Iowa's farmers and food producers are facing a crisis that's been brewing behind the scenes at the US Department of Agriculture. Since President Donald Trump took office and his number two billionaire Elon Musk has been taking a club to federal programs, the consequences have been mounting.

And now Iowa food growers are left with the bill.

The USDA has frozen nearly $7 million in promised funding, leaving hundreds of local farms and food businesses in limbo during the critical spring planting season.

On this episode of Cornhole Champions, hosts Zachary Oren Smith speaks with Giselle Bruskewitz of Iowa Valley RC&D a group that administers the entire program that was to help build more resilient foodways, but now is leaving a lot of Iowans in the cold.

"It's a slap in the face. It's really devastating. It's the 11th hour. It’s past the 11th hour for some. The produce farmers already have seeds coming up in the greenhouses. The meat farmers have already booked locker dates,” Burskewitz said. “And so the sales projections and what these farmers have been planning all winter for this growing season is now putting them in a really precarious situation where they have to either find other markets.”

Join the conversation with Starting Line’s community editor Amie Rivers and Zach as they break down the what bills are dead and which bills shouldn’t be.

Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line with music by Avery Mossman. We are a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. For more, check out its roundup of local writers.

Post Funnel Week Postmortems:

* 1st Story - Iowa lawmakers introduced 1,500+ bills this session. Which survived the 'funnel' deadline? (Des Moines Register)

* 2nd Story - Here are the bills that advanced during the Iowa Legislature's first deadline of 2025 (Iowa Public Radio)

* 3rd Story - What bills are still moving at the Iowa Capitol this year? (The Gazette)

Previous episodes mentioned:

* Hear from an anti-hunger organizer about Double Up Food Bucks bills moving through the Iowa Legislature. (Cornhole Champions #14)

* Hear about why banning the abortion pill is dumb move. (Cornhole Champions #13)

* Hear our breakdown of the “Meet Baby Olivia” video. (Cornhole Champions #9)

Guest:

* Giselle Bruskewitz is the program director at Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development.

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