Public financing for factory farming is nothing new. The federal government has spent years pushing hundreds of millions of dollars into manure digesters at industrial livestock operations. These are expensive and often underperforming projects that benefit the biggest factory farms while delivering little for rural communities, animals, or the climate. But that may change.
Last week, USDA announced it will extend its pause on loan guarantees for new anaerobic digester projects (specifically through its Rural Energy for America Program) through December 31, 2026. The decision followed a review that found “continuing and significant risks,” including high loan delinquency and project failures across the digester portfolio.
We welcome this pause. As Farm Forward has written, manure digesters, as they exist today, function to lock in the worst of agricultural practices by funneling money to the most polluting farms. Such farms are also some of the worst for animals, since they consist of overcrowded, high-stress environments where low welfare is part of the business model. What’s more, the climate benefits are, at best, vastly overstated.
This is a promising move from USDA. However, we will wait and see if it continues into 2027 and whether it marks a genuine shift toward funding a food system that works for farmers, animals, and communities, rather than one that simply props up the largest and most destructive operations.