What would Project 2025 mean for Wisconsin farmers?

The conservative blueprint Project 2025 has received attention for issues like civil rights. But advocates say it also includes potential funding losses for farmers needing environmental protections.

Project 2025, drafted as a vision for a Republican leader in the White House, was put together by allies of Donald Trump.

Environmental advocate David Kieve – president of EDF Action, a partner of the Environmental Defense Fund – said one overlooked aspect is a call to significantly reduce crop insurance subsidies, and eliminate most commodity payments.

He said that would harm Midwestern farmers navigating the effects of climate change.

“If you’re living in a place where it doesn’t rain for almost three months, and then over a 24-hour period, you get three months’ worth of rain,” said Kieve, “that’s not okay if you rely on the land.”

Kieve noted that Project 2025 also targets credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, which helps farmers cover costs for adopting climate-smart agriculture.

The Trump campaign has tried to disavow connections to the conservative proposal.

However, Trump himself has pledged to pull back unspent IRA funds – even though some elements of that law are backed by GOP lawmakers and the rural areas they represent.

On the campaign trail, Trump has again made imposing tariffs a focal point of his economic strategy.
Kieve said while Wisconsin is known for its dairy production, it’s also a top soybean-producing state.

He cited a forecast from the American Soybean Association that another round of tariffs under a Trump administration would lead to a 52% drop in U.S. soybean production.

“That’d absolutely decimate a soybean producer’s bottom line,” said Kieve.

He said that also would create a ripple effect in their communities.

A 2022 study by the USDA found that the trade war during Trump’s time in office led to a $27 billion loss in agricultural exports, with soybeans accounting for most of the losses.

The Trump administration responded with emergency aid to farmers, but those moves were scrutinized over a majority of payments going to corporate farms.

---

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin News Connection, a division of Public News Service.

---

Disclosure: Environmental Defense Fund contributes to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.