NEW: Hinson Supports Devastating Cuts to Federal Ag Funding
Iowa Starting Line: “Hinson’s Support for DOGE ‘Collided With the Reality of the Impacts it Had on Iowa’s Beleaguered Farm Economy’”
Des Moines — Ashley Hinson supported devastating cuts to federal ag funding even as those cuts have harmed Iowa’s “beleaguered farm economy,” according to new reporting from the Iowa Starting Line.
Hinson has been a champion for DOGE, even though cuts to federal ag funding led to understaffed support offices, under-resourced food programs, and “$10 million owed to Iowa farmers being frozen.”
“Ashley Hinson has championed cuts that left farmers in the lurch when they are already struggling with higher fertilizer prices and reckless trade policy is destroying markets,” said Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Drew Myers. “Hinson’s agenda has contributed to the worst farm economy Iowa has seen in decades, and Iowans will remember that when they go to the polls.”
Iowa Starting Line: Hinson tells Republicans in Lake View DOGE isn’t done
- As the impact of DOGE-related cuts has become more widely known, Hinson, an early DOGE booster, has come under fire.
- Hinson was an early and vocal supporter of DOGE.
- Hinson’s optimism for DOGE collided with the reality of the impacts it had on Iowa’s beleaguered farm economy. One of DOGE’s direct impacts in Iowa was the layoff of agricultural researchers, rural support staff, and Farm Service Agency employees. Farmers utilizing these services reported the offices were understaffed.
- In February 2025, the Des Moines Register reported that roughly $10 million owed to Iowa farmers had been frozen—payment for soil conservation work they had already completed under federal contracts. The freeze came at a particularly difficult moment: US farm income had fallen about 28% over the prior two years, and farmers were lining up financing for the upcoming planting season.
- The cuts deepened in March, when the USDA eliminated $1 billion in local food programs nationally, including $11.3 million in Iowa. Around 300 Iowa farm families were left facing large financial losses. Ashley Wenke of Pleasant Grove Homestead near Montezuma told the Register the cuts amounted to “tens of thousands of dollars in losses for our farm.” Another farmer said, “We’re going to hustle, but we’re going to lose money.”
- Hinson defended the cuts throughout. The Gazette reported in March 2025 that even as DOGE fired tens of thousands of federal workers—including agricultural researchers and rural support staff—Hinson said she supported DOGE’s work and had “a chance to hear directly from Elon.”
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