Gov. Evers: “Trump Administration Must Stop Turning Their Backs on America’s Dairyland”

In a letter to the Evers Administration, the Trump Administration indicated it plans to renege on its contractual obligations and intends to terminate critical federal funding available through the Local Food Purchase Assistance 2025 (LFPA25) program despite the U.S. Congress having approved the program and its funding years ago. The LFPA program aims to support local producers through purchasing local food from local farmers, bolstering food access at local food pantries, and strengthening food supply chains for rural communities and economies. As of the end of 2024, nearly 300 Wisconsin farmers had participated in the Wisconsin LFPA Program, which distributed more than $4 million in food and served all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. More than half of the participating farmers—55 percent—were new or beginning farmers. The program was set to enter its third year in just a few weeks based on Wisconsin’s contractual agreement with the federal government.

All told, the Trump Administration is poised to gut more than $1 billion from the LFPA and the Local Food for Schools programs, both of which are designed to connect food from local farmers and producers with local communities, cutting Wisconsin’s promised funding by nearly $6 million. The governor is urging President Donald Trump and the Trump Administration to reverse course and immediately release the funding Wisconsin was already approved and promised to help support the state’s farmers and producers.

“The Trump Administration must stop turning their backs on America’s Dairyland and betraying our farmers, producers, and agricultural industries by trying to gut funding Wisconsin’s farmers and producers were promised. With President Trump’s 25 percent tariff taxes that are going to cause prices to go up on everything from gas to groceries and his escalating trade wars that could affect our farmers’ and producers’ bottom lines, these reckless cuts to critical federal programs couldn’t come at a worse time,” said Gov. Evers. “The Trump Administration cannot continue to try and go back on their word—and Republicans in Congress cannot continue to allow the Trump Administration to obstruct funding for key programs Congress already approved. Here in America’s Dairyland, we stand up for our farmers, farm families, and producers, and we’re going to fight to make damn sure our farmers have the resources and support Wisconsin was promised.”

This action by the USDA comes as farmers across the nation are currently bracing for a trade war with the nation’s largest agricultural import partners as a result of the president’s threats of reciprocal tariffs, the impacts of which could be detrimental to Wisconsin farmers and the state’s agricultural communities. Last week, Wisconsin’s neighboring state of Illinois, as well as others across the country, including Arkansas and California, similarly received word that federal support for the LFPA program and the many partners it supports are at risk. These actions also come as President Trump has threatened to cut thousands of jobs from the USDA, going so far as to baselessly fire nearly 6,000 federal employees, only to be forced to reinstate them weeks later after the firings were determined to very likely be illegal.

The Trump Administration’s apparent attempts to renege on its contractual obligations and to override programs and funding approved by the U.S. Congress underscores how the Trump Administration’s reckless decisions are continuing to directly impact Wisconsin’s state budget. Gov. Evers in his 2025-27 budget proposal relied upon anticipated federal LFPA funding and requested nearly $770,000 and one full-time position to leverage the federal funding and help support the program, farmers, and producers in Wisconsin. Additionally, the Trump Administration’s decision to gut federal LFPA funding further underscores the importance of the Wisconsin State Legislature approving the governor’s proposed $30 million state investment in the Food Security Initiative to help support farmers and producers and get Wisconsin made or grown agricultural products to communities across the state.

Authorized by the U.S. Congress under the American Rescue Plan Act, the WI LFPA program was created and implemented in 2022 through a cooperative agreement between DATCP and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The WI LFPA Program is comprised of two programs: contracts for Wisconsin farmers to sell products and providing food for hunger relief efforts across the state, and grants for nonprofit and community organizations to purchase Wisconsin-grown, raised, or minimally processed food to distribute at no cost to underserved communities in the state. Additional information on states, U.S. Territories, and Native Nations that have signed Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreements with the USDA is available here. Additional information on the WI LFPA is available on DATCP’s website here.

BACKGROUND ON GOV. EVERS’ EFFORTS TO SUPPORT WISCONSIN FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES
Gov. Evers recognizes that Wisconsin’s agricultural industry is as critical to the state economy as it is to Wisconsin’s heritage and culture, and ensuring its continued growth and success for generations to come will be critical to ensuring Wisconsin’s continued growth and success.

Last month, Gov. Evers announced his plans to invest more than $80 million in his 2025-27 Executive Budget to support Wisconsin farmers and farm families, producers, and processors and the state’s $116 billion agricultural industry statewide. This includes:

More information on Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Executive Budget plan to support Wisconsin’s farmers and agricultural communities is available here.

Gov. Evers has long been a champion for Wisconsin’s agricultural and farm communities, including creating the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports to boost the export of dairy, meat, crop, and other products by 25 percent, increasing funding for meat and dairy processing to support the state’s supply chain, and supporting farmer mental health through increased funding for DATCP’s Farmer Wellness Program through the Wisconsin Farm Center.

A comprehensive but not exhaustive list of Gov. Evers’ efforts to support Wisconsin farmers, farm families, rural communities, and agricultural industries across the state over the past six years is available below.