Virginia farms feel extra financial pressure as USDA cuts grant program

GREENE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) – The elimination of a USDA grant program is putting financial pressure on some farmers and producers here in central Virginia and beyond.

Sarah Morton, Operations Manager at Cattle Run Farm in Greene County, says the end of this funding marks a significant interruption of the state’s food networks.

“We’re in a really turbulent time right now,” Morton said. “But as Americans, we’re very resilient.

Morton helps lead the Local Food Resiliency Program, a partnership with 27 producers across Virginia, from Fredericksburg to Lynchburg.

With federal grant money from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Program, or LFPA, producers within this program were able to supply food banks and pantries with fresh, nutritious produce. Last year, Cattle Run Farm supplied Loaves & Fishes in Albemarle County with a significant amount of beef.

“It’s really critical to make sure that our food closets and food pantries have healthy proteins,” Morton said. “We have to make sure that communities are eating healthy.”

But now, those LFPA grants are gone. Pantries are no longer getting this fresh food, and Morton and other producers are not getting paid for it.

“It’s really going to impact the agrarian industry immensely,” Morton said. “Now, I think farmers are really going to have to look at, how do we pivot to sustain, and some of them will have to lean into their reserves, if there is some.”

The Mid-Atlantic Food Resilience and Access Coalition, better known as MAFRAC, helps bring together farmers, food relief organizations, businesses, and others across the region to try to strengthen these connections.

Executive Director Carla Cash says the slashing of these funds simply means less food will go to those who need it.

“It’s going to be very devastating to the people that are in hard-to-reach areas and areas where there are food deserts,” Cash said.

In addition, producers who had already grown crops in anticipation of these grants are now without a market to sell them to.

“It’s definitely a big threat to our continuing to be able to farm and to provide that level and that quality of access to our communities,” said Stephanie Miller, Owner of MysticPine Farm in Campbell County. “I mean, I don’t even know if most of us are going to be able to recover.”

Now, Morton is asking the community to build relationships with local producers and invest in small farms, including shopping at farmers markets and calling on local governments to make food resiliency a priority.

“Here at Cattle Run Farm…we will never be without opportunities to pivot and be successful,” Morton said.

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