Farm advocates that are tuned in to Washington D.C. decision making are keeping track of canceled contracts, the avian flu, tariffs, and the elusive farm bill.

At this time, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has had one contract with the USDA canceled. $13 million was to be paid over the next three years into the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. The current contract was signed in December. The Department received an email in March on the cancellation, and the Shapiro administration announced they filed an official legal complaint on March 25.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program let the Agriculture Department purchase food from 189 Pennsylvania farmsand producers and give the food to Pennsylvania food banks.

Kelsey Holt, a staffer for Congressman Glen Thompson gave the following statement on the contract being canceled.

"Funding for local food purchasing assistance was a temporary pandemic-era program, especially given the longstanding initiatives that already support local farms and provide nutrition assistance,” Holt said in an email statement. She said the Farm, Food, and National Security Act will bolster existing food purchasing support programs.

“It’s a matter of having those conversations of ‘hey remember to keep the farmer in mind here’,” said Bailey Fisher, the federal affairs specialist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. 

On canceled contracts, the Bureau has had some individual members reach out on federal funding being cut; Fisher says they are working with D.C. contacts to address those cases.

Another big D.C. Decision—President Trump’s aggressive tariffs—has the Farm Bureau… cautious. 20% of American food gets exported, so the industry pays attention to trade agreements. For example, the United States and Canada have been in legal disputes over tariff rate quotas for dairy since at least 2023.

“We really do appreciate President Trump's prioritizing trade agreements. Because we really have not seen anything in the trade front in recent years,” Fisher said. "Whether or not tariffs are the answer, though, I think is maybe where we have some concerns. Just because that can get pretty like tit for tat sort of scenario. And that retaliation is certainly not what I what our farmers want to see right now.”

Fisher raised that in the short term, farmers will lose competitiveness in foreign markets. In the long term, American farmers might lose market share.

Stephanie Mercier, a policy analyst with national group Farm Journal Foundation, remembers that tariff disputes with China and other nations in President Trump’s first term led to the U.S. Government paying farmers $27 billion to make up losses.

“But they didn't make that decision or talk about it until months into the process when it was very clear what the impact is going to be,” Mercier said.

"The new secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, has been on the job for, what, a month and a half? She is already talking about giving farmers money,” Mercier said, “So they know that this is going to have an adverse effect on on farmers. And they're trying to kind of head it off at the pass and say, 'hey, don't worry about the lost markets, we'll fill your pockets'.”

Farm policy advocates are also keeping close track on the elusive national farm bill. A story lining out what advocates want to see in a 2025 farm bill and why the legislation is two years late will be published tomorrow.