Farmers hoping to tap the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) must now build their solar arrays or efficiency upgrades first, then document a full year of energy savings before they can even apply for help. As AgroLatam’s Marcus Ellington reports, the change flips a nearly two-decade-old program on its head — and critics say it will price out the farmers who need it most.
Congress created REAP in 2008, and under the old model, grants could cover up to half of a project’s cost before construction began. According to a National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) analysis, the program delivered more than $4.8 billion in grants and loan guarantees between 2014 and 2025. Solar has dominated, accounting for nearly 64 percent of REAP projects since 2017, per USDA figures cited by Reuters.
NSAC policy specialist Richa Patel warns that making farmers shoulder the full upfront cost could shut out many applicants, particularly smaller and younger operations with thin cash reserves. The fallout is already visible. Iowa consultant Veronica McFadden, who launched a firm in 2023 to help farmers navigate REAP applications, laid off all five employees by August after demand collapsed during an application pause. In Michigan, dairy farmer Ron Rusk’s $85,000 ground-mounted solar project was never funded.
The shift follows Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ stated concerns about solar development on productive farmland, along with 2025 limits on solar eligibility that the Environmental Law & Policy Center challenged in September. USDA officials counter that the new rules steer money toward verified energy production and real savings rather than rosy projections.
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The politics could get awkward: a Brookings Institution analysis found more than two-thirds of REAP grants went to recipients in Republican-held congressional districts.
