The U.S. Department of Agriculture has axed two programs that gave Nevada schools and food banks more than $6 million in funds to buy food from local farms and ranchers in the state last year.

Funds for the two programs in Nevada were frozen in January as part of a broad and indiscriminate pause in federal funding by the Trump administration. Now both agriculture programs and the funding they provided the state have been cut for good.

State officials were notified earlier this month of the USDA’s decision to cancel state agreements for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.

The decision reverses a December announcement from the USDA pledging a $1.13 billion investment to continue the programs into 2025.

In Nevada, the abrupt funding cuts have put a crater in the state’s budget for Home Feeds Nevada — a program that allowed food banks and schools to buy millions of dollars in fresh produce from Nevada farms and ranches.

Both programs have fueled Nevada’s agricultural sector while feeding low-income families and children across the state, purchasing more than $6 million in agricultural goods since 2023 from at least 265 small-scale Nevada farms and ranches, according to USDA records. More than half of Nevada’s school districts benefited from the program.

The Nevada Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, has about $139,000 in award funding remaining, which will be depleted by June 30, 2025.

“After the LFPA funds have been expended, there is no additional funding for the Home Feeds Nevada program. Without funding, the program will not operate,” said Nevada Department of Agriculture Division of Food and Nutrition Administrator Patricia Hoppe.

Despite Nevada’s status as the driest state in the union, it is home to about 3,400 farms that produce everything from meat and dairy to tomatoes and coffee. Federal funding for Home Feeds Nevada pumped at least $1.7 million into Nevada’s meat and poultry industry, and nearly $1.5 million into fresh produce farmers.

For the Blue Lizard Farm in Lincoln County, that funding was a lifeline when tomato crops at the small family-owned farm underperformed last year.

“Last year, our tomato crop pretty much failed in the greenhouses. We got less than half the yields we were expecting,” said Rodney Mehring, the owner of Blue Lizard Farm.

“Farming is very risky,” Mehring said. “Programs like Home Feeds Nevada really provide farmers with opportunities and helps take away the risk because it’s a steady market.”

During healthy crop years, like in 2023, the Blue Lizard Farm was able to grow and deliver 23,000 pounds of fresh produce to food banks and employ seven workers as a result of the program.

The vast majority of Nevada farms are family-owned, according to the Department of Agriculture, making up about 93% of producers in the state. But that can put Nevada’s agricultural sector at a disadvantage, as small farms often lack access to the federal subsidies and resources that support larger farms.

Low profit margins for small farms also means the sudden loss of expected buyers can financially crush producers like the Blue Lizard Farm.

“We’ve been making decisions since January about what seeds to buy, what quantities,” Mehring said. “If the program doesn’t get funded, I don’t know how I’m going to move half that crop.”

“Uncertainty is the worst thing for farmers,” he said.

Growth in the agriculture sector has been found to be twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors, especially for those living in rural areas, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Federal funding for Home Feeds Nevada has assisted at least 59 historically underserved producers, defined as beginning farmers, veterans, socially disadvantaged farmers and farmers with incomes at or below the poverty line or 50% of their area’s median income.

Home Feeds Nevada has also given small family-owned producers like The Radish Hotel in Reno the security to scale-up and expand, even as inflation and supply chain issues have increased overhead costs for the producer.

Crystal León, the co-owner of The Radish Hotel, said steady business provided by the Home Feeds Nevada program helped her get her honey sweetened granola into six grocery stores and Nevada specialty shops, while also serving low-income families.

“In the past two years I’ve received countless emails and messages from numerous individuals, who have reached out to us to express how grateful they are to be able to receive our granola through the foodbank, ” León said.

Tribal impacts

Funding cuts to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program will also deeply impact Tribal governments in Nevada that have used the dollars to strengthen their food systems.

More than $1 million in funds were awarded among three tribes in Nevada: the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and Walker River Paiute Tribe.

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe was awarded nearly $300,000 in federal funds, which the Tribe used to purchase food from 20 small-scale farmers and ranchers in Nevada, according to USDA data. More than half of the producers the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe purchased from were also from historically underserved producers.

Under Home Feeds Nevada, the Tribe was able to buy beef, poultry, fresh produce, eggs, dairy, jams, and herbs for their food pantry. The food pantry is open to everyone, tribal and nontribal customers alike.

Steven Wadsworth, chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, said now that federal funds have been cut, current funding will only last until October.

“This deeply troubles the Tribe, as after that period local producers and vendors will suffer a loss of income,” Wadsworth said. “Further adding to the unfortunate news of the funding being rescinded is the fact that this impacts not only our Tribal Members, but the surrounding communities as well.”

The boost in funding allowed the Tribe to expand its food pantry offerings for low-income families in nearby rural communities, including the City of Fernley, said Wadsworth.

“Unless we receive more economic help via reinstitution of this grant or a large amount of donations, it looks to be a very dreary winter for a large number of Nevada residents,” Wadsworth said.

Food banks face cuts

What hurts farmers, also hurts low-income families that rely on fresh food from the state’s food banks.

Food Bank of Northern Nevada said without funding for Home Feeds Nevada the food bank will have to cut a million pounds of fresh food distribution for low-income families. Funding cuts would also slash the food banks access to fresh food, forcing the food bank to rely on shelf-stable food like canned goods.

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is currently serving about 160,000 people every single month, a 28% increase since 2022, said Shane Piccinini, the director of government relations for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.

“I had no idea how successful this program was going to be, it has been truly transformational for us as a food bank and also for the farmers, growers and the entire agricultural community,” Piccinini said.

Since the program launched, Three Square Food Bank in Southern Nevada has purchased nearly two million pounds of fresh food from Nevada farmers and producers, said Chelsey Wininger, interim director of advocacy for the food bank.

“These products included fresh produce, protein, dairy… products that are not always readily available through the food donation network,” Wininger said.

Before the cuts were announced, Nevada state Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-LV) was focused on strengthening the long-term goals of Home Feeds Nevada. Now his top concern is securing any amount of funding to keep the program running the next fiscal year.

Home Feeds Nevada was first established in 2022 using $2 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, before the Nevada Department of Agriculture secured nearly $6 million in funding from the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program in 2023.

Doñate is sponsoring SB233, a bill that would double state funding for the Home Feeds Nevada to $800,000, while a study on how to save and sustain the program is completed. Home Feeds Nevada is also set up to take donations, which will be needed to get the program at even a fraction of its current reach.

“We are now in a different position, where if this appropriation does not go through, the funds will be depleted on the account, and we won’t be able to provide these resources anymore,” Doñate said during a Senate Natural Resource hearing Tuesday.

Trump’s cuts to the program will undermine Nevada’s “efforts to strengthen local food systems, support farmers and increase access to healthy, locally sourced food for school and local communities,” Doñate said.

“Many of these farms need a level of structure and stability and that’s what the Home Feeds Nevada program was able to establish,” Doñate said. “We need to be able to pass funding to be able to continue this program.”