From Drought to Disparity: Navigating Relief and Barriers for Vulnerable Farmers in the Western US

As climate change intensifies, United States Department of Agriculture emergency programs provide crucial relief during crises. Yet, programs like the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) are now being triggered each year as droughts become routine in the western US. Simultaneously, the most climate vulnerable farmers are largely left out of these programs. We examine how institutional structures, program design, and implementation practices shape access to public agricultural support services in the western US, with particular focus on beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers (BSDFs). Drawing from nearly 50 in-depth interviews with USDA staff and farmers across western states, our two papers work to illuminate interconnected challenges. The first paper focuses on LFP's transformation from emergency relief to routine payout in drought-stricken western states to reveal how climate change is outpacing policy adaptation while potentially reducing incentives for long-term adaptation. In addition, it highlights the challenges that ranchers, who primarily ranch on leased land, face in obtaining documentation from absentee landlords, posing a significant barrier for relief access. Simultaneously, FSA program outreach primarily targets producers with long-term ties to the USDA, leaving many BDSFs out of disaster payments they qualify for. The second paper focuses on western Montana, where BSDFs represent a significant and growing portion of the farming population; these farmers face substantial barriers to accessing USDA programs, instead relying heavily on informal community networks and local non-profits for support. As a result, many BSDFs frame access to both land and federal farm support as the product of "luck," rather than the structural (in)effectiveness of federal farm support programs. Together, these papers demonstrate how USDA's institutional structures and program implementation practices may perpetuate historical inequities in agricultural support services just as climate change threatens to exacerbate those same disparities.