08-04-2025
USDA solar program restarts with new rule for farmers: No DEI or climate focus
Anne Diemand Bucci, of Diemand Farm in Wendell, roughly 20 miles north of Amherst,
suddenly found herself making payments on a $250,000 bank loan for a solar project that might never get built.
At the Diemand Farm, Anne Diemand Bucci brought egg containers to her farmstand. Already $40,000 in the hole, she is now paying interest on a $250,000 loan for a solar project.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Thirty miles south, at Red Fire Farm in Granby,
Ryan Voiland watched as the window to use a $50,000 grant in state matching funds closed, making it even less likely he'd be able to add a solar canopy to his farm.
And Bill Jordan, a solar developer in New York State who has spent decades helping farmers install solar panels, saw $18 million in work freeze up.
Advertisement
Then, in late March, as quickly as the taps had turned off — they reopened, albeit with a stipulation that applicants remove 'harmful' diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility references, and any 'far-left climate features' from their proposals, according to a
As farmers circulated the press release and found similar language in email messages they received as grantees, they were, in a word, perplexed.
Advertisement
'I didn't understand it,' said Bucci, whose 175-acre operation specializes in chickens for eggs and meat, turkeys and grass-fed beef, trees for lumber, and various foods like soup and turkey pot pies, which she sells in her farm store and locally.
With Massachusetts'
Her grant doesn't mention diversity or inclusion — nor does it explicitly mention climate change, though the generation of clean energy from solar panels will certainly help combat global warming.
Not to mention, it's not even clear how the USDA would measure the extent to which climate or DEI is a part of the grant. The USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
Eventually, she heard from Jordan Energy — the contractor on her project — that her plan should be safe. She's moving ahead, but that doesn't mean it sits well for Bucci, who did not vote for Trump.
'What is the point they're trying to make?' she asked, as chicks peeped loudly in the background. 'If somebody is doing something for climate change, or for DEI like, really? What is so wrong with that?'
As of March 24,
the USDA's solar grants — part of the so-called Rural Energy For America Program — appear to be safe. But other programs, including two that provided more than $1 billion nationally for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers, have been eliminated.
Related
:
These changes come as part of the
Trump administration's cost-cutting effort across the federal government.
Ashley Randle, commissioner of the state Department of Agricultural Resources, said the USDA cancellations have been disappointing because these programs 'empower farmers to be able to grow more food and to be able to distribute local, fresh, nutritious food into schools, food banks, and food pantries.'
Advertisement
The Rural Energy For America Program program aims to help farmers become energy-independent and save money on their electricity bills, by producing renewable energy or through energy-efficiency upgrades. It's been around
The program can cover up to half of the costs of a solar installation, with the farmer or rural business owner responsible for the rest. Once a grant is issued, the farmer has to secure funding, get the solar installed and then have it up and operating before the USDA will issue a reimbursement.
It's that arrangement that proved so tricky for farmers, who already operate on tight margins. Many had already spent funds for projects, and were shocked to learn they may not get reimbursed despite their signed contracts.
'When you put a pause on a contract that's already been started and a farmer has incurred those expenses, it really does create more challenges, more anxiety and more pressure on top of what farms are already facing,' said Randle.
Bucci, for example, had already spent $40,000 to upgrade a roof to make it ready for solar panels and had started making payments on a loan that would cover the rest of the project.
A view of the Diemand Farm, where solar panels would help mitigate expensive electricity bills.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Even now that it's back on, she said it's hard to feel secure.
Advertisement
'I will trust that we're going to get it after the money is deposited in the bank and I've paid down my loan,' she said.
As a result of the delays, Voiland, of Red Fire Farm, said he'll have to rethink his approach entirely. The plan had been to use $125,000 from the USDA and $50,000 from a state grant to build a solar canopy to generate energy needed to run coolers for produce, while offering a sheltered place to park tractors.
But the state funds had
an expiration date. To Voiland's relief, the state allowed him to use that money for a different project on his farm, rather than lose it entirely. But now he's short on funds for the solar project.
Next, he'll be talking with his bank and re-thinking the scope of his solar installation to see what's possible. But he remains nervous.
'Whether the future support is there for anything that has to do with more sustainable farming practices, seems like it's in question right now,' he said.
Then there's the bigger picture. Voiland's focus is on sustainable farming and organic food. 'I think it's important that government is a partner in that process, because food is so important — people need to eat,' he said. 'There's only so much a farmer can do to really make it happen without some policy support for doing it.'
Sabrina Shankman can be reached at
