Land Access Grant Terminated

The Crows Farm crew transplants radicchio. Photo by High Mowing Organic Seeds.

RELEASE: USDA terminates funds for community-led project designed to tackle barriers for the next generation of Western Washington farmers 

Contact:
Elma Burnham
Communications Manager, Viva Farms
communications@vivafarms.org ; 360-969-7191 x812

Mount Vernon, WA – April 2, 2026

On March 26th, the USDA terminated Viva Farms’ Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access award. The project, “From Surviving to Thriving: Capitalizing a new generation of farmers to address their core land and market access needs and catalyze long-term viability,” was meant to help historically-underserved farmers in Skagit and King Counties achieve secure, long-term farmland tenure by providing down-payment assistance grants and low-interest loans.

“We were ready to press play on our ILA grant and loan programs to support land acquisition for farmers ready to become fully independent and move onto their own land. Further, helping farmers launch from the incubator makes room for our newest farms to grow. Losing the ILA funds doesn’t mean the land and capital access barriers go away. All of this could also mean less organic food grown here and enjoyed here,” says Viva Farms’ Director of Farm Viability, Anna Chotzen.  

Local, organic vegetable and berry growers were depending on these funds to secure their forever farms and expand their viable, community-based businesses. 

“When funding like this falls through—especially on top of other missed opportunities—it doesn’t just slow things down. It changes what we’re able to do and how we move forward,” explained Matthew and Giana Cioni of The Crows Farm. “Even so, we remain committed to this path. We care deeply about continuing to grow food for our community and building something that’s meant to last. While this setback creates challenges, it also highlights how important it is to keep investing in farmers at this stage. With the right support, farms like ours can continue to grow and adapt as part of a more secure agricultural future.” 

The USDA claimed that these projects involved “wasteful spending that did little to further lawful agricultural land purchases.” The vast majority of the $2.5M granted to Viva Farms was for direct distribution to beginning farmers, who have built successful family-owned farm businesses growing food for their communities. These dollars would have funded down-payment assistance and low-cost capital to protect precious farmland. 

Kate Smith, WSU Food Systems Program shared, “Our program was excited about the ILA grant Viva was awarded because of the potential to provide life-changing positive impact for next generation farmers who have faced barriers to land access.”

Viva Farms will continue to do this work supporting producers who aspire to make farming a financially viable livelihood and commit to feeding their communities. We look forward to collaborating with organizations who share our values in order to grow the next generation of farmers.

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Viva Farms is a nonprofit farm-business incubator and training program located in Western Washington. We empower aspiring and limited-resource farmers by providing bilingual training in holistic organic farming practices, as well as access to land, infrastructure, equipment, marketing, capital and community. Learn more at www.vivafarms.org or @vivafarms.