Hello Amy,

I’m reaching out on behalf of the Dry Farming Institute with an important update. The federal funding freeze has put critical water resilience projects on hold across Oregon, Washington, and California—impacting both farmers and the nonprofits that support them.

In late January, we learned that the USDA stopped making payments for our multi-year water resilience project. As a result, much of our 2025 programming is stalled.

We know we are not alone. As we read through recent updates from our partners, two priorities keep rising to the surface—ones we’ve always valued, but now feel even more urgent: diversification and collaboration.



Just as we continue to explore diverse water conservation practices—from cover cropping to soil preparation—and expand knowledge about drought-tolerant crops like cucumber melons (a 2024 highlight in the photo below: delicious and resilient!), we’re reminded that we must also diversify our funding streams and strengthen our collaborations to sustain this work.

We’re deeply grateful to the Novo Foundation, Market of Choice, and individual donors whose support is helping us navigate this uncertain time. 



As we continue to navigate the funding freeze and its ripple effects, community support is more important than ever. If you’re in a position to give, a donation of any size will help us continue supporting farmers, sharing knowledge, and building water resilience across the West Coast. If you're in a position to call your representative, let them know you want to see these funds unfrozen!

Our Vision: to empower growers to thrive with less water

Our Values transparency, communication, innovation, and collaboration.

Last year, our federal funds supported six demonstration farms, including university farms, Indigenous food sovereignty projects, and small farms supplying food banks. The funding covered a soil core assessment, soil moisture sensors, seeds and supplies, technical support, farmer time and space to trial water-resilient practices, and a demo tour to share findings with the community.

Farmers told us these funds were essential:

• “Whenever there are price supports to make a change, farmers will be more apt to make a change. Made us proactive in getting cover crops in the ground.”
• “We are on a tiny shoestring budget. Enthusiastic yes, [this funding] made a huge difference. Exciting and empowering.”
• “[This funding] means we don’t have anything to lose. We’ll try to learn more, grow more next year.”

Cucumber Melon Trials - 2024

We're excited to continue our virtual western water resilience workshops this spring!

You're Invited: Rainwater Harvesting in Action – 4/24 10am on Zoom

Join us for a farmer-led conversation on Rainwater Harvesting with Michelle Week from Goodrain Farm and Nate Johnson from Sunbow Produce on zoom at 10am.

We’re excited to take a deeper dive into stories shared directly by our farm partners staying resilient as water access becomes harder to predict. They’ll share their water stories and the details of their rainwater harvesting systems.

Event Details:

When: Thursday April 24th, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM (PST)

Format: Live, interactive, virtual workshop series on Zoom

Thank you from our DFI Board and staff:

Amy, Ashley, Cathy, Eliza, Kristin, John & Lucas

Header photo: Diversity on display at DFI's Demo Farm - 2024