USDA cancels $35M climate grant to Freeport demonstration farm

by Long Islander

Apr 22

The termination letter said Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment failed to pay at least 65% of its climate-smart agriculture grant directly to farmers.

April 21, 2025

Penelope Overton

Portland Press Herald

EXCERPTS

After nearly three months of frozen payments, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has canceled a five-year, $35 million climate-smart agriculture grant to a Freeport demonstration farm.

Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment was informed last week that it had lost its grant because its overhead costs exceeded new guidelines set by the Trump administration, Wolfe’s Neck communications director Harry Kimball said.

The USDA announced it was canceling most of the 135 projects funded by the $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program last week, calling it a Biden administration-era slush fund “built to advance the green new scam at the benefit of (nongovernmental organizations).”

In its notice to Wolfe’s Neck, the USDA cited the project’s failure to pay at least 65% of its funding directly to farmers. But Kimball said the project’s indirect spending still benefited farmers....................

...........................The center had pledged to use 40% of funds to help historically underserved farmers: farmers of color, veterans, low-income farmers or those who are new to farming. It would have supplied materials and services in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese and Punjabi........................“We knitted a beautiful sweater and now we are being forced to pull out a number of strands of yarn,” Executive Director Dave Herring is quoted as saying. 

Read the entire article at https://www.pressherald.com/2025/04/21/usda-cancels-35m-climate-grant-to-freeport-demonstration-farm/

 

Load Previous Comments

  • Willem Post

    Harvard is getting about $2 billion per year, no-strings-attached, from the federal government.

    Harvard has the right to exercise free speech, to teach, to do research, or practice DEI, or gay rights, or whatever comes to mind.

    Harvard is suing Trump, because he is freezing the blank check.

    Harvard has no right to receive free federal money.

    Apr 22

  • Long Islander

    Willem,

    I just looked up Harvard's endowment at https://finance.harvard.edu/files/fad/files/fy24_harvard_financial_... and in 2024 it was $53.2 Billion. Why do they receive any money at all from taxpayers?

    Apr 22

  • arthur qwenk

    Harvard has  been a left  wing bigoted organization for much of its recent history. They only should receive funding, under scrutiny from the US govt, for research that benefits all Americans, such as  cancer research,diabetes and  other medical research.

    They have plenty of endowment money to carry on. Unless they change their antisemitic, anti- asian , DEI related polices, they  should also lose their tax exempt status.

    Apr 23