Orchard Park, NY – On Thursday, Earthjustice, Farmers Justice Center, and FarmSTAND filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and other federal agencies in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Providence Farm Collective (PFC), the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Agroecology Commons, Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The motion urges the court to stop DOGE and the USDA’s unlawful termination of federal grant awards and to restore vital funding not only for the plaintiffs, but for all other grantees affected by the same unlawful practice.

“The abrupt cancellation of our USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant severely undermines PFC’s Incubator Farm Program – the only new-entry farmer training initiative in Western New York,” said Kristin Heltman-Weiss, Executive Director of Providence Farm Collective. “This sudden loss of funding irreparably harms PFC farmers and PFC’s impactful agricultural programming, with a chilling effect felt across the region’s food system. This action is about protecting the integrity of federal programs, protecting our region’s agriculture system, and ensuring that farms like ours can continue the vital legacy of sustainable farming.”

USDA’s sole basis for terminating these and hundreds of other awards en masse is that they allegedly “no longer effectuate” new agency “priorities” — namely, the priorities to eliminate any government spending it can portray as related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), climate change, or environmental justice. However, USDA’s policy and practice of terminating grants in this manner wholly disregards the grant awardees’ rights under the U.S. Constitution, federal regulatory requirements, and in many instances, Congress’s mandates.