Small Farmers Struggle Amid US Agricultural Subsidy Disparities and Food Assistance Cuts
Small family farms in the United States, defined as those with gross cash farm income under $350,000, face severe financial risks with data from 2022 indicating between 50% and 79% of farms in this category are at risk. Despite their vulnerability, USDA investment heavily favors large-scale industrial farms, with funding of about $1 per local farm compared to every $1,054 invested in industrial operations. Subsidies primarily support large-scale farms with gross cash farm income of $1 million or more and focus mainly on five major crops, with payments calculated based on acreage and volume.
For the 2024–2025 period, USDA direct payments and emergency subsidies totaled approximately $40 billion, while small farmers received just $33.5 million in competitive grants. Additionally, important programs supporting local food systems such as Local Food for Schools (LFS) and Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA), which contributed over $1 billion to schools and institutions, were canceled. The termination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs that supported women, BIPOC, queer, and young farmers is viewed as benefiting larger, predominantly white commercial operations.
Direct sales channels including farmers’ markets, on-farm markets, and CSAs account for less than 1% (around 0.5%) of SNAP dollars, although some farmers rely on SNAP benefits for roughly half of their sales. However, with the SNAP program suspended in November 2025 due to a government shutdown, over 40 million Americans were forced to ration food, exacerbating hunger issues nationwide. In July, USDA also ended the Regional Food Business Centers program, further signaling cuts to support for local food infrastructure.
Policy recommendations emphasize the need for permanent funding of local procurement programs like LFS and LFPA as well as expanding SNAP incentive models such as Georgia’s Fresh for Less and South Carolina’s Healthy Bucks to better support small farmers and combat hunger more effectively.
