April 2, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has paused processing applications for a popular rural energy program, further delaying funds to farmers as high energy costs vex rural communities.
On Tuesday, the USDA’s Rural Business Cooperative Service released a stakeholder announcement that it will pause Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) awards until it updates regulations. The rule is being rewritten to comply with an executive order targeting wind and solar energy subsidies, which President Donald Trump signed in July 2025.
REAP has been a popular and largely bipartisan program that helps farmers lower energy costs. It provides grants and loans to farmers and small businesses in rural communities to install energy-efficient technologies, including solar and wind.
Since its creation more than 20 years ago, REAP has allowed for investments in over 22,000 renewable energy projects, according to a 2023 report by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC)—representing more than $10 billion in private investment in rural economies.
The pause in REAP processing comes as farmers and businesses struggle with rising energy costs, Matt Ohloff, an ELPC policy advocate, said in a statement.
“Failing to implement this program is only creating more hardship and uncertainty for farmers and rural small businesses,” he said.
Once the regulations are updated, the USDA intends to issue a new notice for funding opportunities, for which farmers must reapply. Until then, any applications are now on pause, the agency said.
There is no immediate timeline for updating the regulations, a USDA spokesperson said in an email.
“Bringing regulations in line with the Trump Administration’s priorities to end market-distorting subsidies for unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources is a top priority for the USDA,” the spokesperson said.
The agency did not respond to a question about how the executive order may alter projects or technologies used in REAP. The executive order mentions ending subsidies for solar energy, but it’s unclear how the new regulations could limit REAP grants for solar installations or other technologies.
The administration has taken other efforts to limit solar energy developments on farmland through REAP. The USDA paused REAP funding in 2025 and only partially reopened the program, after instituting other program limits. But it has not returned to the level of operations prior to 2025, according to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), who sits on the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, told Civil Eats that the number of applications awaiting processing is unknown. Farmers go through a lot of work to apply for these grants, given the amount of data and information needed to show compliance, so forcing farmers to reapply already is “cruelty,” she said.
“This is just one more blow to especially small- to medium-sized farmers, who are having a tough time making a living right now,” Pingree said. “You’ve got the increased cost of diesel fuel, fertilizer, tariffs on their equipment. The least USDA could be doing is helping them out, not harming their businesses.”
The appropriations process will begin soon, allowing lawmakers to question USDA leadership about this move, she added. (Link to this post.)
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