Press Releases

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE

SANTA FE, N.M. – Yesterday, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) hosted a press conference with local farmers, ranchers, Tribal representatives, and conservation leaders to denounce the Trump Administration’s funding freeze on critical U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreements. These freezes jeopardize essential conservation and water management efforts across New Mexico.

“Democrats made the largest investment in rural America since the New Deal. What we’re seeing now are the largest cuts,” said Leger Fernandez. “When they cut [these] programs in order to fund the tax cuts for the wealthiest corporations, [they hurt] acequias, farmers, ranchers, and Tribal communities who rely on them to implement sustainable conservation practices, protect water resources, and ensure their livelihoods. We cannot stand by while these cuts threaten our people’s way of life.”

EQIP provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to improve water efficiency, soil health, and drought resilience. Under the Biden Administration, New Mexico producers received $133.4 million in EQIP funding.  The Trump Administration’s freeze on EQIP’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding has so far frozen $26.8 million of those funds. Additional funding is also frozen in outreach cooperative agreements that are currently in limbo. These freezes on EQIP and related programs are leaving farmers, ranchers, and acequia communities without the support they need to continue their essential work.

The freezes and delays are compounded by mass layoffs of employees across USDA and other agencies—making payment systems and other important functions slower or non-functional. According to reports, approximately 35 people were recently fired from NCRS New Mexico and some farmers have struggled to set up meetings with the good people who work at USDA as a result. 

The press conference featured firsthand accounts from New Mexicans impacted by the funding freezes:

Robert Lopez, a Tucumcari farmer, described how the EQIP freeze has put part of his conservation project at risk. He is out $85,000 to $90,000 and this freeze is forcing him to choose between covering costs out of pocket or breaching his contract. “You have no idea what the stress level is on a farm, not knowing what your crop is going to bring or whether you’ll have a crop at all,” Robert said. “I’m concerned that the current administration is not taking into consideration the far reaching impacts of the cuts. The guys like me that are on the ground, out on the field doing the work are going to be impacted. The Congresswoman said that these aren’t cuts, these are suspended, but to us that’s the same thing. We’re not getting our money when we need to be.”

Paula Garcia, Executive Director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, detailed how the NRCS Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreements have been stalled, leaving acequias without resources to participate in federal disaster relief programs. “As a farmer/rancher you commit to conservation practices that protect the soil, work with career NRCS staff to develop a conservation plan, how to maintain healthy soil, how to conserve water,” Paula said. “The USDA commits to reimbursing you for your expense, it’s a cost share. You have entered into it together. Imagine for a minute that you are waiting to get reimbursed and the United States of America fails to honor that agreement.”

Yvonne S. Benton, Agriculture Manager for Zia Pueblo, highlighted the impact on Tribal lands, where conservation efforts are being halted due to the funding delays. “We do depend on these grants to help our tribe out with different aspects of agriculture,” she said. “People are having to haul water out in 250 gallon totes and sometimes they are driving over an hour just to get 250 gallons of water to their cattle […] I think about them because of the distance, because of what they are paying for mileage because of the wear and tear on their vehicles”

Jim Berlier, a Rio Arriba rancher and longtime conservation advocate, explained how the freeze undermines years of progress in land stewardship and threatens the stability of rural economies. Jim said he was “thankful that we have a Congresswoman who is aware of what's going on and that she'll be up there fighting for us.” He also said “I’ve been thankful to have all the USDA programs in effect, through them I have been able to survive. And they aren't grants, money just given to us, they are voluntary incentive based programs that encourage us to do conservation work on the land which in turn improves our productivity.”

Debbie Hughes, Executive Director of the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, emphasized how these funding cuts are stalling conservation projects across the state and leaving local conservation districts without necessary resources. “This is so important because without the staff […] we don’t have enough people to actually go out on the ground with the farmers and ranchers and figure out what kind of conversation practices we need,” Debbie said.