Funding is needed for local food growers

On March 18, it was announced that $10 billion in economic aid for commodity farmers would be expedited — providing Iowa’s corn and soybean farmers with payments of $42.91 and $29.76 per acre, respectively.

On March 10, nearly $1.1 billion earmarked for Local Food Programs, which connect local farmers to schools and food banks, was abruptly canceled. This decision leaves hundreds of small Iowa farms, who scaled up to meet this demand, holding the bag — and Iowa schools and food banks without $11.3 million they had been promised to buy food from Iowa farmers.

Agricultural price supports began during the Great Depression to stabilize prices after a market collapse, when prices fell by more than 50% between 1929 and 1932 due to overproduction. These emergency programs protected farmers from market volatility and ensured a steady, affordable food supply. By mitigating the boom-bust cycle, farmers and industry gained the freedom and incentive to try new technologies and implement conservation practices. The stable income from price supports has allowed for innovation in genetics, chemical inputs, and equipment, boosting corn yields from 20 bushels per acre in 1937 to 180 bushels per acre today.

As farm programs became permanent into the 1940s and to the modern day, hundreds of billions of dollars of price supports have undeniably helped make American agriculture the most productive in the world.

The Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) program served a similar function as price support for local food farmers, enabling them — and the food hubs they work with — to scale infrastructure and increase productivity. These programs provide an opportunity for the government to balance support between commodity farmers and small food producers, ensuring a competitive market and offering Americans a diverse range of food options.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has partnered with farmers, food hubs, and institutional purchasers to make Iowa's LFPA and LFS efforts some of the most successful in the country, and has started its own successful Choose Iowa Purchasing Program, which the state Legislature will have the opportunity to fund again this legislative session.

If the government continues to support only commodity production and not table food production, small farmers will struggle to survive, and the progress Iowa’s farms, food hubs, schools, and food banks have made with these programs over the past 3 years will go to waste. We’re asking Iowa’s congressional delegation to call on the USDA to immediately reinstate the LFPA and LFS funding for 2025-2028, and, as Sen. Chuck Grassley said in response to a question at his town hall in Dysart on March 19, to address Local Food Programs in the next Farm Bill. Restoring this funding is one of the best ways to ensure fair competition in the marketplace while continuing to support commodity producers — while also giving local farmers the tools they need to keep growing healthy food for Iowans.

Tommy Hexter is the Policy Director for the Iowa Farmers Union and the director of Grinnell Farm To Table that sources products from 35 local farmers.