![\"Solar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2207988065.jpg\")
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Solar panels installed as part of the Rural Energy for America Program at the Wooly Pig Farm Brewery in Fresno, Ohio.Jim West\/UCG\/Universal Images Group\/Getty<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tGet your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally published by\u00a0Inside Climate News<\/a> and\u00a0is reproduced here as part of the\u00a0Climate Desk<\/a>\u00a0collaboration.<\/p>\n The US Department of Agriculture announced this week that it will stop funding wind and solar energy on American farmland, a move that continues the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to kill incentives for renewables while it boosts support for fossil fuels and land-hungry, energy inefficient biofuels.<\/p>\n At the state fairgrounds in Lebanon, Tennessee, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that the agency will no longer allow \u201cbusinesses to use your taxpayer dollars to fund solar projects on prime American farmland, and we will no longer allow solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in our USDA-funded projects.\u201d<\/p>\n The move is part of a broader effort by the administration to revoke or reduce Biden-era funding for the expansion of wind and solar through the Inflation Reduction Act, much of which benefited farmers and agricultural areas.<\/p>\n In July, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, slashing incentives for wind and solar while boosting support for biofuels, which consume the majority of the country\u2019s cropland. The bill also restricts the use of Chinese-made solar components, a directive echoed in Rollins\u2019 comments this week.<\/p>\n The USDA formally announced the wind and solar funding cuts on Tuesday. It did not respond to specific questions from Inside Climate News.<\/p>\n The agency and lawmakers supporting the move said their primary concern was safeguarding the country\u2019s farmland and food.\u00a0\u201cSecretary Rollins understands that food security is national security, and preserving prime farmland for agricultural production is a key component of protecting our food supply,\u201d said Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson (R-Penn.), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a step backwards for farmers and small businesses that are trying to make decisions that are good for the business and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n More than half the country\u2019s cropland\u2014178 million out of\u00a0328 million crop acres<\/a>\u2014is used to grow corn and soybeans, much of it\u00a0for biofuels, not food. About one-third of the acres planted in corn are used for corn-based ethanol, which\u00a0amounts to about 4 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the country\u2019s fuel mix. More than 40 percent of the soybean supply is used for biofuels, despite biodiesel amounting to less than\u00a01 percent of the fuel mix<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Most of the remaining corn and soy is fed to confined livestock, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Only about\u00a02 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the country\u2019s corn is used for direct human consumption.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTennessee farmland should be used to grow the crops that feed our state and country, not to house solar panels made by foreign countries like Communist China,\u201d said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). \u201cSecretary Rollins and President Trump are right to put an end to these Green New Deal subsidies that waste taxpayer dollars while threatening America\u2019s food security. I applaud this administration for investing in rural communities across Tennessee and empowering them to prosper for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest\u00a0agricultural land users<\/a>\u00a0in Tennessee are corn and soybeans, which are grown on about 2.5 million acres.\u00a0A state commission found in 2024 that\u00a0solar development did not threaten<\/a>\u00a0the state\u2019s farmland.\u00a0<\/p>\n The USDA said it would immediately disqualify wind and solar projects from its Rural Development Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program and disqualify any wind or solar systems that are not \u201cright-sized for their facilities\u201d from a loan program under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the agency stopped distributing already promised REAP grants, prompting\u00a0farmers to sue<\/a>\u00a0the administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n The administration\u2019s latest move could complicate the economic landscape for farmers, who have increasingly relied on the income from wind and solar installations on their land as commodity prices have fallen and climate-driven weather extremes threaten production.<\/p>\n