Kaitlyn Kimball, farmer and member of CT-NOFA, was recently interviewed by Civil Eats about the USDA funding freeze and her participation in our DC fly-in.
During a busy week of farm policy events in Washington D.C. (and beyond) last week, USDA officials and staff pressed forward with business as usual, while some farmers tried to call attention to the billions of dollars in contracted funding they’re still waiting for.
In her interview with reporter Lisa Held, Kaitlyn shared her perspective as a young farmer, a business owner, and a fruit-and-vegetable producer.
Kaitlyn Kimball was one of a group of farmers who traveled to Capitol Hill with the National Family Farm Coalition who said she can’t access $30,000 in funding she already signed a contract for, to implement conservation practices that will make her Connecticut fruit and vegetable farm more self-sufficient. “These programs are a form of risk management,” she said. “As a younger farmer, I’ve only farmed with the weather changing. I’m trying to adapt and make my business resilient, and I’m being punished for that.”