A LETTER TO CONGRESS
How to contact
Call: (202) 224-3121
or
Find your congressman: https://www.congress.gov/contact-us then enter your zip code.
From there you can email, call or physically mail a letter to your Representative and Senator.
Here’s how you address that letter (if mailing)
For U.S. Representatives
- The Honorable [Full Name]
- U.S. House of Representatives[Building Name and Room Number]
- Washington, DC 20515
For U.S. Senators
- The Honorable [Full Name]
- United States Senate[Building Name and Room Number]
- Washington, DC 20510
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Member of Congress,
I am writing to express my frustration with the Trump administration’s repeated cuts to agricultural programs, conservation assistance, food-safety protections, and support for small, beginning, and underserved farmers.
Farmers are facing rising fuel and fertilizer costs, drought, disease threats, unstable export markets, consolidation, and growing financial distress. Yet the administration has reduced conservation funding, weakened or eliminated programs intended to help farmers remain viable, furloughed critical USDA staff, and made grant assistance more difficult to obtain. These decisions disproportionately harm family farms while large corporations and the wealthiest landowners continue to receive substantial benefits.
I am also deeply concerned by the weakening of food-safety standards, including the repeal of stronger Salmonella protections and the approval of pesticides containing persistent chemicals. Preventing outbreaks and protecting consumers should never be treated as unnecessary government spending.
Congress must restore agricultural and conservation funding, protect independent and underserved farmers, strengthen antitrust enforcement, preserve rigorous food-safety standards, and provide meaningful oversight of USDA and related agencies. American farmers and families deserve a food system built around safety, competition, and long-term stability—not political favoritism, corporate consolidation, and repeated bailouts after preventable policy failures.
Chronology.
1996-06-06 Antitrust Enforcement in the Meat Packing Industry (archived DOJ document)
2018-02-01 Trump proposed $183M in cuts to Conservation Technical Assistance, which was designed to help farmers implement conservation practices.
2020-05-26 America invested $15M to prevent screwworm and saved farmers an estimated $796M in damages.
2020-10-28 Trump handed farmers bailouts after his first trade war.
2021-08-13 JD Vance promoted an indoor farming company that faced allegations of misleading regulators and investors.
2022-03-02 Biden openly criticized the “Big Four” for manipulating the meat market.
2024-09-18 JD Vance funded AcreTrader, which led to consolidation of farmland and reduced competition. Allegedly, JD Vance’s firm bought up American farmland and resold it to foreign investors.
2025-01-20 The Trump administration froze funds to USAID. By March USAID was 83% gutted. By July 24, 2025 Trump signed the Rescissions Act of 2025 to claw back $8B in funding from USAID. Aside from foreign aid, dismantling USAID can negatively impact farm subsidies.
2025-02-06 Egg prices soared due to bird flu. When farmers rebuilt flocks and replaced sick birds, Trump took the credit.
2025-04-01 Trump repealed Biden’s Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products. Because of the repeal, poultry products contaminated with Salmonella can legally be sold so long as existing, less stringent, safety standards are met.
2025-04-01 The Trump administration cut $754M in funding from conservation technical assistance.
2025-06-24 Newsmax posted, “A government agency spending $300 million in taxpayer dollars to produce sterilized flies sounds like a dream scenario for a DOGE team looking to cut waste, fraud and abuse”. In June of 2026 there was a flesh-eating screwworm outbreak after DOGE cut the research and development sectors responsible for sterilizing the males so there wouldn’t be an outbreak.
2025-06-24 During Trump’s second trade war farmers sought after another bailout.
2025-07-09 Trump revoked Biden’s Executive Order 14036 on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, a legislation meant to prevent monopolies and higher food prices.
2025-08-01 A raw milk producer failed health tests that detected high levels of coliform bacteria, which can include E.coli.
2025-09-01 Soybean sales to China plummet compared to $12.6 Billion in sales in September 2024.
2025-09-09 Several Republicans continued opposing solar expansion on farmland, often describing such projects as “green-energy boondoggles.”
2025-10-01 In response to the government shutdown, the Trump administration furloughed 96% of NRCS staff, effectively freezing conservation programs and the processing of financial aid and contracts for farmers.
2025-10-03 China bought 25% (roughly 7 billion tons) of Argentina’s soybean complex.
2025-10-24 After bailing Argentina out with $40M, Trump announced the U.S. would be buying their beef too.
2025-10-28 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called himself a farmer during an ABC interview. For context, Bessent owns land in North Dakota which he rents out to farmers.
2025-10-30 Trump discussed trade deals in China with Xi Jinping, lowering tariff rates to 47% and establishing that China will buy 25M metric tons of soybeans annually over the next 3 years.
2025-11-02 Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins perpetuated SNAP fraud claims on social media and praised Trump for withholding food assistance.
2025-11-10 The Agriculture Department threatened to penalize states that didn’t “undo” steps to fully fund SNAP.
2025-11-21 Tyson Foods closed the Lexington Nebraska beef plant, leaving roughly 3200 people out of a job. This boosted Tyson stocks by 6%.
2025-11-24 The EPA approved two new pesticides with “forever chemicals” that would be used on food.
2025-12-14 Trump announced a $12B bailout for farmers using tariff revenue.
2026-02-08 Florida studies show increased glyphosate in bread products, and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis said the Healthy Florida First initiative found triple-digit levels.
2026-03-08 Billion-dollar farm subsidies for the top 2% of farmers.
2026-03-10 The war in Iran affected global fertilizer trade and global helium supplies.
2026-03-24 Trump’s Agriculture Department shut down millions of dollars in programs designed to help first time and underserved farmers.
2026-03-27 Idaho lawmakers Glenneda Zuiderveld and Stephanie Mickelson reported pressure and retaliation over their immigration-policy positions.
2026-04-21 The DOJ opened an investigation into whether meat packers were colluding with fixed prices or manipulating the market. See 2022 when the Biden Administration often publicly criticized the “Big Four” for manipulating the markets.
2026-04-30 A bale of hay costs $23, diesel costs rose up over 46%, screwworms were an issue in the Southern border, and additional cuts to SNAP benefits were made. Meanwhile farming families are under duress and the rate of farmer suicide is increasing.
2026-05-09 The U.S. obligated millions of dollars in soybean, corn and vegetable oil trade from Argentina.
2026-05-13 The fertilizer shortage hit home for farmers in Michigan.
2026-05-17 China committed to buy $17B in US farm goods each year from 2026 to 2028.
2026-06-01 The drought crisis forced farmers to navigate water shortages.
2026-06-03 Farm Journal reported that “40% of agricultural economists say that many farmers will need significant restructuring to remain viable”.
2026-06-04 Texas issued a state of disaster after a new world screwworm case was detected in cattle, goats and dogs.
2026-06-05 Trump visited a swing district in Wisconsin amidst rising costs for American farmers. Experts reported numerous farmers are asset heavy and going bankrupt. Farm families held up banners while Trump talked about his reflecting pool project.
2026-06-11 Trump further advocated on Fox that he wanted the Chinese Communist Party to continue buying up American farmland.
2026-06-25 MAHA moms said they felt betrayed after SCOTUS ruled that Bayer did not have to warn consumers about cancer risks associated with Roundup, and that Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to boost glyphosate production.
2026-07-09 The Trump administration is changing the rules on applying and receiving grants for farmers that will make the process more burdensome and less reliable.
2026-07-10 Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller called for a special center to address AI data centers taking over Texas farmland.
2026-07-13 The USDA provided an inaccurate report overreporting beef sales by 90%. After they were caught, they reissued a new report, blaming the original report numbers on staffing shortages.
2026-07-15 The House passed a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent.
2026-07-15 The House GOP voted 216 to 214 to advance a $95BN reconciliation bill to fund Iran, aid farmers, and push for the SAVE Act.
2026-07-23 Senator Thune said he didn’t have the votes to pass the $95B reconciliation bill.
2026-07-24 Farmers spent an addition $1.4 Billion dollars in diesel fuel compared to a year ago since the start of the Iran war.
2026-07-25 Ranchers in Colorado reported the need for water hauling amidst droughts.