Shaheen Holds Roundtable with North Country Farmers, Officials to Talk Impacts of Trump Administration’s Freeze of Agriculture Funds

(Littleton, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, hosted a roundtable with North Country farmers to discuss the impacts and uncertainty farms are experiencing as a result of President Trump’s freeze on tens of billions of dollars of federal funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). You can view photos from the event here.

“The administration’s funding freeze chaos is having real, harmful consequences for our farmers and rural communities here in the Granite State,” said Senator Shaheen. “I was grateful to hear directly from North Country farmers about the challenges they’re facing. When our farmers can’t access the funding they’ve been promised, it puts their businesses at risk, and our local food supply could be harmed. I intend to take what I heard today back to Washington and continue to advocate on behalf of the North Country farmers so they can access the funds they’re due.”

The discussion follows a series of roundtables and discussions with Granite Staters hosted by Shaheen to better understand and highlight the direct consequences of the Trump administration’s funding chaos and uncertainty. Following the Trump administration’s decision to freeze grants and loans disbursed by the federal government in January, Shaheen immediately condemned the move and spoke on the Senate floor against the decision to freeze federal grants and loans that families, seniors and small businesses rely on for critical, often life-saving services.

Shaheen has long fought to support farmers in New Hampshire, including by successfully helping to secure disaster supplemental funding for farmers impacted by crop losses in 2023. Shaheen also has a strong record of working to improve crop insurance policies to support farmers in New Hampshire and leads legislation to reform the federal government’s crop insurance program. Senator Shaheen has supported more than 230 New Hampshire small businesses who have received over $25 million to lower energy bills and cut costs through USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program. She has consistently fought for increased funding and improved support for rural development programs, including rural water programs.

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