronger local purchasing systems. Were the tariffs predictable, this strategy could use tariffs judiciously to protect a supply for consumers who want better working conditions in agriculture, stronger animal welfare rules, and far less environmental damage (all of which are huge problems in U.S. food systems).  
  • Tragically, at the same time as the president has created so much turmoil for farmers with tariffs, his administration has slashed support to hugely successful if still emergent local food economies across the country. Last month, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins defended her decision to cut over $1 billion that had been appropriated for a nationwide program of support to resilient local food programs.” (Tariff mayhem: A shortcut to higher prices, fewer jobs, and broken friendships)

• ORGANIZING OPPORTUNITY: Recently, CROP member and MN State Representative Andy Smith shared a survey in his constituent newsletter  from the Minnesota Trade Office and the Department of Employment and Economic Development to gather information on the impacts of tariffs on Minnesota businesses. State legislators can consider partnering with their state’s economic development agency to create a survey that allows real people, farmers, and small business owners to share how the tariff chaos has impacted their livelihoods. Armed with the stories of community members, state legislators can be better prepared to effectively support their communities in navigating these unstable times.