{"id":549074,"date":"2026-05-27T17:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=549074"},"modified":"2026-05-27T17:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:32:12","slug":"montana-free-press-lawsuit-challenges-cancellation-of-federal-grants-for-tribal-agricultural-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/05\/27\/montana-free-press-lawsuit-challenges-cancellation-of-federal-grants-for-tribal-agricultural-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Lawsuit challenges cancellation of federal grants for tribal agricultural programs"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Piikani<\/a>
Kim Paul, executive director of the Piikani Lodge Health Institute, opens a gate to the organization’s new 600-acre property near Browning on Nov. 6, 2025. Piikani Lodge planned to use federal grant funding to build a community resource center for farmers and ranchers. Cancellation of the funding has thrown the project into uncertainty. Photo: Lauren Miller, Montana Free Press, CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/figcaption>\r\n
Tribal groups join lawsuit seeking restoration of $127 million in canceled farm grants<\/div>\r\n
In March, the USDA canceled 49 grants, including at least three supporting Montana projects designed to support \u2018underserved\u2019 farmers and ranchers.<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, May 27, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By Nora Mabie<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

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Twenty-four organizations, including one that serves tribes in Montana and the surrounding region, on Tuesday joined a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging that grants supporting farmers and ranchers were unlawfully terminated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In March, the USDA canceled 49 of 50 <\/a>Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access Program<\/a> grants designed to support \u201cunderserved\u201d farmers and ranchers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

At least three projects in Montana were affected: Piikani Lodge Health Institute, headquartered on the Blackfeet Reservation, lost a nearly $9 million grant to improve operations for farmers and ranchers in the region. The Chippewa Cree Tribe in north-central Montana lost a nearly $6 million award to purchase land and train young farmers and ranchers how to manage it. And South Dakota-based Four Bands Community Fund lost an $8.5 million grant to train and financially support at least 25 low-income agricultural producers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. At the time, Montana-based awardees described the terminations<\/a> as \u201cdevastating.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMontana Free Press: Tribes lose federal grants in DEI purge at USDA\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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The Trump administration has terminated millions of dollars in grants that were promised to tribal projects.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Indianz.Com\"\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

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In several termination letters obtained by Montana Free Press, the USDA wrote that the grants had been canceled because the associated projects \u201cinvolved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and wasteful spending that did little to further lawful agricultural land purchases.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A lawsuit against the USDA seeking reinstatement of the grants was originally filed in June 2025, after several other grants were terminated following President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders deprioritizing climate action<\/a> and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion<\/a> (DEI) programs. In August 2025, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the USDA to reinstate six grants awarded to the original plaintiffs. This week, 24 additional organizations, including Four Bands Community Fund, which serves Montana and other states in the region, joined the lawsuit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The new plaintiffs are represented by lawyers from a variety of advocacy organizations, including FarmSTAND, Farmers\u2019 Legal Action Group and Earthjustice. They argue that the USDA\u2019s March grant terminations were unlawful and have caused irreparable harm.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201cPlaintiffs are faced with layoffs, abandoning projects and investments, reputational harm in the community for failing to deliver promised programs, and drastic reductions in their organizations\u2019 operations, or in some cases, having to shutter their organizations entirely,\u201d the complaint reads.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

USDA representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Trump\u2019s USDA illegally cut off funding for groups building a food system where more people can become farmers. We\u2019re suing the government to make sure they honor these grants. farmstand.org\/recently-shu…

[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>— FarmSTAND (@farmstand.bsky.social<\/a>) May 27, 2026 at 10:27 AM<\/a><\/blockquote>