USDA Rural Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today pressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins about the Department’s progress in delivering over $62 million in disaster aid relief to Vermont communities impacted by devastating floods in July of 2023 and 2024. During his questioning, Secretary Rollins confirmed that $31.7…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today announced the delivery of more than $1 million in federal funding, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Rural Development (RD), to support Vermont farmers and small businesses. This announcement follows a months-long effort by the Senator and partners to release the federal funds.   The funding, provided through USDA-RD’s Rural Business Development Grants, will support eight projects in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom…

BURLINGTON, VT – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today released the following statement responding to reports that the Trump Administration is considering an executive order to transfer certain U.S. Department of Agriculture…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing yesterday, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) questioned witnesses on how staff reductions at USDA, led by Elon Musk’s DOGE, are hurting farms and farming communities in Vermont and across the United States.   “We are so—in…

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s efforts to reduce the workforce of U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD) offices in Vermont and New Hampshire through buyouts and…