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Harvest Public Media is a reporting collaboration focused on issues of food, fuel and ﬁeld. Based at KCUR in Kansas City, Harvest covers these agriculture-related topics through an expanding network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest.Most Harvest Public Media stories begin with radio- regular reports are aired on member stations in the Midwest. But Harvest also explores issues through online analyses, television documentaries and features, podcasts, photography, video, blogs and social networking. They are committed to the highest journalistic standards. Click here to read their ethics standards.Harvest Public Media was launched in 2010 with the support of a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Today, the collaboration is supported by CPB, the partner stations, and contributions from underwriters and individuals.Tri States Public Radio is an associate partner of Harvest Public Media. You can play an important role in helping Harvest Public Media and Tri States Public Radio improve our coverage of food, field and fuel issues by joining the Harvest Network.

How Ag Programs Fare Under Trump’s Proposed Budget For 2020

Harvest Public Media | By Madelyn Beck

Published March 11, 2019 at 8:16 PM CDT

President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal is getting a lot of attention for its call for more border protection, but it also makes major changes to agriculture programs.

Without providing many specifics, it outlines a plan to reduce the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget by about $3.6 billion — 15 percent of its total funding. Some programs face cuts, while others get a boost, but it’s all just a proposal at this point and likely won’t survive Congress as-is.

That said, here are eight key numbers and takeaways:

$20.8 billion: Proposed for USDA funding next year, down nearly 15 percent from 2019.

$25.8 billion: What the administration estimates it’ll save from cuts or changes to crop insurance between 2020 and 2024, including limiting who can get subsidies and how high their subsidies will be.

$166 million: Annual savings by eliminating the Food for Progress program, which was created to help agriculture sectors in developing countries.

5: Programs (like the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) that are expected to make money from new “user fees,” though the budget doesn’t explain what they are and who would pay them.

$3.1 billion: Estimated to be gained via a line item called “streamline conservation programs” between 2020 and 2024 ($8.87 billion between 2020 and 2029).

2: Number of times the Trump administration has proposed “America’s Harvest Box” since taking office. Essentially, it would mail American-grown produce to the 40 million people a month who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits; though many estimates have found this idea to be prohibitively expensive.

$500 million: Amount slated for the competitive ag research grant program Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, or AFRI. That’s about $85 million more than the amount of funding enacted in FY 2019.

Thousands: Able-bodied adults who receive SNAP benefits that the administration says would get help finding employment. This is likely another attempt to encourage lawmakers to fund employment training, which did not make it into the most recent farm bill, and strengthen work requirements these adults must meet for the aid (regardless of the area’s job market).

Follow Madelyn on Twitter: @madelynbeck8