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All Things Considered
Tom Crann and Gretchen Brown

USAID cuts will impact Minnesota farmers

An aerial view shows cornfield
An aerial view shows a tractor laying down the corn crops in a cornfield in Monticello, Minn.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News 2023

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Cuts at USAID will end thousands of humanitarian programs abroad. But Minnesota farmers will also see financial impacts.

The United States Agency for International Development was the world’s largest provider of foreign food aid. Farmers contract with the federal government to send corn, wheat and soy abroad to people in need.

MPR News host Tom Crann spoke with Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmer’s Union. Wertish and his family farm in Renville County.

Below is a transcript of their conversation, edited for clarity. Press play above to listen to the full conversation.

So did I have it right there, that Minnesota farmers contract with the federal government on a regular basis to send their crops that they grow, corn, wheat and soy abroad for people who need it in other countries, through USAID?

Well, technically, the majority of this is sold to the elevators, the cooperatives and that type of stuff. They’re the ones that do the contracts. But indirectly, yes, it is contracted from Minnesota farmers and farmers around the country, Minnesota primarily. Soy, wheat and corn would be the ones that we would be providing.

The President this week cut 90 percent of USAID programs. When you first heard about this, what did you think?

It’s very disheartening that all of a sudden we’re taking food away from people.

When people hear about USAID, they think, ‘Oh, this is this affects people abroad.’ What would you like people to know about how USAID, over the years, worked with farms and farmers right here in Minnesota.

All the food that we send overseas is raised right here locally within Minnesota. It’s directly coming from family farms. It’s another market that we can market ourselves to.

And, you know, as farmers, that’s part of our job. That’s what we do. As a farmer, we’re used to helping our neighbors. We should be anyway. And then there’s nothing wrong with helping people around the globe.

Can you give us a sense of how many crops Minnesota farmers send, and the impact that that this would then have on the bottom line?

It definitely does make a difference. Because we produce more within the state than we can consume. So, we do need to export, and this is another one of the markets that we’re able to export around the globe through the USAID program.

What about your own family farm? How will it be affected?

We do need to export a certain amount of our crop, so it’s just one more market that’s taken away from us. So it does put downward pressure on the market, on the prices that we’re able to receive.