News

Town hall meeting addresses funding freeze and job cuts

The Trump administration’s recent round of funding freezes and job cuts is being felt by farmers. 

Wisconsin Farmers Union’s Tommy Enright tells Brownfield Farmers Union is hearing from concerned members affected by the federal cuts. “We thought it was time to get people together, have our elected officials hear from our members firsthand what those stories and concerns were.”

One of many feeling the impact is Chris Burkhouse from Amery, Wisconsin, who used to grow 200 thousand pounds of vegetables annually and transitioned to training new farmers and helping them find new markets through a grant-funded program but, “My job was paused. We didn’t know what that meant, but they told me I should stop working until they knew more, and eventually, they told me that I should start looking for another job.”

Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan tells Brownfield the Trump administration is causing chaos and more uncertainty for farmers. “Whether that’s going to be the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or rural broadband, or assistance for people who are doing ethanol, or you name it, it’s going to have a real impact and here today, we’ve heard a bunch of people who’ve already seen their funding cut off even though we’ve been told no funds have been cut off to farmers.”

Pocan urges everyone affected by Department of Government Efficiency actions to keep speaking out.

AUDIO: Tommy Enright from Wisconsin Farmers Union at their town hall meeting with Brownfield’s Larry Lee

AUDIO: Chris Burkhouse at town hall meeting with Brownfield’s Larry Lee

AUDIO: Congressman Mark Pocan at town hall meeting with Brownfield’s Larry Lee