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Farmer and environmental groups are suing to stop the changes to the Rural Energy for America (REAP) program.
By Lisa Held
October 5, 2026
October 5, 2026 – Just days after farm and environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) gutting of the Rural Energy for America (REAP) program, the agency published a final rule last week that will make it even harder for farmers to get help installing solar arrays and wind turbines.
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Over the past decade, tens of thousands of farms have used REAP loans and grants to build renewable energy systems.
But the Trump administration has been working to roll back federal subsidies for renewable energy, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has characterized solar development as a threat to farmland. (While more than 40 percent of new solar and more than half of new wind turbines were installed on former cropland between 2012 and 2020, the land impacted is equivalent to less than 0.05 percent of U.S. farmland.)
Rollins began the process of limiting REAP funding in August 2025, and the USDA paused processing of the grants in March 2026. The final rule published last week codifies some of the changes announced earlier, including a prohibition on ground-mount solar on certified cropland and on systems that use materials made in China, which manufactures the vast majority of the world’s solar panels.
It also changes the structure of REAP grants so that farmers and other applicants cannot apply for the funding until 12 months after a project is fully built. That means farmers would have to build the systems without knowing whether they’d be reimbursed for any costs.
“The final rule from USDA will restore integrity and stability to the Rural Energy for America Program. For too long many applicants have prioritized unreliable energy sources and have not fully delivered on their stated goals,” Rollins said in a press release.
In a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice and the Environmental Law and Policy Center on behalf of the Iowa Farmers Union, solar developers, and others, the lawyers argue the agency’s actions clearly violate Congress’ directive to “promote energy efficiency and renewable energy development for agricultural producers and rural small businesses.”
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“Congress created REAP to help farmers put solar on their own land and cut their own energy costs,” Jessica O’Donnell, senior attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said in a press release. “USDA now wants to dismantle a successful bipartisan program and slam the door on farmers who already spent significant sums of money relying on USDA’s own rules.”
O’Donnell and her partners pointed especially to the agency’s earlier decision to pause all applications and disbursements in March, which meant some farmers who had already applied, been approved, and invested funds into building solar on their farms have not received promised reimbursements. 
The USDA is taking comments on the final rule until Nov. 2. (Link to this post.)
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