(Pierre, SD) — The USDA is terminating a program that would have helped new farmers in South Dakota. The Department of Agriculture says it’s slashing the Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access program, which would have provided more than 300-million dollars to 49 local non-profit and agricultural groups throughout the country. It was launched by the Biden administration in 2022 to provide funding and assistance to new, minority farmers. Many Indigenous farmers in South Dakota were hoping the initiative would help people on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation make a living by growing food. The USDA called the program wasteful and discriminatory.
