The Trump Administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development has the potential to hurt farmers here in Ohio.
NPR's Marketplace reports that USAID bought more than 1 million metric tons of food from U.S. farmers in the 2023 fiscal year.
Now, many of those farmers may be out of major contracts.
Bryn Bird, a Licking County farmer and president of the Ohio Farmers Union, said at least six large Ohio farms fill orders for humanitarian aid. With many federal websites down, it's hard to characterize exactly how Ohio farmers are impacted by USAID's foreign aid freeze.
"I think USAID is one part of a multiple of things that are kind of facing Ohio farmers and creating a lot of uncertainty going into the season,” Bird said.
She said many farms, like her family’s farm, Bird’s Haven, depend on one purchaser for around a quarter of the farm’s annual income. Farms also often operate on “razor thin” profit margins, sometimes as low as 3%, she said. Losing a large purchaser like USAID can have a major impact, especially if farmers can’t plan for the change.
“I think for farmers, what it really means is that it's just hard to make decisions as we're going into the season,” Bird said. “It adds to the uncertainty. We're seeing that in this administration, not just with USAID, but with the additional tariffs, with the USDA technical service cuts.”
She said tariffs may actually open new markets. Meanwhile, major staff cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have reduced assistance and resources and left many former Ohio USDA employees without jobs.
Farmers are left unsure about market access, what crops to grow, how many crops to grow and how long to hold onto those crops.
Bird said the impact of USAID cuts can reach beyond just the purchases of grain that farmers used to expect. USAID also funded research into crop genetics and farming practices for various climates.
She said Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital received some of that funding, as well as the J.M. Smucker Company, which is based in Orrville, Ohio.
“So we're losing research that would help American farmers, as well as helping farmers abroad,” Bird said.
Bird also said that the past few presidential administrations have encouraged U.S. famers to expand to “feed the world.”
“Now, we’re kind of being told that we’re not going to be able to access those marketplaces,” Bird said.
She said that’s a “huge barrier” for farmers who have spent time working to grow their operations.
Bird said it remains unclear whether USAID’s Food for Peace program will resume, possibly through the USDA. Bird worries if the program is run through the now diminished Dept. of Agriculture, it would be less efficient and hampered by the fact that the USDA doesn’t have established international relationships like USAID did.
